Neil Robertson and Mark Allen were both knocked out in the Last 16 of the International Championship, while the likes of Mark Selby, Ding Junhui and Marco Fu all progressed to the Quarter-finals.
So here's a look back on today's 3rd round action:
Peter Ebdon 6-5 Neil Robertson - This was an absolutely cracking last 16 encounter, with both players playing very well indeed. Neil done the early running in the match, starting off with a break of 65 in the opener, while Ebdon levelled the match despite a break of 61 from Robertson. The Aussie then took a lengthy third frame to lead 2-1, but was back in full flow in the next with yet another century, this time a 117, to take a 3-1 lead into the break. After the break, Peter Ebdon was nothing less than absolutely superb. Many people find Peter Ebdon boring to watch, but when he is in full flow and making breaks, he plays gripping snooker and is very enjoyable to watch. Today was another of those occasions. He made a brilliant 134 break after the mid-session interval, and followed that up with an equally good 87 to square the match at 3-3. Both players had chances in the next frame, but a break of 58 from Ebdon allowed him to take it and go into the lead. Another brilliant 87 in the eighth frame put Ebdon one frame from knocking out the world number 1 at 5-3. He had his chance in the next frame, but a break of 58 wasn't enough for him to take it, and Robertson was back to 5-4. It looked like the Aussie would force a decider when he was on a break of 68 in the tenth frame, and after opening the remaining reds, ran out of position and handed a chance back to Peter. Ebdon then cleared the remaining reds, and was on a break of 56, needing pink and black to win the frame, when he missed a tricky pink with the rest. Robertson then missed 2 shots on the Pink, before knocking in a magnificent long Pink to the green pocket, forcing a decider, despite nearly going in off. Neil Robertson had an early lead in the decider, before a break of 39 put Ebdon in front once more. The decider then got very tense, and after Ebdon missed match ball Yellow, Robertson ran out of position and missed a tough brown , before Ebdon twitched the brown into the middle to take out the thrilling encounter 6-5.
Ding Junhui 6-1 Matthew Stevens - Ding simply did what he had to do in this one, against an under performing Stevens, and secured a quite comfortable 6-1 win. After Stevens broke down on 33 in the opener a break of 53 allowed Ding to take it. In the next a Stevens break of 41 helped him to level at 1-1, but both players were getting plenty of chances. Stevens failed to take his chances again in the third, and though Ding wasn't yet playing that well, a break of 48 put him 2-1 in front. The next frame was again fairly scrappy and dis-jointed, both players had plenty of chances, but Ding did enough to take a 3-1 lead into the interval. The Chinaman was much better after the break, and after Stevens broke down on 36 in the fifth frame a break of 77 by Ding put him 3 frames clear. Ding dominated the next as well, with a run of 68 putting him within a frame of the quarter-finals. That frame didn't take a long time coming, as the Shanghai Masters and Indian Open champion finished in style with a lovely 110 sealing a comfortable 6-1 victory. Ding will now play Peter Ebdon in the last 8.
Marco Fu 6-2 Zhao Xintong - Marco Fu saw that young wildcard Xintong's great run in this event came to end, playing fantastically to beat the 16 year old 6-2 in the last 16. It was Xintong that started brightly with a 55 break helping him take the opening frame. However, Fu soon showed what he was made of with a well made break of 94 to level the match, before a break of 63 put him in front, and a magnificent 116 took him to mid-session 3-1 up. Xintong took a very important after the break, needing a couple of chances, but eventually making it 3-2. However, Fu once again showed his good from and ruthlessness, making a nice run of 88 to go 2 in front again, before a brilliant 73 stole the seventh frame from Xintong's grasp, putting the Australian Open champion within 1 of the Quarters. Fu was soon over the line, with another good break of 84 to put him into the last 8 with a fairly simple 6-2 win. Credit has to go to Zhao Xintong though, he has played brilliantly all week and had some great victories against Steve Davis, Craig Steadman and Barry Hawkins, to show that he is definetly a star in the making, and that his name should certainly be remembered.
Mark Selby 6-1 Stuart Bingham - The Jester from Leicester managed a fairly simple victory set-up a quarter-final meeting with Marco Fu, against a quite out of sorts Stuart Bingham. I expected this to be quite a close encounter, but that theory was blown out of the water very early, by some great snooker from Mark, but also a failure of Stuart to take his chances. An early 69 in the opener, gave Selby the early advantage, and he soon doubled this, needing a couple of chances to put himself 2-0 ahead. A nice break of 107 gave the UK champion the third, before he took a scrappy and important fourth, after both players had plenty of chances, to go into the interval 4-0 up and cruising into the last 8 in Chengdu. Bingham needed more chances in the next after the break, but a top run of 47 eventually closed the gap to 4-1. The barrage didn't end for poor old Stuart though, as a break of 90 from Selby moved him to within 1 of the next round, and that 1 came in the next as a break of 64 helped him close out the match and a resounding 6-1 win. On this basis, and after other results in the bottom half, Mark Selby has certainly become my new favourite to win this section and make the final, and I look forward to seeing if he can fulfil this prophet in the next couple of days.
