The English Open Day 1
Snooker doesn’t get any better especially when it is played at home and today the green baize travelled to Crawley for the first of the Home Nations series, the English Open. Now firmly established as one of the highlights of the season this batch of tournaments always produce thrills and spills to wet the fans’ appetites. No one can forget the jubilant shouts from Liang Wenbo and Stuart Bingham’s capture of the crown last year. Play began in earnest this morning with Barry Hawkins reeling off a 4-0 win over Amine Amiri even before televised play began. Hawkins who reached the latter stages of the China Championship outplayed his opponent and avoided the embarrassment of a first round “early bath” with a convincing whitewash.
The morning was largely dominated by Chinese players who put many of their opponents to bed. Wins came for Mi Xiwen who took out the Riga Masters champion, Yan Bingtao, 4-3, Si Jiahui who beat Soheil Vahedi, 4-0, Lu Ning who took out the Welshman, Duane Jones, 4-3, Tiang Pengfei who beat Gerard Greene, 4-3 and Xu Si who dispatched another Welsh player, Matthew Stevens, 4-2. Ben Woolaston also edged out Andrew Higginson, 4-3.
In the evening’s play, many of the top players were put under the cosh, especially the notorious, Ronnie O’Sullivan. The Rocket may have thought his first opponent would have been a breeze in the park but instead Jamie O’Neill put up a brilliant fight and it looked at one stage that this may be the first shock win of this event. With a 3-2 lead, Jamie had victory in the palm of his hand and it was his opponent who had to dig deep to bring the match to a decider. The novice didn’t have luck on his side when push came to shove and couldn’t get over the line when a good performance was necessary. Most likely the nerves got to him and O’Sullivan inflicted the killer punch when needed. However it still proves that nothing is certain in the first round and this fresh faced player is definitely one to watch out for in the future. A 3-4 loss is nothing to be ashamed of especially when you playing the likes of Ronnie.
Likewise, Stuart Bingham came up against a tough cookie in the form of the Polish player, Kacper Fillipiak. I first saw this talented Pole play in the World Cup several years ago and he is a person that plays well in spats. With his trademark chalk holder attached to his trousers, Fillipiak threw everything at last year’s champion, pushing the match to another deciding frame. Bingham stayed composed and killed the match off but this certainly wasn’t a breeze in the park for Stuart. Speaking afterwards, Bingham commented “ I’m counting my blessings I’m in the second round”. The match was a tough slog but Bingham produced the goods when needed and showed why he is a former World Champion. However he will still much to contemplate with this close 4-3 win before he plays his next match.
Shaun Murphy had an easier match against China’s Chang Bingyu. Shaun fresh from his victory against Mark Williams in the China Championship, made light work of a player that played well in stages but only managed to win two of the required frames needed. Murphy stepped up a gear and reigned in the Chinese player. Shaun must have a wry smile after seeing off Chang, 4-2 and this win puts him one step closer to a possible, fourth, consecutive final this season. The Englishman is definitely having a run of form and could dispatch Judd Trump if he continues in this mode.
Good wins also came for Kurt Maflin earlier in the day with a 4-3 victory over Noppon Saengkham, fast forward to the evening and wins also came for Alfie Burden, Mike Dunn, Joe O’Connor, Michael Holt, Andy Lee and Jamie Robertson. However the main scalp of the day was Luca Brecel who has seemed to have hit a dip in form, losing 4-1 to Adam Stefanow. Judd Trump started off his campaign with a blistering 4-0 over Peter Ebdon at the start of the day and Mark Selby beat Barry Pinches 4-2. All things aside this has been a cracking day’s play and just shows how this tournament will just get better as the week progresses.
The morning was largely dominated by Chinese players who put many of their opponents to bed. Wins came for Mi Xiwen who took out the Riga Masters champion, Yan Bingtao, 4-3, Si Jiahui who beat Soheil Vahedi, 4-0, Lu Ning who took out the Welshman, Duane Jones, 4-3, Tiang Pengfei who beat Gerard Greene, 4-3 and Xu Si who dispatched another Welsh player, Matthew Stevens, 4-2. Ben Woolaston also edged out Andrew Higginson, 4-3.
In the evening’s play, many of the top players were put under the cosh, especially the notorious, Ronnie O’Sullivan. The Rocket may have thought his first opponent would have been a breeze in the park but instead Jamie O’Neill put up a brilliant fight and it looked at one stage that this may be the first shock win of this event. With a 3-2 lead, Jamie had victory in the palm of his hand and it was his opponent who had to dig deep to bring the match to a decider. The novice didn’t have luck on his side when push came to shove and couldn’t get over the line when a good performance was necessary. Most likely the nerves got to him and O’Sullivan inflicted the killer punch when needed. However it still proves that nothing is certain in the first round and this fresh faced player is definitely one to watch out for in the future. A 3-4 loss is nothing to be ashamed of especially when you playing the likes of Ronnie.
Likewise, Stuart Bingham came up against a tough cookie in the form of the Polish player, Kacper Fillipiak. I first saw this talented Pole play in the World Cup several years ago and he is a person that plays well in spats. With his trademark chalk holder attached to his trousers, Fillipiak threw everything at last year’s champion, pushing the match to another deciding frame. Bingham stayed composed and killed the match off but this certainly wasn’t a breeze in the park for Stuart. Speaking afterwards, Bingham commented “ I’m counting my blessings I’m in the second round”. The match was a tough slog but Bingham produced the goods when needed and showed why he is a former World Champion. However he will still much to contemplate with this close 4-3 win before he plays his next match.
Shaun Murphy had an easier match against China’s Chang Bingyu. Shaun fresh from his victory against Mark Williams in the China Championship, made light work of a player that played well in stages but only managed to win two of the required frames needed. Murphy stepped up a gear and reigned in the Chinese player. Shaun must have a wry smile after seeing off Chang, 4-2 and this win puts him one step closer to a possible, fourth, consecutive final this season. The Englishman is definitely having a run of form and could dispatch Judd Trump if he continues in this mode.
Good wins also came for Kurt Maflin earlier in the day with a 4-3 victory over Noppon Saengkham, fast forward to the evening and wins also came for Alfie Burden, Mike Dunn, Joe O’Connor, Michael Holt, Andy Lee and Jamie Robertson. However the main scalp of the day was Luca Brecel who has seemed to have hit a dip in form, losing 4-1 to Adam Stefanow. Judd Trump started off his campaign with a blistering 4-0 over Peter Ebdon at the start of the day and Mark Selby beat Barry Pinches 4-2. All things aside this has been a cracking day’s play and just shows how this tournament will just get better as the week progresses.
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