English Open Day 4
Day four at the English Open was dominated by the shock defeat of Judd Trump at the hands of Lee Walker. Walker who is a good friend of Mark Williams and fell off the main tour and had to re-join via the Q School. Lee hasn't really made an impression since he started competing again and has largely lost in the early rounds of tournaments. Walker who was part responsible for the rejuvenation of Mark Williams, today played a blinder and managed to bring his practice game to the match table. His 4-2 victory over Trump must have left Judd's camp puzzled and confused despite making two centuries in the match but again as I have said before, any top play is vulnerable when they play in a best of seven match because the tide of victory can turn either way. Trump has largely fine tuned his game but unfortunately there is still a glimmer of doubt in his mind. This rears its ugly head when he is under pressure and today was one of those days when a short format helped Walker to kick into gear and outplay his opponent. Lee Walker went on to beat Garry Wilson, 4-3 in his next match.
To add to this shock, Ronnie O'Sullivan suffered a closer match fate by the exceptional, Chinese player, Mei Xiwen. The close 4-3 win was a reversal of O'Sullivan's previous match when he was the winner. Ronnie will probably shrug off the loss but privately he will be kicking himself that he wasn't able to clinch this match and will now have to resort to punditry rather than play. Perhaps this loss was infectious because if that wasn't enough shock for one day, Neil Robertson who has displayed great form in recent months, wasn't so lucky in this match against Chinese talent, Zhao Xintong. A humiliating 4-0 whitewash left Robbo reeling as an end was firmly put to his chase for this year's English Open title.
The play wasn't all doom and gloom as Shaun Murphy motored on his campaign for the title as he other colleagues fell to the sword. Murphy outplayed his Chinese opponent, Fan Zhengyi, with a damaging 4-0 whitewash. Murphy bolstered by his China Championship victor, has shown his true form in this tournament and put the criticism showered on him to bed. Murphy is gradually moving forward in a game of skittles where most have been knocked down including Kyren Wilson who lost on day four to Tom Ford. Ford made breaks of 69, 124 and 74 to seal his place in the last sixteen and subsequently beat Shaun Murphy in a deciding frame, scoring a 147 to win it in style. So much for me predicting a probable winner! MarkAllen also knocked out Barry Hawkins, 4-0 and Mark Selby was a 4-1 winner against Xiao Guodong.
This has probably been the most exciting day of snooker I have ever watched where so many top seed players have crashed out of the tournament. Some cynics would say that it is due to the format but you can’t rubbish lower ranked players when they win. Any player is capable of beating a top player on the day and that is why there are only 128 professional players in this tournament. They are the best and can often bring the magic of their talent to the television table.
To add to this shock, Ronnie O'Sullivan suffered a closer match fate by the exceptional, Chinese player, Mei Xiwen. The close 4-3 win was a reversal of O'Sullivan's previous match when he was the winner. Ronnie will probably shrug off the loss but privately he will be kicking himself that he wasn't able to clinch this match and will now have to resort to punditry rather than play. Perhaps this loss was infectious because if that wasn't enough shock for one day, Neil Robertson who has displayed great form in recent months, wasn't so lucky in this match against Chinese talent, Zhao Xintong. A humiliating 4-0 whitewash left Robbo reeling as an end was firmly put to his chase for this year's English Open title.
The play wasn't all doom and gloom as Shaun Murphy motored on his campaign for the title as he other colleagues fell to the sword. Murphy outplayed his Chinese opponent, Fan Zhengyi, with a damaging 4-0 whitewash. Murphy bolstered by his China Championship victor, has shown his true form in this tournament and put the criticism showered on him to bed. Murphy is gradually moving forward in a game of skittles where most have been knocked down including Kyren Wilson who lost on day four to Tom Ford. Ford made breaks of 69, 124 and 74 to seal his place in the last sixteen and subsequently beat Shaun Murphy in a deciding frame, scoring a 147 to win it in style. So much for me predicting a probable winner! MarkAllen also knocked out Barry Hawkins, 4-0 and Mark Selby was a 4-1 winner against Xiao Guodong.
This has probably been the most exciting day of snooker I have ever watched where so many top seed players have crashed out of the tournament. Some cynics would say that it is due to the format but you can’t rubbish lower ranked players when they win. Any player is capable of beating a top player on the day and that is why there are only 128 professional players in this tournament. They are the best and can often bring the magic of their talent to the television table.
Comments
Post a Comment