Defending champion Mark Williams and Masters champion Judd Trump are safely through to the last 16 of the German Masters after victories against Chinese opposition on day one in Berlin.
World champion Williams was the first through as he took out Zhou Yuelong 5-3. Zhou had his fair share of chances, starting in the very first frame as he missed a chance to steal it on the colours. He was soon level at 1-1, but Williams was back ahead after the match high break of 127, before dominating frame four as well to move 3-1 up at the interval.
A run of 51 aided Zhou in pulling a frame back after the break, but missed opportunities in the sixth cost him as Williams moved one away from victory. Zhou kept himself in the hunt with a seventh frame run of 85, his best of the match, making it 3-4, before Williams closed out the contest with a break of 76.
Trump meanwhile was a 5-2 winner against Li Hang, despite not being on the glorious form that took him to victory in London two weeks ago. Li gave Trump plenty of chances as the left-hander cruised into a 3-0 lead despite unusually only having a high break of 55.
Li got on the scoreboard to go into the break 3-1 behind, but Trump stretched his lead back to three after his match high break of 94. The high break of the match came from Li in the next though as he made a break of 105 to keep himself in the contest and he had chances to pile more pressure on Trump, but it was the Masters champion who won the seventh frame re-spot to close out victory.
Two bigger name scalps on day one though were Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy as they were both beaten in close contests.
Murphy's poor season continued as he fell to a 5-3 defeat against Peter Ebdon, who kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the World Grand Prix, while taking Murphy's WGP fate out of his hands. Ebdon started strongly with breaks of 69 and 62 on the way to a 2-0 lead, without Murphy potting a ball. The Magician hit back by winning a lengthy third frame on the black, but Ebdon's response was to pile on a break of 109 to lead 3-1 at the interval.
Murphy battled away despite not being at his best and levelled the tie at 3-3, but missed his chance on the colours in frame seven and another lengthy frame went this time to Ebdon who moved back in front, knocking the stuffing out of Murphy before finishing the match off comfortably in the next.
Barry Hawkins meanwhile was beaten from 3-1 and 4-3 up against another World Grand Prix chaser Robert Milkins. Hawkins stormed ahead early with a century in the opening frame before a further run of 51 doubled his lead. Milkins got on the board in frame three with a run of 97 before Hawkins moved 3-1 up at the interval.
A crucial frame five went to Milkins on the final black and he then levelled at 3-3, only for Hawkins to move back in front. Milkins though won the final two frames despite chances for Hawkins in both and he will now face Stephen Maguire, needing a victory there to displace Gary Wilson and move into the provisional top 32 on the World Grand Prix list.
Maguire booked his last 16 place with a comfortable 5-1 win against Michael Georgiou with top breaks of 54, 71 and 118. Ebdon meanwhile still needs two victories to move into the Grand Prix, and will now face Kyren Wilson after he came through 5-3 against Rory McLeod, with breaks of 74 and 79 in the final two frames finishing off a tight tussle.
Defending champion Williams will take on Joe Perry after he came from 4-1 down to defeat Sam Baird in a deciding frame, while the other last 32 match on Wednesday saw Yan Bingtao win all of the last three frames to defeat Matthew Stevens 5-3.
Last 16 draw (Top Half): (Picks in bold)
Mark Williams Vs Joe Perry
Kyren Wilson Vs Peter Ebdon
Stephen Maguire Vs Robert Milkins
Judd Trump Vs Yan Bingtao
Each of these four last 16 matches in the top half of the draw will be played on Thursday evening, once more over the best-of-9 frames. The TV table match sees defending champion Mark Williams face Joe Perry. Both players will be happy to come through tough opening round games, particularly Perry who looked down and out at 4-1 down against an in-form Sam Baird. Williams certainly did not look at his best at times, but there were glimpses of a return in form having had a quiet last two or three months. Particularly the century just before the interval and the break in the final frame to finish the match off were highlights for Williams but he faces another tough ask against Perry who has already been tested to the maximum and come through. They have met once this season already, in the last 16 of the World Open, with Williams winning 5-1 and going on to win the whole event, so that could be a very good omen for the World champion.
On the secondary streamed table, Masters champion Judd Trump faces Yan Bingtao in what is there third meeting of the season. Both meetings were at the same last 16 stage of two events in China, with Trump winning 5-1 at the China Championship and 6-1 at the International Championship. Based on that Yan will really be starting this one on the back foot and he knows all too well how quickly this game could get away from him if he does not fire early on. After a quieter but still decent season, Yan showed good early signs with breaks of 113 and 90 in the first two frames of his match with Matthew Stevens and then showed the strength to put three successive frames from Stevens behind him, to win three in a row of his own to clinch victory. Trump may not have had to play well against Li Hang, but knowing the talent of Yan and how he has been able to dominate him in their previous ties this season, you would expect him to raise his game for the occasion here.
In the first crucial World Grand Prix qualification match, Robert Milkins has to beat Stephen Maguire to leapfrog Gary Wilson into the 32nd and final spot in the provisional World Grand Prix rankings. However, in all five of their previous meetings (including one Championship League clash) Milkins has been the victor each time which must be a huge confidence boost coming into this one. He fought back well against Barry Hawkins in round one and with the Grand Prix being close to home in Cheltenham, it would almost be a home event for Milkins which must be another big motivation for him here. Maguire was an easy 5-1 winner against an out of form Michael Georgiou but this will be a tougher test for sure and he could do with a good start to banish any thoughts he may have about the negative head-to-head.
Finally, Kyren Wilson will face Peter Ebdon in a repeat of the Paul Hunter Classic final in Germany back in August. Ebdon led 2-0 on that occasion before Wilson reeled off four on the spin to win the match and title 4-2. Ebdon looked sharp in round one and was certainly deserving of a 5-3 win over Shaun Murphy. If he plays as he did in the opening four frames again in this match then he has every chance of holding an early advantage once more. The slight concern for Ebdon would be that he was slightly shakier as the match went on in what was quite a drawn out affair. While Wilson's match against Rory McLeod was not much shorter, the difference is that Wilson is 21 years younger than Ebdon so probably needs less recovery time and might be a bit fresher here. While it seemed a slightly scrappy affair early on, Wilson will be pleased to finish off the match with two 70+ breaks and that will give him added confidence here.
The bottom half of the draw will play out their last 16 matches on Friday afternoon and the line-up for those matches will be confirmed after the five afternoon session matches on Thursday.
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