Click to view the latest projected seedings…
The final qualifying round for the 2011 China Open takes place today and already with just one result in we have had an upset as Kurt Maflin has completed an extraordinary week by qualifying for the venue stage with a 5-1 win against Mark King. Click below for updates throughout the day…
Day Four Results:
Stephen Lee 5-4 Alfie Burden
Ryan Day 5-1 Tom Ford
Matthew Stevens 5-1 Anthony Hamilton
Kurt Maflin 5 – 1 Mark King
Stuart Bingham 5-2 Mark Joyce
Marcus Campbell 5-3 Rory McLeod
Andrew Higginson 2-5 Robert Milkins
Dominic Dale 2-5 Jimmy White
Liang Wenbo v Nigel Bond
Martin Gould 5-2 Mike Dunn
Ken Doherty 5-0 Issara Kachaiwong
Joe Perry 5-2 Rod Lawler
Mark Davis 5-3 James Wattana
Judd Trump 5-1 Ben Woollaston
Gerard Greene 5-2 Fergal O’Brien
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Joe Swail
Click here to view the drawsheet.
Morning Session
When Mark King opened his match against Norway’s Kurt Maflin with a break of 134 he must have felt that he was playing well but as it would transpire, that would be the only frame that he would win as Norway’s Maflin recorded another shock win this week to book his place in Beijing. Having scored heavily all week, Maflin was not to disappoint his fans today by hitting breaks of 117, 103, 55, 52 and 46 on his way to victory.
Despite his excellent week, Maflin remains too far down the rankings to challenge for a top 64 spot at the end of this season but qualifying for the venue in any case will be a great experience for him and one that guarantees him a cheque of at least £4,000 at the end of the tournament. For Mark though the result is a blow and one that leaves him unlikely to finish the season back inside the top 16.
Soon to join Kurt in China is 2009 semi-finalist Ryan Day, a comfortable 5-1 winner against Tom Ford. Racing into a 3-1 interval lead with runs of 67, 60 and 42, Ryan wasted no time in wrapping things up when the two resumed and with a final break of 62 ensured that he will be on the flight to Beijing and a tie with Ronnie O’Sullivan who of course he recently defeated for the first time in Newport. With a lot of points to defend from the end of the 2008/9 season, it was important for Ryan to win this match if he is to stay in the top 32 at the end of the campaign.
It has been a good day for Wales so far, Matthew Stevens joining his compatriot in the last 32 with a comprehensive 5-1 win against Anthony Hamilton who himself has been in good form recently. On paper it does not look to have been a classic but two 80+ breaks from Matt prior to the mid-session interval probably made the difference. Another good win for him this season, this strengthens his top 16 claims still further and sets up a last 32 clash with Stephen Hendry in Beijing.
Like Matt, Stuart Bingham is another player chasing a year-end top 16 spot and he gave his hopes a boost today with a 5-2 victory against Mark Joyce. While it was another match of few big breaks, Stuart was able to pull away from 2-2 at the interval, taking the next three frames to book his flight to Beijing and a match with Ali Carter. In doing so he moves up three places from 18th to 15th in my latest provisional list.
Not far behind is Stephen Lee who came through a topsy turvy match with Alfie Burden 5-4 winner. In doing so he keeps himself right in the hunt for a top 16 place and will now meet defending champion Mark Williams in the next round.
And finally at around 3pm, Marcus Campbell edged out Rory McLeod 5-3 following a long drawn out affair, another for referee John Pellew who also had the Paul Davison/Matt Couch match on Friday night!
Afternoon Session
First through the afternoon session was Ken Doherty who emphatically ended the run of Issara Kachaiwong with a 5-0 victory. Breaks of 105, 86 and 65 helped the Irishman to a useful win following some disappointing losses recently, enough to move him up to 24th in my latest projected seedings list. He will now meet Graeme Dott in Beijing, the man who defeated him a few times in qualifying last season.
Another veteran soon to join him was Jimmy White who despite making few sizeable breaks had enough to see off Dominic Dale by a 5-2 scoreline. As well as booking him a clash with Mark Selby (assuming he defeats a local wildcard first), White moves up to 49th on my projected seedings list, just one spot away from a coveted top 48 spot at the end of the season.
Also through are Martin Gould and Robert Milkins, both 5-2 victors against Mike Dunn and Andrew Higginson respectively.
Evening Session
Judd Trump suffered a surprise defeat to Rod Lawler at the recent Welsh Open tournament but there was to be no such problem today as he swept aside Ben Woollaston with a 5-1 win to book a last 32 clash with Marco Fu in Beijing. Early on the match was tight as Ben had a chance to lead 2-1, but having not taken that, Judd soon upped the ante and raced through with top breaks of 109 and 65.
Indeed overall it was a relatively straightforward night for the seeds as all five won without being pushed to deciding frames, including Joe Perry, Gerard Greene and Barry Hawkins.
The final match to finish though was that between Mark Davis and James Wattana which at 3-3 looked like it could go either way, particularly given a couple of recent defeats for Mark. There was to be no upset though as Davis took the last two to give his year-end top 16 hopes a boost and make it to his first venue since Telford.