Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and former UK champions Judd Trump and Ding Junhui all survived dramatic last 64 matches in deciding frames to book their places in the last 32, while John Higgins exited in a deciding frame.
O'Sullivan was 4-1 down against 1997 World champion Ken Doherty as Doherty made breaks of 66, 71, 76 and 77 to move well clear of the Rocket. O'Sullivan won the next four though to move ahead 5-4 but Doherty still had the bottle to force a decider. For O'Sullivan though, a run of 56 in the decider was good enough to ensure his passage to round three in York.
Ding Junhui also had to come from behind to defeat Matthew Selt 6-5. In a contest where Ding's highest break was 56 and Selt's 130 break in the third frame was his only break of over 50, Selt took a 3-1 lead at the interval and then moved 4-2 in front after Ding had won the fifth. Ding dominated the next two though to square the tie at 4-4 only for Selt to move ahead once more and Selt had further chances in both of the final two frames but it was Ding who was able to get over the line in the end.
Judd Trump meanwhile survived a spirited fightback from Dominic Dale and recovered from missing match ball to win the match in the tenth frame, by making a deciding frame century to win 6-5. Dale had taken a 2-0 lead but Trump levelled at 2-2 going into the interval after a fourth frame break of 110. Dale would move ahead again at 3-2 before losing all of the next three to trail 5-3. A run of 69 kept him in the tie, before Trump looked to have won it in the tenth. Sensational pots and blue and pink left him needing the final black off it's spot for victory but he failed to convert. Another attempt from distance on his next visit also found the jaws and Dale was able to cut it in to force a final frame. That was when Trump stepped up with an excellent opening red and converting this time by making the match high break of 112 without giving Dale a chance to win.
John Higgins though was not as fortunate, losing his match from 5-3 ahead against fellow Scot Alan McManus and then reiterating that he has lost his motivation for the game after the match.Higgins failed to register a break of above 50 in the entire match, despite winning four frames in a row from 3-1 down to register the 5-3 advantage. McManus fought back though and with a deciding frame break of 85 he secured a valuable victory in his race for tour survival.
Further top 16 players in Luca Brecel and Stuart Bingham both needed deciding frames to book their spots in the last 32. Breaks of 121 and 107 had helped to Bingham 4-0 in front in his match against Kurt Maflin and with an important break of 76 in the seventh he moved 5-2 up and one from victory. Maflin hit back though with runs of 55, 89 and 106 to take the match all the way. Despite chances for the Norweigian at the eleventh hour, it was Bingham that came through.
Brecel needed a final frame decider to win his match with Liam Highfield, who lost a decider 12 months earlier at this stage to eventual runner-up Shaun Murphy - a potentially good omen for Brecel. After a break of 56 gave Highfield the opener, Brecel then struck three consecutive centuries with a 135, 109 and 101 putting him 3-1 ahead. Highfield took the next two though to level the match at 3-3 despite the brilliance of Brecel. After then falling 4-3 adrift, the Belgian struck back with a run of 97 to level at 4-4. Highfield had chances in the ninth but Brecel won that, only for Highfield to win a tight tenth frame, but Brecel ultimately shut Highfield out in the final frame to book his last 32 spot.
Two time UK Champion Neil Robertson won six straight frames from 3-0 down against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to come through 6-3. Thepchaiya had made a century of his own in the opening three frames, but had to watch as Robertson made breaks of 137, 117, 101, 84, 78 and 68 in the six frames he won on the bounce.
Progress was more comfortable though for world champion Mark Williams and the man he beat in the Sheffield semi-finals Barry Hawkins, as both secured whitewash wins, while both 2018 Masters finalists Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson were 6-2 victors to move into round three at the Barbican.
