Just one win away from a place in Telford, the 32 players involved during the next couple of days will be trying their utmost to get the job done and one man who has impressed all week is Mark Joyce, a late night winner against Marcus Campbell last night and now well-placed against Steve Davis following a good morning session…
Evening Session
Matthew Stevens 9-5 Rob Milkins
Gerard Greene 2-9 Tom Ford
Martin Gould 9-8 James Wattana
Stephen Lee 9-4 Dave Gilbert
Steve Davis 2-9 Mark Joyce
Judd Trump 9-7 Xiao Guodong
First qualifier through to the last 32 this evening is Leicester’s Tom Ford who won the three frames he needed in under an hour to complete a comprehensive 9-2 victory against Gerard Greene. The result consolidates Tom’s position inside the top 32 and secures him a re-match with Mark Allen on Saturday who he lost to in the opening round of this year’s World Championship in Sheffield. On that occasion Tom just could not reproduce his form from the qualifiers and was made to look quite poor by Mark, but the Northern Irishman has not quite found his form so far this season and could find it to be a tougher contest this time around.
Soon to follow Tom is Mark Joyce, a shock 9-2 winner against Steve Davis, wasting no time in taking the three frames required on their resumption this evening. Having fallen out of the top 64 at the last seedings revision, to come here and defeat Jak Jones, Alfie Burden, Marcus Campbell (9-8 from 7-5 down), and now Steve Davis is very impressive indeed. Up to 54th on my latest list with very little to defend between now and May, there is every chance that Mark could move up into the top 48 in the near future if he can maintain this level of consistency.
For Steve meanwhile the result is one that means that he will now be ranked no higher than 40th following the post-tournament seedings revision, meaning that he will now have to win two qualifying matches in the next two events if he is to appear at the venue stages. Is this the beginning of the end for Steve or will he bounce back yet again?
The next men through to the venue stages are Matthew Stevens and Stephen Lee, both comfortable winners this evening against Robert Milkins and David Gilbert respectively. Whilst I had expected Robert to win a few more frames than the five that he did, Matthew has been in pretty decent form this season and at the time of writing at least shoots up four places to 19th in the latest seedings list. He will now face defending champion Ding Junhui in Telford while Lee will meet the returning John Higgins in what is bound to be a fascinating clash.
It feels like it has been a while since we have seen Judd at a venue but he will be making an appearance in Telford after a tense 9-7 victory against talented Chinese youngster Xiao Guodong this evening. It was tight throughout but the two frame cushion that Judd opened up to lead 6-4 this evening ultimately gave him the breathing space required and was a gap that he could maintain to the conclusion of the match. Judd will now face Jamie Cope in the last 32 while Xiao has at least ensured that he will move up the rankings to 68th (at the time of writing).
And the last man through today is somehow Martin Gould who came through what looked to be a thrilling clash with Thailand’s best ever player James Wattana following a deciding frame. All night Martin seemed to trail, first 5-4, then 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 but when it mattered it was the Pinner Potter who came through to take the final two frames and book a last 32 clash with Graeme Dott in the process. Spare a thought for James though, it was a great effort from him to reach the venue having started way back in the first round but he couldn’t quite manage to get over the line.
Afternoon Session
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Fergal O’Brien
Stuart Bingham 5-3 Peter Lines
Ken Doherty 5-3 Rod Lawler
Ricky Walden 4-4 Liu Chaung
The afternoon session was almost as close as the morning session as although Fergal O’Brien could do nothing to stop Barry Hawkins securing a 6-2 overnight lead, the other matches all remain hard to call. Former world champion Ken Doherty leads Rod Lawler by a couple of frames at 5-3 in what is proving to be a slow match, while Liu Chuang is continuing his strong form by holding Ricky Walden to a 4-4 scoreline.
Morning Session
Matthew Stevens 4-4 Rob Milkins
Gerard Greene 2-6 Tom Ford
Martin Gould 4-4 James Wattana
Stephen Lee 5-3 Dave Gilbert
Steve Davis 2-6 Mark Joyce
Judd Trump 4-4 Xiao Guodong
Having recovered from 7-5 down last night to oust in-form Scot Marcus Campbell at approximately midnight, I was not convinced that Mark Joyce would be fully prepared for his morning session with six-time UK Champion Steve Davis this morning but that could not have been further from the case as he secured a 6-2 mid-session lead. With all of his experience, Davis is far from out of the match but he will have to find something special and hope that his opponent falters if he is to qualify for yet another crack at the title.
Also well-placed is Tom Ford who leads Gerard Greene by the same scoreline heading into the evening session. up to 30th on my latest list, Tom is already well-placed to move up into the top 32 for the first time at the next seedings revision and a win today would surely secure that position. Gerard did show at the Crucible earlier this year against Shaun Murphy however that he is well capable of digging in and making life difficult for an opponent just a few frames from victory.
Elsewhere however the other matches are extremely well-poised, Judd Trump and Xiao Guodong level at 4-4, the Chinese player having come oh-so-close to a 147 break before breaking down on the final pink. Matthew Stevens and Robert Milkins are also predictably level, as are Martin Gould and James Wattana.