Wuxi Classic Last 16 Preview

It's been another very eventful day out in China for the Wuxi Classic as the first ranking event of the season continues to hot up. Most of the matches today went according to the "script" although current world champion Mark Selby lost out to Liang Wenbo and Wuxi champion of 2 years ago Ricky Walden lost another to another Chinese player in Cao Yupeng, while a good day was completed for the Chinese with my tip of the day coming in as Zhao Xintong beat Jack Lisowski rather convincingly.


Today's Last 32 results in full:


Michael Holt 5-2 Sam Baird
Zhao Xintong 5-2 Jack Lisowski
Stuart Bingham 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Alan McManus 5-4 John Higgins
Martin Gould 5-1 Oliver Brown
Joe Perry 5-0 Robert Milkins
Shaun Murphy 5-2 Chris Wakelin
Neil Robertson 5-3 Michael Georgiou
Marco Fu 5-3 Jamie Jones
Cao Yupeng 5-3 Ricky Walden
Robin Hull 5-3 Graeme Dott
Liang Wenbo 5-3 Mark Selby
Stephen Maguire 5-3 Michael White
Barry Hawkins 5-4 Yan Bingtao
Judd Trump 5-3 Ben Woollaston
Ryan Day 5-2 Mark Williams


What that all sets up is an incredibly interesting day tomorrow in the last 16 with a lot of tight matches in prospect and some very tough calls for me to make here. Time for me to get on with my preview of all 8 of tomorrow's games:


Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)


Neil Robertson Vs Michael Holt - Neil Robertson looked a little shaky at the start of his match today against Michael Georgiou but that was understandable as it was only his 2nd match of the season and his first in this tournament, but when he got going he made a century and looked fairly good and was too strong for Michael in the end. Playing his second Michael in 2 days against Holt here will be another tough test as Holt has started the season nicely and is playing some decent snooker both this week and also last week at the AT1 event. Holt certainly has a good chance of victory in this match but in my opinion it all depends on how the defending champion plays. If Neil is on top form or pretty close to it as he was at the back end of today's match he should go through, but if he is slightly off of his game as he was at the start Holt will be able to take advantage. These days though Robertson doesn't have too many off days so i'll be going with the former.


Shaun Murphy Vs Zhao Xintong - This is one match certainly not to count your chickens on with many people seeing it as a top 16 player against a wildcard but there's a lot more to it than that. From what I've seen of Zhao Xintong he seems to be a quick and attacking player who's also quite a quick thinker and decision maker when in amongst the balls and he scores heavily so he's certainly a dangerous player. Shaun on the other hand has also played some decent snooker this week and feels like he's striking the ball well and he'll be happy with the way he's playing. This match I think certainly has the look of one that will go close and should make for entertaining viewing. In the end it could well come down to experience and that is something that Murphy has lorry loads more of than Xintong and that may well be the deciding factor.


Marco Fu Vs Stuart Bingham - Looking at the rankings, the way these 2 guys have been playing both this week and in the last couple of years there is incredibly little to choose between Fu and Bingham. Stuart could very well have lost today when he was 4-2 down to Anthony Hamilton but he battled on nicely and was able to get over the line as Hamilton failed to kill the match off. It seems as though Stuart is coming to form again after a difficult few months and he has a decent record in China making the final of this 2 years ago and previously winning 3 Asian Tour events. Marco Fu has also been playing very well over the last couple of years and his consistency has been improving with that. He hasn't played stunning snooker this week as yet, but he's also not played badly or look in any trouble unlike Bingham. Fu has simply done what he's had to on each given day. Marco also has a good record in China and if anything I'd say he plays slightly better in China than Stuart does which could well be a deciding factor. Both of these players have gone under the radar this week again so this should make for an entertaining contest.


Barry Hawkins Vs Alan McManus - Barry Hawkins had to survive a scare of his own today as he came through in a decider against young wildcard Yan Bingtao, but he still seemed to be playing some good snooker and scoring fairly well when he had to. Alan meanwhile scored another very nice win against John Higgins playing reasonably well but it seemed as though John may well have been a little under par again showing how the consistency in his game is starting to go. Barry Hawkins though is a very different prospect as he is very consistent these days and is playing some of the better snooker of his life and even when he's not playing at his peak he still finds a way to win the matches that you'd feel he should be winning which is a very good trait to have. At the end of the day, this is another of those matches that you'd expect Barry to win and with his form being reasonable and his game always seeming to be in good shape these days, so I'm pretty sure that he'll find a way to win it either the hard or the easy way.


Ryan Day Vs Martin Gould - This encounter also has the making of being an incredibly close one as both Ryan Day and Martin Gould's form is improving and they're looking to get back into the top 16 and this will be a big match to win in terms of ranking for whoever can win it. Both Day and Gould have also played some good snooker this week to get 2 good wins, with both only dropping 2 frames in the process. Of the 2 Gould has probably been scoring slightly better, while Day seemed like he had to battle quite a bit for his win against Mark Williams. I think this match is certain to go the full 9 frames and it will all come down to nerve and possibly stamina. Martin Gould has only had to play 2 amateurs so far and although they have been tough matches on paper he has saved a lot of energy by winning them both quite comfortably and that could be the tiny difference that is needed to win this game.


Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire - Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire have played some pretty good snooker this week and are very evenly matched ahead of this one. Stephen has scored very well so far in 2 very tough matches against Gilbert and White but he has still been pushed fairly close by both. After an easy win on Monday where he didn't have to score, Judd Trump looked in much sharper form today as he had to battle quite a bit up front against Ben Woollaston before eventually filling his boots and pulling away at the end. The head to head for this match points to Maguire but they haven't met in quite some time so that really shouldn't come into play. I tipped Judd Trump at the start of the tournament though and I haven't been shown much to make me change my mind, especially as I'm not sure that Stephen Maguire is much of an early season player.


Cao Yupeng Vs Robin Hull - Both of these 2 players have pulled off 2 wins so far very much against the odds as Yupeng has played well in beating King and Walden, while Robin Hull has been superb in overcoming even tougher opponents in Guodong and Dott. Robin Hull certainly seems to be coming back into some form after his health problems and his showing his heavy scoring off once more, which was particularly highlighted today against Dott as he started with 2 breaks in excess of 130. Cao Yupeng has also played well, but probably not as well as Hull and he probably doesn't share the same consistency as Robin or maybe even that top quality when really at his best. So far this week I'd say that Hull has played the better snooker, against better opponents and in my view I think he'll slightly edge the win and make it to the quarter-finals.


Joe Perry Vs Liang Wenbo - Joe Perry hasn't drop a frame yet in either his Last 64 win or more impressively today in the Last 32 against Robert Milkins scoring very nicely and continuing on from where he left off last season in what was one of the best seasons of his career. He's scored very nicely and if he can keep that up who knows, it may well be his week. Liang Wenbo will certainly have something to say about that after beating world champion Mark Selby today and making 3 centuries in his opening match he's certainly in good form too. However, while Perry has been able to sneak under the radar, all of the pressure will now be on Wenbo to follow up his win from today while Joe will just be able to go about his business as usual as he has been all week with little pressure on him, which could provide him with an edge.




Whoever the winners and losers are tomorrow in the last 16 at the Wuxi Classic you can guarantee we will have a thrilling conclusion to the week and some very good quarter-finals on Friday. I'll be back again tomorrow to round off the Last 16 and look ahead to those quarter-finals.