Last 64 results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Ken Doherty
Zhou Yuelong 6-4 Mark Davis
Marco Fu 6-2 Luo Honghao
Jack Lisowski 6-1 Mei Xiwen
Tian Pengfei 6-2 Jimmy Robertson
Martin O'Donnell 6-2 Chen Feilong
Xiao Guodong 6-3 Ben Woollaston
Ding Junhui 6-5 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 6-5 Dominic Dale
Mark King 6-2 Li Hang
Joe O'Connor 6-3 Andrew Higginson
Joe Perry 6-1 Michael Holt
Lu Ning 6-4 Mark Joyce
Luca Brecel 6-5 Liam Highfield
Tom Ford 6-5 Robert Milkins
Alan McManus 6-5 John Higgins
Akani Songsermsawad 6-5 James Cahill
Jak Jones 6-5 Joe Swail
Stuart Bingham 6-5 Kurt Maflin
David Gilbert 6-4 Peter Ebdon
Yan Bingtao 6-1 Paul Davison
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Mike Dunn
Gary Wilson 6-3 Sam Baird
Barry Hawkins 6-0 Ian Burns
Mark Allen 6-2 Rory McLeod
Hossein Vafei 6-4 Martin Gould
Neil Robertson 6-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Graeme Dott 6-2 Matthew Stevens
Ali Carter 6-4 Chris Wakelin
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Scott Donaldson
Noppon Saengkham 6-0 Rod Lawler
Mark Williams 6-0 Daniel Wells
Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Zhou Yuelong
Marco Fu Vs Jack Lisowski
Martin O'Donnell Vs Tian Pengfei
Ding Junhui Vs Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump Vs Mark King
Joe Perry Vs Joe O'Connor
Luca Brecel Vs Lu Ning
Tom Ford Vs Alan McManus
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Jak Jones
Stuart Bingham Vs David Gilbert
Kyren Wilson Vs Yan Bingtao
Barry Hawkins Vs Gary Wilson
Mark Allen Vs Hossein Vafei
Neil Robertson Vs Graeme Dott
Stephen Maguire Vs Ali Carter
Mark Williams Vs Noppon Saengkham
Selected Monday Match Previews:
Ronnie O'Sullivan will kick off the last 32 action in York by taking on Zhou Yuelong for the second successive event. O'Sullivan was a comfortable winner against Zhou when the pair met at the last 16 stage of the Northern Ireland, with Zhou not really ever looking like beating O'Sullivan and that may well be the case again here. O'Sullivan has dodged a big bullet to come through 6-5 against Ken Doherty, but he did the same at the last 16 stage against Akani Songsermsawad 12 months ago and still went on to win the title, so by no means does this necessarily make him more vulnerable. Zhou is a dangerous player as we know and scored a good 6-4 victory against English Open runner-up Mark Davis on Saturday, so if he can bring his best against O'Sullivan then he will provide a difficult test.
Kyren Wilson takes on Yan Bingtao in another exciting last 32 match on Monday afternoon. Wilson did not look at his absolute best against Mike Dunn in the previous round, despite recovering from losing the opening two frames to win the next six in a row. Yan meanwhile has also only dropped a couple of frames in his first two matches against Lukas Kleckers and Paul Davison, yet he has hardly looked in world beating form, with no breaks of above 50 against Davison. His scoring was much better against Kleckers in the opening round and we all know how dangerous Yan can be on his day. A year on from his final in Northern Ireland though, he has not quite kicked on as we might have expected, but still a very young man, he has plenty of time on his side and could soon have a very deep run at this tournament if he were to defeat Wilson. Wilson though, is starting to develop a taste for these big matches in big tournaments so expect him to be close to the top of his game against Yan.
On Monday evening, world champion Mark Williams faces a tough task against Thailand's Noppon Saengkham. The last meeting between these two was at the semi-final stage of the World Open this summer, with Noppon taking a 5-2 lead before losing his way and Williams ultimately came through 6-5. Both players have had an easy passage to the last 32 this week, Noppon losing a frame to Hamza Akbar and then whitewashing Rod Lawler and only conceding 50 points in the whole match. Williams meanwhile was a 6-2 winner against Adam Duffy and then was a whitewash winner himself against Daniel Wells, who ran out of steam after a dramatic first round victory. Make no mistake, Saengkham provides an enormous threat to Williams and is now on the verge of a place in the world's top 32. He is a very heavy scorer and well capable of taking advantage if Williams is not quite at his best, which he has not necessarily been in the last three or four tournaments leading up to this. Saengkham in my view has a great opportunity here to avenge his heart-breaking World Open loss from earlier in the season here.
Finally, one of the picks on Monday's play sees another meeting between Stephen Maguire and Ali Carter. In what has to be considered as the Chinese equivalent of this event, the International Championship, Maguire and Carter have met at the last 32 stage for three successive years, with Carter winning every single one. For this match though, there are two conflicting records at play here as Carter has won five of their last six meetings, including the three at the International Championship. To make that six wins from seven meetings though, Carter will have to do something no one has been able to do since 2003 - beat Maguire prior to the last 16 stage in the UK Championships with Paul Hunter the last man to achieve that 15 years ago. Maguire's UK record is impeccable since winning the title in 2004 and he was a semi-finalist again last year before losing to O'Sullivan. The pair this week have played the exact same amount of frames, securing 6-3 last 128 wins against Simon Lichtenberg and Thor Chuan Leong, before 6-4 last 64 wins for Maguire against Scott Donaldson and for Carter against Chris Wakelin. Overall, there really is very little to separate these two and that will more than likely be the case on the night as well.
