Roewe Shanghai Masters 2008: Day Two – O’Sullivan through as Hendry and White falter

Day two comes to a close in Shanghai with Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Neil Robertson and Mark King the seeded players involved. Click below to read how they fared in the evening session:

Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Stuart Pettman

Ronnie O’Sullivan came through his first round match with Stuart Pettman comfortably enough, though he was never at his best during their encounter.

Indeed Pettman should have taken the opening frame but a poor miss on one of the last remaining reds allowed O’Sullivan in to lead 1-0. The same looked like happening in frame two before O’Sullivan himself made a mistake. Pettman this time took his chance and was able to draw level at 1-1. The next two frames before the interval were also shared, Pettman making a nice 116 break to make it 2-2 as O’Sullivan continued to make hard work of the match.

This did not stop the world number 1 from taking the next frame however and after that point Pettman never really got back into it, O’Sullivan finishing off the job in frame seven to move into the next round. There he will face Joe Perry, the man who beat him recently in the Premier League so it is safe to say that he will need to up his game for that one.

Ricky Walden 5-4 Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry became the highest ranked player to crash out of the tournament so far as he lost a close fight with the in-form Ricky Walden this evening.

Hendry started off well, making breaks of 71 and 31 to take the first frame before Walden hit back to move into a 2-1 lead as the Scot began to make a few errors. Walden had a chance to move 3-1 ahead at the interval but when he failed to take it, Stephen got him in a tricky snooker from which he left a free ball. Hendry took full advantage to make it 2-2 at the interval.

When play resumed, frame five was a tactical battle as the balls ran very awkward, a cluster of six reds on the side-cushion proving to be particularly difficult. Hendry remained patient however and eventually managed to get enough points on the board to lead 3-2.

Things were soon to turn around however as with Hendry struggling to perform consistently, Walden began to take his chances, levelling the match at 3-3 with a nice break of 104 before moving just one frame away from the match at 4-3.

At 50-0 up in the eighth he looked set to take it there and then but Hendry, who was apparently struggling at this point produced a marvellous clearance, highlighted by a great shot on the final green to free the blue that was tight to the side-cushion, and 4-4 it was.

In the decider however it was Ricky’s turn to impress as he did not give Stephen a chance. A tremendous break of 77 under pressure gave him the match and what will be a sweet victory over the seven-times world champion who although not at his best these days, is still a tough player to beat.

Hendry must now reflect on his second defeat in two ranking event matches this season as he continues to struggle for form. Next in action on his home turf in Glasgow at the Grand Prix, hopefully he can raise his level because he needs a win sooner rather than later…

Robertson rolls on

Ricky Walden meanwhile can look forward to a match in the last 16 with Australia’s Neil Robertson who today beat Fergal O’Brien 5-2. Another player out of form recently, it is good to see Robertson get a win under his belt and it will be interesting to see if he can build on it against Walden. Provisionally ranked at number 23, another win would be more than welcome for Neil.

Jimmy’s run ends as King reigns in Shanghai

Jimmy White’s fine run in Shanghai came to an end today as he too lost out in a deciding frame shootout to Mark King. White will be particularly disappointed he led the match 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 but could not see it through as King showed why he is now in the top 16. White’s ranking will be significantly improved at least while Mark goes on to meet Mark Selby, the player he beat at the World Championships this year, in the next round.