Martin Gould 4-3 Ricky Walden - An absolutely superb deciding frame break there for Martin Gould. Never looked in any trouble or under any pressure keeping good cue ball control throughout. A finishing contribution of 93 was made in a similar way to the earlier 141 and you have to say he was the better player on the day. If he can keep up that scoring level then he will go far this week having beaten Ricky Walden and Michael White to reach the last 32.
Deciding Frame - With a Walden safety shot leaving a red over the corner for Gould, it's he who has the first chance in decider. The black is in open play and plenty of reds are too so this is already a fantastic chance.
Frame Walden - Once again Walden will be somewhat relieved to be taking this to a decider. Gould battled hard for snookers and at one point he was able to tie the frame but in the end, Walden pots the yellow and Gould was unable to make further inroads. 3-3 here on table 4.
Walden misses a simple enough pink on 44 but it goes pretty much unpunished as Gould only makes 13 before a miss of his own. That allows Walden back and he leaves Gould needing snookers before wobbling the penultimate red. Could be a similar battle to frame four ahead now.
Frame 6 - This match has been very even throughout and that remains the case here. Walden is currently amongst the balls with the best chance of the frame so far. Plenty of reds to play for and colours nice so no reason why this cannot go all the way to a deciding frame.
Frame Gould - What a fine break by Gould. He opened up the balls as and when needed, played a very good plant once the frame was over and the end result is a magnificent 141 break that puts him one away from victory. Exemplary break building. 3-2 Gould
Frame 5 - A long fourth frame does not look to have impacted on Martin Gould. Given an easy starter he is still in and going nicely but will soon need to open up the bunch if he's to take this break any further.
Frame Walden - Relief for Ricky who looked home and dry at one stage in this frame long before it was over. Eventually, he's left an easy yellow and green but still has to endure a shorter battle for snookers on the brown before rolling it home. 2-2 on table 4.
After plenty of energy invested, Gould has gotten the rewards of perseverance. After extracting three misses from Walden he can now win this fourth frame that has gone past the 45 minute mark.
Walden turned the screw from there and despite a couple of half chances for Gould he has left him needing snookers on the final red. Gould hasn't given up though and has been playing on for a while now though is yet to make any headway.
Walden does well to get to 54 but misses a simple enough pink and leaves a half chance for Gould. He only makes 6 though before taking on a tricky red and leaving it in the jaws for Walden who has now built a lead of 56 with just 59 left on, before playing safe.
Frame 4 - After a long safety battle to start this frame Walden is now and has opened things up nicely, giving himself an opportunity to build up a healthy advantage.
Frame Gould - Gould mops up the reds in the middle of the table with no issues making a break of 59 to leave Walden needing a few snookers with two reds left. As much as anything Walden may be playing on to make sure his tip is OK after inspecting it throughout the Gould contribution. 2-1 Gould.
Just as I publish the last update Walden tries a deep screw on the blue on just 8 but mis cues and chips the cue ball straight off the table. That leaves Gould in with the chance that in many ways he'd opened up earlier.
Frame 3 - Walden potted the first red of the frame but missed the blue straight after leaving Gould a chance at a thin red. He misses too though, and in the process spreads the pack of reds everywhere and leaving an absolutely golden chance for Walden.
Frame Walden - Always enjoyable watching Walden build breaks in and around the pink and black, on this occasion he works mainly from the pink and takes full advantage of the earlier let off with a run of 53 to level the contest at 1-1.
Walden gets to 16 before running out of position and taking on a tricky red to the yellow pocket and leaving the same red for Gould but he misses a blue early in the break to let Walden off the hook.
Frame 2 - Gould pots a red after Waldens break off leaves one from distance. However, he takes on a very tough yellow, misses and lets Walden straight in. He's quickly into the reds and this looks a decent opening.
Frame 1 - Martin Gould - After a scrappy start to the frame, the best chance falls to Gould and he puts together a nice break to take the lead. 1-0 Gould
One of the highlight matches of the day coming up next on table 4 as Martin Gould takes on Ricky Walden. Gould overcame Michael White in the first round so won't be too popular with the Welsh fans, while Walden had a comfortable win over Li Yuan. Two players chasing a top 16 return so this should be a tight match.
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