Photo by @Stuart__Bingham
Today saw the action continue in Poland as the last 16 was played to a conclusion, with no fewer than seven matches requiring a deciding frame. Click below for more…
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The first man through to the semi-finals in Gdynia is Scotland’s Stephen Maguire, who defeated both Joe Perry and Jimmy White today by 4-1 scorelines to continue his excellent run in PTC events this season.
The UKPTC1 champion began with a solid performance against Perry early in the day, the first two frames being shared before Maguire proved the more clinical of the two. Joe did have his chances, but a kick in the final frame when poised to score a potentially frame-winning break would sum up his afternoon.
Later in the evening he came up against Jimmy White, who earlier in the day had recovered from 3-1 down against Liang Wenbo to reach the quarter-finals of a PTC event for the first time since the 2010 PTC6, when coincidentally he lost out to Liang in a decider.
The journey of the Whirlwind was to end there however as Maguire opened with an event-high break of 141 and in truth never really looked back. With a PTC final and and win under his belt already this season, he knows what is required to win these events and he will now be hoping to make it to a third final.
Next up for him will be either Neil Robertson or Tian Pengfei, both of whom came through deciding frames earlier today. For Robertson, his win against Martin Gould proved to be a thriller as both produced long potting of the highest order, the Australian in particular having a long pot success rate of 89% towards the end of the match.
It was Neil who took the first two frames and in the balls first in the next, it appeared as though he was ready to run away with the match. As he crashed into the pack from the blue, only to see a red head into a corner pocket however, Gould stepped up and the momentum swung as he took the next two frames to draw level at 2-2 and leave the match finely poised.
Robertson took the fifth to move back ahead, before Gould took the next following a tense battle on the colours, which he eventually ended with a couple of great pots on the yellow and green.
As was the case against Jamie Jones the previous night and indeed last season in Poland when he won a string of deciding-frames en route to the title though, Robertson was not to be denied and he took the final frame to progress.
For Tian Pengfei, his win against Stuart Bingham proved to be just as much of a rollercoaster as following a strong start, he was to go through a 38 minute spell without a pot in the middle part of the match as Bingham moved 3-2 ahead.
Perhaps the decisive moment however came in the sixth frame as with a chance to clear and take a 4-2 win, Stuart miscued to see the match move into a decider. It was Bingham who had the first chance as he took on a red up into the green pocket, but as it somehow wobbled and stayed out, Tian took full advantage with an excellent century break to move into the last eight.
Elsewhere, Ding Junhui will be pleased with his work having come through against both John Higgins and Mark Selby today to move into the quarter-finals. Awaiting him will be Michael Holt, who came back from 3-1 down this evening with a break of 140 along the way, to defeat Stephen Lee in what proved to be a thrilling decider.
In the bottom quarter meanwhile, Jamie Burnett produced a brilliant comeback this afternoon from 3-0 down to defeat Rory McLeod and set up a match with Norway’s Kurt Maflin, another 4-3 winner today, this time against Graeme Dott.