A day at the races

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Another day of drama occurred at Cheltenham yesterday as play never failed to disappoint. Marco Fu, the early conqueror of Ronnie, wasn’t able to show up on the day and gave a poor performance, losing 4-1 to Barry Hawkins.

Meanwhile the Chinese prodigy, Yuan Sijan, took out Stephen Maguire, 4-2, showing that this young player is fearless and can beat any top 16 player on the day. As his game improves through match play so does his confidence and with both of these competencies in tow, no player is safe.

Mark Davis also fell to the sword and wasn’t able to keep up with far stronger player, Xiao Guodong. The nearly man, Gudodong, deserves a final place but has shown elements of his cuemanship with this 4-1 win.

The highlight and drama of the night was a black ball finish, Matthew Stevens and Kyren Wilson took the frame to a decider and black ball finish. Stevens had the frame in hands but jawed the black, leaving Kyren an easy pot and an easy victory. Trump and Selby also cruised through but John Higgins crashed out to the talented Thai, Noppon Saengkham, next stop, the quarter-finals!



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