Selected Tuesday match previews:
Tuesday afternoon looks like one of the sessions of the tournament with some of the names in action and the match-ups to look forward to. The action starts with an exciting clash between Marco Fu and Jack Lisowski for the right to face Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 16. These two met at the same stage of the recent International Championship with Lisowski winning that one 6-3 and it is the left-hander who is in by far the better form of the two so far this season. Fu did not play badly in that 6-3 loss by any means but Lisowski was still too strong for him on the day and that could be the case again this time at the Barbican. Fu is showing signs of improvement though with two comfortable wins so far this week and the tournament high break of 144, so expect this one to be a bit of a tighter battle than it was in Daqing.
Then there is another cracking contest that is not on the TV table as Stuart Bingham faces David Gilbert. Bingham had to really hold on for dear life in the last 64 as he watched Kurt Maflin come from 4-0 and 5-2 adrift to force a decider, before Bingham ultimately came through 6-5. Gilbert meanwhile came through a tough clash with Peter Ebdon by winning 6-4 and his scoring in that match was exceptional with the small matter of four century breaks coming from him. Both players have had good seasons, with Bingham winning the English Open and Gilbert making the World Open final and coming into this tournament from a quarter-final in Northern Ireland and he is just ahead of his opponent here on the one-season money list, such is his form. If Gilbert scores as well as he did against Ebdon and takes his chances as clinically then he is certainly going to be hard to beat here.
Then on the TV table there is a 2010 world final repeat between Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott. So far this week, Robertson has had to fight back from 3-0 down to defeat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-3 with some unreal scoring in the second half of the match given the early deficit. The slow start he got off to tough must be a slight worry given his performances in Belfast recently as he went 3-1 and 3-0 down before winning those first two matches 4-3 only to lose 4-0 in the last 32. As for Dott, he has started the week well if slightly under the radar with 6-2 victories over Oliver Lines and Matthew Stevens, who recently made the International Championship semi-finals of course. Dott also took Robertson out at this stage of the UK Championships a few years ago so it would not be a big surprise to see that happen again. One thing Dott will have to do is shut out Robertson, because his scoring has been too good this season to give him many clear cut chances.
In the evening, Mark Allen faces Hossein Vafei. The Masters champion has had a nice start in York with 6-2 wins over Basem Eltahhan and Rory McLeod but this match against Hossein will be by far his biggest test so far. Hossein was fortunate in the end to get through his first round game having given away a 5-3 lead to eventually beat Ashley Hugill in a decider, before then defeating former ranking event winner Martin Gould 6-4 in round two. It has been a quiet season so far for the Iranian but he has showed on occasions in the past that he is well capable of beating the top players but he will need to be on top form if he is to defeat Allen. The Masters and recent International champion is on fine form at the moment and scored for fun in that win out in Daqing a few weeks ago, the sort of scoring that was impossible to beat and would be very difficult to stop if he gets that going again in York, as he seeks to add another triple crown title to his CV after that excellent Masters win in January.
Finally, Ding Junhui takes on Xiao Guodong in an exciting all-Chinese clash. Ding really had to battle hard and was nowhere near his free-scoring best in a 6-5 victory over Matthew Selt in round two, while Xiao Guodong has been scoring well, despite being pushed close against Sean O'Sullivan where Xiao came from behind to win 6-4. Then in the last 64 Xiao recovered from losing two early close frames to win 6-3 with some more good breaks. When these two have met previously it has been one-way traffic towards Ding, with Xiao's only win in six attempts coming in their first meeting back in 2009. They met at this year's World Championship with Ding winning 10-3 and the aggregate score from their last three meetings is 21-5 in Ding's favour. Given how poor Ding looked in the last 64 though and the fact that he is playing a reduced schedule since the addition to his family in the summer, this may be one of Xiao's better chances to score a victory against the Chinese number one.
The last 32 matches will be played over Monday and Tuesday and will again be contested over the best-of-11 frames at the York Barbican, while the guaranteed prize money will improve from £10,000 for making the last 32, to £15,000 for making the last 16.
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