Defending Indian Open champion John Higgins has eased into the last 32 of this season's Indian Open after a 4-0 whitewash of Duane Jones in Kochi.
Higgins won the last staging of the event back in 2017, after this season's event was postponed from September 2018 to this week. The Scotsman came through his heldover last 128 tie against Ashley Hugill 4-1 on Wednesday, before the win over Jones, which featured breaks of 71 and 121 - with Jones only managing 11 points in the opening three frames and 49 points in the match overall as Higgins dominated things from start to finish.
The only other former winner that started the week in Kochi has been defeated however, as 2015 champion Michael White lost out 4-2 to James Cahill. An amateur top-up he may be, but Cahill can add this victory to wins over the likes of Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy in the 2018/2019 season.
Murphy is one of just four current members of the world's top 16 that are into the last 32. The 2005 world champion has been struggling for form for much of the season but has started the week with two victories, defeating Lucky Vatnani in his heldover last 128 tie, before a 4-2 win over Lee Walker which he finished off well with a break of 93 despite looking vulnerable in the first half of the match.
Two top 16 players have exited at the last 64 stage though, as David Gilbert and Jack Lisowski both crashed out in deciding frames having led by two frames at least once in their respective matches. Gilbert looked to be cruising against Elliot Slessor as he led 3-1 and was on a break of 48 in the fifth frame, before letting his opponent back into things. After winning that frame, Slessor would then add breaks of 64 and 69 in the final two frames to complete the turnaround.
As for Lisowski, he led Joe Swail 2-0 and 3-2 in a match that would eventually be decided on the final black. Lisowski made a match high break of 84 in that second frame but squandered opportunities in frames three and four as Swail levelled the match at 2-2. A break of 67 was enough for Lisowski to go back ahead 3-2 but again he missed chances in frame six, but much more crucially in the final frame he had the chance to clear the final colours, but failed to get on the black on the bottom cushion, after potting the pink into the middle. His safety shot was very poor, leaving the black close to the corner but not easy for Swail, but the Northern Irishman held his nerve for a crucial victory in terms of his tour survival hopes.
Joining Murphy and Higgins in the last 32 to represent the top 16 are Stuart Bingham and Luca Brecel. Bingham secured a 4-1 win over Peter Lines on Wednesday with two breaks of 83 in the final three frames of that clash. Brecel meanwhile completed a whitewash of Ian Burns with a high break of 60.
Zhou Yuelong became the latest player to make a 147 maximum break. He achieved the feat in frame four of his match against Lu Haotian, though he would eventually go on to lose the match in a deciding frame.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh picked up from where he left off in Watford, by defeating Michael Holt for the second time in just a few days. Un-Nooh made breaks of 56, 83 and 95 while Holt made his own break of 102 in the process of levelling the match at 2-2 from 2-0 down, but ultimately the Shoot-Out winner would prevail against the runner-up in Watford by a 4-2 scoreline.
Last 64 results:
John Higgins 4-0 Duane Jones
Hossein Vafei 4-3 Dominic Dale
James Cahill 4-2 Michael White
Elliot Slessor 4-3 David Gilbert
Joe Perry 4-1 Ashley Carty
Li Hang W/O Hamza Akbar
Peter Ebdon 4-3 Ben Woollaston
Sam Craigie 4-3 Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham 4-1 Peter Lines
John Astley 4-1 Gary Wilson
Lu Ning 4-1 Liam Highfield
Yan Bingtao 4-3 Gerard Greene
Joe Swail 4-3 Jack Lisowski
Matthew Selt 4-2 Tom Ford
Oliver Lines 4-1 Fergal O'Brien
Soheil Vahedi 4-3 Robin Hull
Andy Hicks 4-2 Li Yuan
Eden Sharav 4-3 Michael Georgiou
Luke Simmonds 4-0 Mei Xiwen
Lu Haotian 4-3 Zhou Yuelong
Graeme Dott W/O Alexander Ursenbacher
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-2 Michael Holt
Mark Davis 4-0 Paul Davison
Yuan Sijun 4-1 Thor Chuan Leong
Luca Brecel 4-0 Ian Burns
Andrew Higginson 4-0 Digvijay Kadian
Scott Donaldson 4-0 Jimmy Robertson
Craig Steadman 4-3 Zhang Yong
Zhao Xintong 4-2 Sam Baird
Anthony Hamilton 4-2 Rory McLeod
Chris Wakelin 4-3 Stuart Carrington
Shaun Murphy 4-2 Lee Walker
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in bold)
John Higgins Vs Hossein Vafei
Elliot Slessor Vs James Cahill
Joe Perry Vs Li Hang
Peter Ebdon Vs Sam Craigie
Stuart Bingham Vs John Astley
Yan Bingtao Vs Lu Ning
Matthew Selt Vs Joe Swail
Oliver Lines Vs Soheil Vahedi
Andy Hicks Vs Eden Sharav
Lu Haotian Vs Luke Simmonds
Graeme Dott Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark Davis Vs Yuan Sijun
Luca Brecel Vs Andrew Higginson
Scott Donaldson Vs Craig Steadman
Zhao Xintong Vs Anthony Hamilton
Shaun Murphy Vs Chris Wakelin
Despite the lack of really big name players the last 32 in Kochi still has plenty of big matches in store.
