Day Three of this year’s China Open has proved to be the most dramatic of the event so far as although the seeds again dominated, many were pushed all the way and some found themselves upset…
Click here to view the updated provisional rankings, full story to follow…
Results from Global Snooker:
Match 1 – Peter Ebdon 5-4 Judd Trump
107(40,55)-0, 82-1, 29-85(50), 91(60)-27, 36-70, 23-56, 130(130)-03, 54-55, 88(37)-1
Match 6 – Stephen Hendry 5-2 Andrew Higginson
74(55)-64, 55-63, 132(132)-0, 0-62, 77(73)-8, 75(42)-8, 70(69)-22
Match 10 – Mark King 5-4 James Wattana
28-72(67), 33-80(43), 71(71)-0, 38-72(52), 54-47, 53-75, 90(74)-0, 82(56)-39(38), 100(100)-35(35)
Match 12 – Ali Carter 5-1 Liu Chuang
75(68)-1, 82(52)-14, 73(53)-48, 35-62(57), 84(41)-0, 66-34
Match 4 – Mark Selby 5-2 Rod Lawler
27-76(56), 64(49)-37(37), 104(47,57)-22, 4-115(73), 85(79)-50(50), 66(46)-27, 67(67)-59(59)
Match 9 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 3-5 Tian Pengfei
93(93)-37, 36-66, 77(77)-1, 59(59)-60(35), 62(61)-63(63), 71(62)-17, 48(48)-87(87), 63-57
Match 11 – Joe Perry 5-1 Tony Drago
126(58,68)-0, 96(75)-19, 68(38)-40(40), 62(34)-30, 53(53)-70, 73(46)-139
Match 13 – Shaun Murphy 2-5 Nigel Bond
106(76)-20, 131(127)-21, 42-53, 1-124(79), 16-63(59), 37(37)-80(46), 26-69
Where else to start than with the news that world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan has crashed out of the tournament at the first hurdle, losing to Chinese wildcard Tian Pengfei today. Unfortunately I was not able to see the match but judging by the thoughts of fans over at The Snooker Forum and other reports available on the net, it would appear that his performance was somewhat carefree, much like that here a couple of years ago when he went down 5-4 to Marco Fu.
It is interesting to see the reactions of users on sites such as TSF, particularly regarding that final missed black which some have suggested must have been deliberate. Personally I don’t think that he would have missed it on purpose, though it is fair to say that he is not at his happiest overseas and probably did not play as he would have done had it been the World Championship at the Crucible.
As well as representing his first defeat at the last 32 stage of a ranking event since that defeat to Marco Fu here in 2008, the result also means that Ronnie will now definitely lose his world number one ranking at the end of the season, being replaced by 2009 world champion John Higgins.
For Tian Pengfei meanwhile the result is a brilliant one, even if he did look to be a touch bewildered at the conclusion of the match! Through to face Mark King in the next round following his 5-4 victory over James Wattana today, he will be fancying his chances of a surprise quarter-final appearance, though King is far from an easy draw.
Elsewhere I had predicted in my tournament preview that as two players desperately in need of a win this week, both Peter Ebdon and Joe Perry would progress and they did not let me down – though not without a scare in Peter’s case! Yes the defending champion was pushed all the way by young Judd Trump in what was a rematch of their UK Championship match, but the outcome was the same as Peter came through to move himself up to 17th provisionally, well within range of a place in the top 16 at the end of the campaign.
Joe Perry meanwhile had a much easier ride, seeing off the in-form Tony Drago 5-1 to win his first match since the UK Championship and move up to 21st in the provisional rankings. Still 3,000 points away from 16th placed Jamie Cope at the moment, he faces an uphill struggle to retain his place inside the top 16 but at least he is playing well now and with a good run at the Crucible and here could still do it.
The other big shock of the day came from Nigel Bond who saw off world number three Shaun Murphy, taking the last five frames from 2-0 down. While the victory does move him up four places, Nigel will still struggle to stay in the top 32 but at least he has given his one-year tally a further boost which will be important next season. Shaun however drops to 7th in the provisional list and can just sit and watch as those around him gain points this week.
Otherwise the matches went largely to form, seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry overpowering Andrew Higginson with breaks of 132, 73, 69 and 66 to record his fifth last 32 win from five this season while Ali Carter, a man not renowned for his strong performances in China, also eased through against Liu Chuang.
Finally Mark Selby, playing his first competitive match since the China Open, also came through with a good 5-2 victory over Rod Lawler. Incidentally fans of Mark should take a look at his website which contains an excellent blog, regularly updated and interesting to read. Many players could take a leaf out of his book when it comes to interacting with the fans and promoting the game.
Roll on tomorrow, as stated by Dave Hendon on his blog, the TV matches will be Tian v King and Fu v Bond in the morning, Higgins v Williams and Selby v Ding later on…