The home favourite Ding Junhui has crashed out of the China Championships, losing out in a deciding frame to fellow Chinese star Yuan Sijun.
The pair had met previously this season with Yuan taking a 3-1 lead before falling to a 5-3 loss, but this time he was just able to hold his nerve and progress. Ding had led 3-2 but lost the next two frames and was on the verge of defeat in the eighth frame. Coming from snookers required, Ding eventually won that frame on the black, only for Yuan to eventually close the match out a frame later.
There was no upset though for World Champion Mark Williams who overcame Gary Wilson 5-2, despite unexpectedly playing on one of the non-TV tables for the second game in succession. Williams had a high break of 136 in the contest and will now be on one of the two TV tables in the last 16.
There were however another four top 16 casualties on day three in Guangzhou. Ryan Day fell to Iran's Hossein Vafei 5-3, which follows Hossein's 5-3 win against World Open runner-up David Gilbert in which he trailed 3-0. Stuart Bingham lost out to the ever improving Yan Bingtao 5-2, while Neil Robertson was defeated by the same scoreline against Graeme Dott. Mark Allen was another to go, going down 5-1 to Mark King.
John Higgins needed all of his experience to come through against China's Mei Xiwen. Mei had led 4-2 against Higgins but the Scot claimed all of the last three frames to set up an all-Scottish tie in the last 16. This comes after Scott Donaldson continued his 100% head to head record against Jack Lisowski with a 5-3 win.
Mark Selby also took down Chinese opposition with young wildcard Chang Bingyu. Bingyu had beaten Robert Milkins and Jimmy Robertson but was no match for Selby who came through 5-1. Shaun Murphy got in on the act too finishing with a century in his 5-2 win against Xiao Guodong booking his place in the last 16. In the final match to finish on the day, Shanghai Masters runner-up Barry Hawkins battled back from 4-2 down against Noppon Saengkham, not conceding a single point in the final three frames as he ran out a 5-4 winner.
Last 32 results:
Martin O'Donnell 5-4 Tom Ford
Liang Wenbo 5-2 Zhang Anda
Lu Haotian 5-3 Joe Perry
Shaun Murphy 5-2 Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump 5-2 Jamie Jones
Yan Bingtao 5-2 Stuart Bingham
Scott Donaldson 5-3 Jack Lisowski
John Higgins 5-4 Mei Xiwen
Mark Selby 5-1 Chang Bingyu
Hossein Vafei 5-3 Ryan Day
Mark King 5-1 Mark Allen
Yuan Sijun 5-4 Ding Junhui
Barry Hawkins 5-4 Noppon Saengkham
Graeme Dott 5-2 Neil Robertson
Zhao Xintong 5-2 Fergal O'Brien
Mark Williams 5-2 Gary Wilson
Last 16 draw: (Picks in bold)
Liang Wenbo Vs Martin O'Donnell
Shaun Murphy Vs Lu Haotian
Judd Trump Vs Yan Bingtao
John Higgins Vs Scott Donaldson
Mark Selby Vs Hossein Vafei
Mark King Vs Yuan Sijun
Barry Hawkins Vs Graeme Dott
Mark Williams Vs Zhao Xintong
Martin O'Donnell has already taken two good scalps this week with wins over Luca Brecel and Tom Ford and he should prove a good match for Liang Wenbo in this last 16 tie. China's number two struggled in his heldover last 128 match with Alfie Burden and should have been on his way out, but he seems to be building his way into the tournament after a 5-2 win against Zhang Anda. He will need to keep that up though because O'Donnell should be full of confidence and if he say any of the match between Liang and Burden he will know that Liang could well be there for the taking.
Shaun Murphy has looked good so far and after defeating Chinese opposition in Xiao Guodong in the last 32, he will now face Lu Haotian for a place in the quarter-finals. Murphy looked to be striking it well in his first two matches and will be looking to put a slightly slow start to the season behind him, in an event where he has a good record. Lu meanwhile had a walkover in the last 64 after the withdrawal of Kyren Wilson, before defeating Joe Perry 5-3. Perry would later say on Twitter that the tough sticky conditions on the outside tables played against him due to his lack of cue power. This match will be on one of the two TV tables tomorrow, where Murphy has played his first two games and that should give him a bit of an advantage as he will be more in tune with the conditions there.
Judd Trump has had two quick wins so far this week with a 5-0 win against Rhys Clark being followed by a 5-2 defeat of Jamie Jones. This will be his toughest test of the week so far though taking on Northern Irish Open runner-up Yan Bingtao. Yan battled hard in round one to beat Chris Wakelin 5-4 before a 5-2 win against Stuart Bingham has set up his first meeting with Trump. You would have to expect a pretty open and attacking affair between the two which will suit both players and mean that both have to be close to their best to secure a spot in the last eight.
Mark King is the next to face young Yuan Sijun. Both come into the match after good victories against top players. King defeated Mark Allen comfortably having also beaten the talented Sam Craigie in round one. Yuan of course took out Ding after his opening round win against Alexander Ursenbacher, but he will need to be at his best against the experienced King. There is a lot of talk about all the young Chinese players, including Yuan and his excellent talent, but smart and savvy match players like King always have that extra element that can put these players right up against it.
Barry Hawkins and Graeme Dott are two players that have had to fight hard to make it through the first couple of rounds. In the last 64, Dott was right up against it having lost three in a row from 4-1 up against Stuart Carrington before fighting back from 59-0 down in the decider to win the match on the black. His round two victory against Neil Robertson though featured some heavy scoring and if he repeats that in this match he will have Hawkins on the back foot. The Hawk was 4-2 down in the last 32 against the rising Noppon Saengkham before shutting his opponent out and not giving him a real chance to win. That finish will give him some confidence, not that he should be short of self-belief given his recent runs in China. The head to head between these two does favour Dott though and that could certainly come into play.
Finally, Mark Williams will take on the exciting young Zhao Xintong in a mouth-watering clash. Zhao has started this season strongly winning all of his qualifiers for the opening ranking events, as well as reaching the last 16 in Riga before repeating that here. This week he has seen off Anthony McGill and Fergal O'Brien to get to this stage and you know he will not hold back on his attacking style just because he is playing the World Champion. Williams has played three matches so far in Guangzhou, with his heldover last 128 tie, but only conceded the three frames against Rod Lawler, Ken Doherty and Gary Wilson. These two have met on four previous occasions with Williams winning them all and you have to believe that his added experience and superior safety player were the key factors in those games. If Zhao fails to get ahead early on the match will get away from him very quickly with the form Williams is in.
All last 16 matches will be played over the best-of-9 frames on Thursday with places in the quarter-finals and an extra £7,000 up for grabs.
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