Ryan Day 6-3 Fergal O'Brien - Day and O'Brien managed a magnificent standard in their last 16 tie, as there was a half-century break in every single frame, as the Welshman managed to book the quarter-final place with a great 6-3 win. Top breaks of 55, 65, 71, 82, 96 and 103, countered O'Brien's own runs of 67, 68 and 70, as Day ended up winning the match on a re-spotted black in the ninth frame, to cap what was a wonderful performance. This is hopefully the start of a long overdue return to form for Ryan, who has been in the doldrums for a few years now.
Joe Perry 6-4 Mark Allen - Day will now play Joe Perry who scored a good victory against Mark Allen today. Perry made 2 centuries, a 102 and a 105, as well as other runs of 60 and 63, taming Allen's fight, on the way to a hard earned victory.
Graeme Dott 6-5 Kurt Maflin - Graeme Dott secured his place in the quarter-finals of the International Championship, with a very tight victory over Kurt Maflin. The Scot was ahead for much of the match, making top breaks of 58, 61, 66 and 126, but top runs of 66, 71, 72, 85 and 93 from Maflin allowed him to cling to Dott. However the big Norwegian couldn't do enough as Dott took a tight decider, and the match.
Liang Wenbo 6-1 Mark Davis - Liang Wenbo kept his great run of late going, with a crushing 6-1 victory over 6 Reds Champion Mark Davis. Davis was unable to take his chances early on in the match as Wenbo took an early 3-0 lead. Breaks of 74 and an 88 (when Wenbo was on a maximum, but miss-cued on the 12th red) then knocked the stuffing out of the Englishman, as he found himself 5-0 down, needing to win 6 on the bounce to progress to the last 8. A break of 74 in the sixth kept his hopes alive, but these hopes were soon destroyed as Wenbo made a break of 78 to take the seventh frame, and set-up a quarter-final tie with Graeme Dott.
Quarter-Final Draw and Previews:
Ryan Day Vs Joe Perry - Both guys have been playing very well this week, and Perry really hasn't looked back since being 5-1 down in the Last 64. Meanwhile, Day has been improving with every round, and based on his performance today, I have to fancy his chances of making the semi-finals. Perry will be a very tough opponent, and I expect this to be a tough match, but I have a feeling that Day will just squeak it.
Marco Fu Vs Mark Selby - Both players are playing very well this week, and this should be a very good, close contest. Selby has not played well all week, but he hasn't had to, winning some matches on top scoring form, while grinding out some others in true Selby fashion also. Fu has also been scoring well this week and will be a hard opponent to overcome, but I feel that Selby is slightly overdue a good ranking win, and has become a forgotten man since his Masters win in January. Therefore, I not only think that Selby will win this match, but I also think that he is a favourite for the title on Sunday.
Ding Junhui Vs Peter Ebdon - Ding has showed already this week that he is a certain contender for his 3rd ranking event in succession. He has scored well all week, and played some good stuff when he has had to. Will Ebdon care about any of this? No. Ebdon played superbly well, but also managed to grind Ding out in a match I remember well from the 2012 China Open when Ding was 3-1 ahead and lost 6-3 as Ding just couldn't find his Rhythm after the interval. The way that Ebdon played today against Robertson, the same thing could happen again, but the form Ding is in, and the maturity he has shown in recent times, suggests such a thing won't happen again.
Graeme Dott Vs Liang Wenbo - Liang Wenbo has played really well so far, and a lot of betting firms have Wenbo as favourite, which doesn't surprise me with his recent form and the results he has had. However, I think that is incredibly harsh on Dott, who has played just as well, but been able to go under the radar up to this point. When Dott is on form, he is an even harder player to beat, so it will take another brilliant performance from Wenbo to get through to the semi-finals. I think that this is the reward for a lot of hard work by Dott, who has struggled quite a bit in the last year or 2, and I think that he will keep the run going into the last 4.
Whatever the outcome of these quarter-finals, it should be some cracking entertainment, with a great line-up as we head into the final stages in Chengdu. Really looking forward to even more great snooker ahead.
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