Starting with the defending champion John Higgins, who faces recent Welsh Open semi-finalist Hossein Vafei. The Iranian is clearly capable of defeating Higgins, especially over a best-of-7 frame format, the same format over which he defeated Mark Selby in Cardiff at the last 16 stage. Higgins though looks like he is coming back to some sort of form after a run to the quarter-finals in Wales himself, while starting this week with two easy victories. Hossein meanwhile netted a 4-3 win over Dominic Dale in round one so has already been tested this week and you would not expect him to give Higgins an easy ride here at all.
Peter Ebdon will face Sam Craigie in a very intriguing tie. Both came through deciding frames in round one, as Ebdon defeated Ben Woollaston while Craigie was victorious against Liang Wenbo. In recent times, Ebdon has reached the last 16 of the German Masters, while Craigie showed good form at the Welsh Open, coming within a frame of beating Jack Lisowski to reach the last 16 there. If Craigie scores as heavily as he can and looks as good as he has done of late, then he has an excellent chance of making it through to the last 16 of a ranking event for just the second time.
Stuart Bingham takes on John Astley for a place in the last 16. Bingham has also been in good form recently, making the Shoot-Out quarter-finals as well as the final of the Welsh Open and with that in mind he will not be outside of the top two favourites for the title as long as he remains in the event. Astley was a surprising 4-1 winner against Gary Wilson on Wednesday in round one. Astley has not pulled up any trees this season with his efforts and did not actually record a 50+ break against Wilson in that victory, so will need to score better if he is to get anything for his efforts against Bingham.
Yan Bingtao is very lucky to still be in the event, after surviving a big scare and eventually winning 4-3 on the final black against Gerard Greene. Now he faces an all-Chinese clash against Lu Ning, who defeated Liam Highfield 4-1 in round one and is eyeing yet another last 16 appearance, after making that round of the UK Championships and the Northern Ireland Open, having just regained his tour card at the start of the season. Yan has not showed the same form that he wowed the snooker world with in his first couple of seasons out on tour but has still played solidly this year, but he will be vulnerable in this one if Lu produces some of his heavy scoring.
One of the ties of the round is that of former world champion Graeme Dott and last week's Shoot Out winner Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Dott has not actually had to play yet out in Kochi after Alexander Ursenbacher failed to show up for their last 64 tie on Thursday, while Thepchaiya won the repeat of Sunday's final in Watford 4-2 against Michael Holt and continuing to look in excellent form. This match is a big challenge for Dott who has not had as good a season as he enjoyed last season, but his quality is unquestionable. The worry for his fans is that, having not played yet out in the arena, he may take a frame or two to get used to conditions in Kochi, which judging by the scoring this week are not absolutely perfect. By that time, with the way Un-Nooh is playing, the Thai may have left Dott behind and gone well ahead in the match.
Yuan Sijun and Mark Davis is another great tie. Davis of course was a ranking finalist this season in Crawley, while Yuan has impressed with a series of wins against big name players, as well as reaching two ranking quarter-finals, most recently at the World Grand Prix. Both players had easy wins in round one, with Davis defeating Paul Davison 4-0, while Yuan ran out a 4-1 winner against Thor Chuan Leong. Interestingly, both players finished strongly as English Open runner-up Davis closed his match out with a break of 140, while Yuan sealed his win with an equally good 137. This one is another tight match to call, but the fearless Yuan may well prevail once again and continue his impressive 2018/2019 campaign.
Luca Brecel will be hoping for a much-needed big week, as he faces Andrew Higginson in the last 32. Both men were 4-0 winners in round one here as Brecel defeated Ian Burns, while Higginson finished with a century, but also had to win a couple of frames on the colours in his win over Digvijay Kadian. Higginson has been a very hit and miss player for some time now, producing excellent matches mixed in with unexpected defeats, making him one of the hardest players on tour to predict. Brecel meanwhile has been below par for much of the season and is still on a run of not having made a ranking event quarter-final since November 2017. With Higginson to play here before a tie with Craig Steadman or Scott Donaldson in the last 16 if he does go through, this is an opportunity for the Belgian to break that duck. By the same token though, the absence of top players is little consolation if it is not the top players that you have been slipping up against in the first place.
The same could be said for Shaun Murphy as he looks to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for just the third time this season. His previous runs were at the China Championship where he fell at that last 16 stage, while in Scotland he was a losing finalist. Aside from that week in Glasgow though there has been little to shout about for Murphy this season and despite his two victories already this week in Kochi, he still does not look comfortable out on the baize. After a loss in China Open qualifying and in the last 64 of the Welsh Open, he will be looking to put results together and try to gain some confidence back, in a similar way to how he did in Glasgow in December. His opponent in the last 32 is Chris Wakelin who defeated Stuart Carrington 4-3 in a match that ended almost on the dot of 1am on Friday in Kochi, which may give Murphy a slight advantage since his match was played in the opening half of the evening session. Wakelin though defeated Murphy 6-0 in the China Open just under a year ago now, so he is more than capable of inflicting another early exit on to to the former champion of the world.
The last 32 matches will be played over the best-of-7 frames on Friday, before a bumper day of snooker on Saturday when the last 16 and quarter-finals will take place, so there is plenty of action to come over the next three days in India.
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