The second wave of matches this afternoon saw the likes of Stephen Maguire, John Higgins, Neil Robertson and Peter Ebdon make their first appearances of the week, click below to hear how they got on…
John Higgins 4-4 Joe Swail
Grand Prix winner John Higgins and Joe Swail finished all-square after their eight frames today, though given how it finished I expect it will be John who is the happier of the two.
It was an entertaining session of snooker as both players were in fine form, Higgins opening up with breaks of 56 and 52 before Joe knocked in a 56 of his own to level at 1-1. John then replied with his 381st career century but back came Joe with a 43 to send them into the interval all-square.
The breaks continued to fly in when they resumed as another couple of half-centuries in frame five saw him go back into the lead at 3-2. Joe again responded well though by taking the next two frames before letting a potentially crucial last frame slip through his fingers. Having a significant lead of nearly 50 points, a mistake from Joe allowed John in to make a clearance of 59 to the black to snatch it at the death and effectively give up a best of 9 match tomorrow.
Looking forward to the conclusion of this one…
Stephen Maguire 6-2 Jamie Burnett
Number two seed Stephen Maguire built up a commanding lead over his friend and practice partner Jamie Burnett this afternoon as he moved into a 6-2 lead.
For a while it looked like being a closer session, Jamie actually with a pot success rate of 92% early on, but Maguire was playing even better with 95% and raced into a 2-0 lead with a break of 85 in the second frame. Burnett kept himself in touch with a nice visit in the third, but Stephen took the next to guarantee an interval lead.
Though Burnett reduced his arrears to just one frame again with breaks of 71 and 65, after this the match just seemed to go away from Jamie and Stephen took the final three frames of the session to leave himself needing just another three tomorrow…
Neil Robertson 4-4 Michael Holt
It looked like an intriguing match on paper and so it has proved to be as Bahrain winner Neil Robertson and one of the form players this season outside of the top 32, Michael Holt came out level at 4-4.
The pair of them traded frames all afternoon, never being more than one between then and some excellent breaks being made, in particular a 118 from Neil to make it 3-3. Can see this one going all the way tomorrow, though hopefully Michael will be able to keep his head together if he gets near the winning line!
Peter Ebdon 3-5 Andrew Higginson
Peter Ebdon’s struggles continued today as Andrew Higginson earned a 5-3 advantage over him going into tomorrow’s session.
After going 2-0 down early on, Peter did at least rally to make it 2-2 at the interval, but Higginson, who looked good in the qualifiers at the EISS last week took the next two to make it 4-2. Peter made it 3-4 with a well-taken 85 in frame seven but crucially Higginson hit back with a break of his own and guaranteed a lead going into tomorrow.
Given how Peter is sliding down the rankings at the moment, I would suggest that tomorrow could be absolutely key if he wants to stay in the top 16 for yet another year…
John Higgins 4-4 Joe Swail 108(56,52)-2, 5-77(56), 122(100)-0, 0-79(43), 120(54,53)-6, 42(39)-52, 13-72(45), 66(59)-54
Peter Ebdon 3-5 Andrew Higginson 9-69, 53-64, 77(38)-5, 67-7, 52-65, 85(85)-48, 9-73(68)
Stephen Maguire 6-2 Jamie Burnett 70-7, 85(85)-1, 2-68, 136(71,65)-0, 4-73(73), 65-43, 58-37, 67(66)-26
Neil Robertson 4-4 Michael Holt 21-69(43), 69-40, 0-70(52), 84(76)-51, 0-118(65), 118(118)-6, 53(46)-71(45), 63-18