Day two from Sheffield as the last of the first round matches come to a conclusion. Generally the matches do appear to be going with form but there are nevertheless a few results worth noting…
Afternoon
This afternoon saw the four matches that began yesterday come to a conclusion and unsurprisingly the first man through today was China’s Xiao Guodong who wasted little time taking the two frames needed to complete a 9-1 win over Reanne Evans. Xiao will now meet Michael Judge in what on paper at least is a winnable second round tie…
Soon to join him in a session which favoured the more experienced player were James Wattana and David Gilbert who both converted 5-3 leads into comfortable victories. For David especially it is a good win as he has struggled for form for some time now and with just one win to his name this season, badly needed to get the ball rolling. Will this spur him on to greater things or will Andy Hicks prove too tough an opponent in the next round?
The final match of the session however was somewhat closer as Mark Joyce did just enough to edge out young Welshman Jak Jones to book a tie with Alfie Burden in the second round. Having found the season to be something of a baptism of fire to this point however, it is far from a terrible result for Jak and hopefully a good experience for him over such a distance.
James Wattana 9-4 Kurt Maflin
David Gilbert 9-3 Issara Kachaiwong
Mark Joyce 9-7 Jak Jones
Xiao Guodong 9-1 Reanne Evans
Morning/Evening
The first man through from the morning/evening session matches however was young Adam Wicheard who recorded a perhaps surprisingly easy 9-3 victory over experienced Irishman Joe Delaney to book his place in the second round. To date this season neither player has set the world alight but Joe can usually be relied on to bring his best form to the table over the longer format matches such as these. Not to be today however and Adam will now meet Jimmy White in the next round, a dream for him I would imagine!
Soon to join him was Jack Lisowski who defeated Zhang Anda 9-4 in another match that I had expected to be far closer, particularly given Zhang’s fabulous run to the Crucible from the first round earlier this year. Lisowski however has taken to the tour quickly and on paper at least appeared rarely troubled by his Chinese opponent. Next up for him will be Matt Selt in a match that surely will be far closer…
At the time of writing the other four matches are currently in play but leading 8-4 and 8-6 respectively, both Patrick Wallace and Michael White look well-placed to advance, although as Clive Everton would say, being two up with three to play can be somewhat misleading.
The final two matches meanwhile currently stand at 7-5 to James McBain and Kyren Wilson against Simon Bedford and Paul S Davison respectively. Will be interesting to see whether Kyren can get over the line there…