Day 3: Selby shines, but misses maximum
Mark Selby was the stand-out performer on Day 3 of the China Open, despite missing the final black for a 147. He beat Mark King 5-1 and showed the qualities of a number 1 as he looks to overtake Judd Trump, by reaching the quarter-finals. Selby opened with a break of 111 and then doubled his lead with a break of 82. This was before the third frame, where the Jester from Leicester saw the funny side of missing out on making his second ever maximum break, missing a tricky last black on 140. Mark King pulled a frame back before the interval with a 59 break. In the end King couldn't do anything to stop Selby, breaks of 91 and 104 giving him the win, finishing off as he started.Meanwhile, Neil Robertson whitewashed his namesake Jimmy 5-0. Neil opened up with a break of 72 and took the next with a break of 58 as Jimmy missed early opportunities and failed to offer the Aussie a real challenge, or recreate his wildcard round form. He took the next 2 before the interval to add to Jimmy's misery, a 70 break giving him the fourth. Another break of 70 in the fifth frame gave Neil Robertson a comfortable victory, and a Last 16 place.
Mark Williams survived an early scare to get past 15 year old Lu Haotian 5-2. A classy 108 gave the Welshmen an early 1-0 lead, but he soon found himself 2-1 behind as Lu made breaks of 52 and 55 in the next 2 frames. Missed opportunities for Lu were soon punished by Williams in the fourth and fifth frames as he regained the lead, with breaks of 63 and 60. Mark took the next and closed out the match with a break of 72.
The home fans were left dissapointed as Chinese favourite Ding Junhui was beaten 5-3 by Barry Hawkins. Ding had early chances but soon found himself 4-0 behind and reasonably helpless as Hawkins made a 67 in the first and a well worked 108 in the fourth frame. Ding began to fight back after the interval, taking all of the next 3 frames and making it 4-3, including breaks of 64 and 53. Barry held his nerve in the eight frame, as a nice break of 87 booked his place in the Last 16.
In form Mark Allen eased past Anthony McGill with top breaks of 129, 92 and 56 and will meet Neil Robertson in the 2nd Round.
Elsewhere, Stuart Bingham saw off the last of the Chinese players with a 5-3 win over Liang Wenbo. Top runs of 91, 90, 81 and 79 seeing Bingham through to a Last 16 meeting with Robert Milkins.
Mark Davis saw off a tough test from Dechawat Poomjaeng, scoring a 5-3 with highs of 81, 71, 60 and 51.
Finally, Ricky Walden came out of a scrappy encounter against Ken Doherty the 5-2 winner with a top break of 51, his only break of 50+, while Ken made a break of 74 in the second frame.
Round 2 Draw, schedule and Tips.
6.30am UK time:Mark Selby Vs Ricky Walden
Mark Williams Vs Ali Carter
Shaun Murphy Vs Rory McLeod
Mark Davis Vs Jack Lisowski
11.30am UK time:
Mark Allen Vs Neil Robertson
Stephen Maguire Vs Barry Hawkins
Marcus Campbell Vs Graeme Dott
Stuart Bingham Vs Robert Milkins
My top tips for day 4 would be Mark Davis, despite Jack Lisowski being the favourite after his win against Trump. Selby should beat Walden by a clear 2-3 frames based on today's form. Carter and Robertson are also decent bets, even though those matches are evenly matched. Carter is in slightly better form lately than Williams, while recent head to head would definetly suggest Robertson over Allen, despite Allens recent form.
Other possible upsets could lie in Marcus Campbell and Robert Milkins to win their respective matches. Meanwhile there is every chance that the Dentist McLeod could grind out a win against Murphy, but my gut feeling is that Murphy should really get through.
Looking like a great line-up for the rest of the tournament despite some early big name departures, and the latter stages of the tournament should be enjoyable viewing.
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