John Higgins was the biggest name casualty on day three of the European Masters as he lost out 4-1 to Mark Davis.
Davis has a good record against Higgins, though the Scotsman was in great form coming into the clash and he won the opening frame on the black to lead 1-0. Things did not go his way from there on though as 30th seed found his game. A run of 53 levelled the match and he was soon 2-1 ahead. There was to be no let up either, as he ended up taking the final two frames in one visit thanks to an 80 in the fourth frame and a closing 92.
World number one Mark Selby was able to scrape through in a tough test against young Lu Haotian. Lu opened up in style with a one visit 88 to lead, but Selby pegged him straight back with an 89 that fell just short of making it his fifth century in his last five frames won after Tuesday's heroics. The 19-year-old was soon back in front though making an 84 to keep the high scoring going and when he was on 62 in the fourth frame he looked like moving 3-1 in front. However, his miss left the world champion in for an excellent 68 clearance that levelled the contest and got Selby out of jail.
Lu was unfazed though and took the lead for a third time at 3-2 with a run of 74 and he had an early chance in frame six before taking on a risky red to the middle. Selby took full advantage of this lifeline making another big break, this time a 111, and taking the match the full distance. The deciding frame did not take on the heavy scoring trend of the previous six, but was still very entertaining and edgy. Lu took an early lead but then left Selby a golden chance with three reds remaining and he looked like clearing well once more until missing match ball brown into the middle. It did not cost him in the end though as he won the safety battle that followed and was able to do enough to survive another decider and make it into the last 16.
Things also got close for defending champion Judd Trump in his match with Martin O'Donnell. O'Donnell won the opening frame courtesy of a 70 before Trump levelled with a ton but this did not sway the match in his favour. O'Donnell went on to take frames three and four to open up a 3-1 advantage and move a frame away from victory. Trump answered emphatically with his second century of the tie to stay in it and would go on to dominate the final two frames and keep his defence going.
Home favourite Luca Brecel meanwhile had a much less nervy time, having already come through two deciding frames this week himself. This time out against Chris Wakelin he made breaks of 75 and 71 but was still not quite at his best, but did more than enough to secure a 4-1 victory.
A much more accomplished display was that of Neil Robertson's in the all-Vegan clash against Peter Ebdon. Robertson was aided by runs of 57 and 61 in taking the first two frames before coming from behind to run 3-0 ahead. Much as in the last 64 he looked in top scoring form and confirmed that by piling on a 129 break to clinch the match and get into the last 16 without the loss of a frame in Lommel so far.
He will now face Mark Williams who recovered from a slow start to see off Ross Muir. The Scot took an early 2-0 lead before Williams clicked into gear, making breaks of 101 and 74 on the way to winning the next three frames while only conceding eight points in the process. A match high 53 from Muir helped him come from behind to stay in the match and force a decider, but after a nervy final frame it was not to be for the lower ranked player and the in-form Welshman progressed.
Also on the day, Mark Allen kept his good recent form going with a 4-1 victory over Alan McManus which featured a 141 break to go with a 145 from the last 64 which still stands as the high break of the week. Jack Lisowski saw off Joe Perry 4-2 for a good win that has set up a last 16 date with the world champion, while Anthony McGill cruised past Alfie Burden a 4-0 winner.
There was also further joy for Billy Castle who came through another decider to beat Aditya Mehta and make his first ever round of 16 as a professional. He will now face Cao Yupeng who won a battle between two of the form men from lower in the rankings, 4-2 over Ken Doherty to get into the last 16 for the second tournament in a row.
Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Judd Trump Vs David Gilbert
Mark Allen Vs Ben Woollaston
Neil Robertson Vs Mark Williams
Cao Yupeng Vs Billy Castle
Anthony McGill Vs Mark Davis
Zhou Yuelong Vs Peter Lines
Stuart Bingham Vs Luca Brecel
Mark Selby Vs Jack Lisowski
Starting with Trump and Gilbert, the latter has been in good form of late making consecutive quarter-finals at the Indian Open and World Open and of course a win here would make that three on the bounce. Much like Trump his win today featured three centuries and he has been scoring heavily, including when he took out Higgins in Yushan which shows he has wins against the top players in him. Trump will not be easy to beat though if he is scoring well too and it could make for a great contest.
At the opposite end of the draw, Selby survived a scare in the last 32 but he was still playing well in that match and is scoring very nicely which is going to make him incredibly hard to beat. Even with a winning head to head record from five matches with Selby, Lisowski is in for a tough task from the outset and the only thing that favours him is the best-of-7 frames format which seems to suit him much more than anything else.
Allen and Woollaston should also be a good match with Allen on top scoring form and Woollaston making two centuries in a 4-3 win over Gerard Greene. If he is to beat this Northern Irishman though he will need to take full advantage of every chance he gets because Allen is in fine form and is another player I think will really take some beating this week.
Stuart Bingham has gone under the radar a little this week but has a 4-0 win over Graeme Dott to his name, and Brecel has not had his best game so far and may be feeling the pressure of being on home turf.
Peter Lines has every chance against Zhou Yuelong if he can grind the young Chinese player down in a similar way that he did to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Cao Yupeng is someone I think will carry on his improved start to the season and go a step further than Yushan by reaching the quarter-finals.
Neil Robertson and Mark Williams is another of the ties of the round. Williams has had a good start to the season, while Robertson has flown through his two matches this week so far and looks to be on top scoring form which always makes him a huge name in the draw.
All last 16 matches will be played on Thursday over the best-of-7 frames, over two tables which means each game will be on either a TV table or Eurosport Player streamed table, and it certainly sets up for some entertaining contests.
No comments:
Post a Comment