Yushan World Open Day 1
So the day has finally arrived for the start of the World Open and as the players assembled, no one expected the first shock of the day. In a held over qualifier, world ranked 94, Dominic Dale drew Ronnie O’Sullivan. Of course Dale’s ranking doesn’t reflect the player. We all know that Dominic has had some scalps in his time and is a great break builder when in the zone. However, whoever plays O’Sullivan doesn’t know which Ronnie which will turn up for their match. On this occasion, it was one that definitely wasn’t playing his “A” game and Dale sensed that and capitalised. Despite breaks of 50 and 91 to even up the match after Dale took a 2-0 lead, Ronnie was only able to get a further frame after Dominic dominated the match. With a 3-3 score line, the match looked nip and tuck but Dale had other ideas and ploughed on to take the next two frames and match, winning 5-3. Ronnie will be annoyed and upset that he lost here and especially in the first round. China is usually a stomping ground for the Essex man but not on this occasion. Dale will now play Fergal O’Brien in the last 64.
Judd Trump showed no mercy in his match against Zhang Jiangkang. The young, Chinese player was no match for Trump as the lad for Bristol dominated the match. Judd had the cue ball min a string, producing a snooker masterclass. When the Chinese player had the few chances he did, he couldn’t capitalise and nerves took hold, missing relatively easy pots. Trump was in no mood to hang around and smelt victory blood and left his opponent stunned and confused throughout the match. In the end, a whitewash was always on the cards and ended up being the final result. After a blistering 5-0 win and breaks of 104, 63, 70 and 69, Judd now goes on to play Sam Craigie in the next round.
In the afternoon’s play, wins also came for Mark Selby who beat Anthony Hamilton, 5-3, sealing the match with a 96 break and five fifty plus breaks led Shaun Murphy to win his match against Alan McManus, 5-2. Wins also came for Liang Wenbo with a 5-0 whitewash over Barry Pinches and my good friend, Ken Doherty had a 5-3 win over Yi Yingdong. Stuart Bingham also won 4-2 against veteran, Nigel Bond.
In the evening’s session Ding Junhui played Billy Castle. This was a match that should have been a clear win for Ding at 3-0 but the tide turned and Castle got back into the match, picking up the fourth frame. The fifth could have been the turning point in the match for Ding with 50 points each, the Chinese player attempted a difficult last black down the cushion and it stayed out, leaving Billy a clear pot. Ding had already won a previous frame on a snooker and did the same in this one but with one exception, he didn’t win the frame. So the match went to 3-2, Ding. However in the next Castle had a 54 lead but missed. To the delight of the home audience, Ding cleared up and made it 4-2, needing just one more frame to win the match. Junhui had no feel nor touch in this match and I lost count of the number of chances he gave Castle. Ding was lucky that he was playing an opponent that hadn’t won a match this season but he must be embarrassed that he let Billy into the match so many times. The Chinese player doesn’t look sharp and this was not a vintage performance and so Junhui goes through, 5-2 and progresses two rounds as Liam Highfield was scratched from the tournament.
Elsewhere, there was a thrilling match between David Gilbert and Zhao Xintong. Gilbert was 4-0 down in the match but won five frames in a row to win 5-4. A great result for the player who had already got to four tournament finals. Let’s see if he can make a fifth and maybe win it this time? There was also a dramatic finish to the Yan Bingtao v Bai Langning match as the match went to a decider with Yan clearing the table first, 5-4 and Barry Hawkins beat Marco Fu, 5-3. Another thrilling day beckons tomorrow.
Judd Trump showed no mercy in his match against Zhang Jiangkang. The young, Chinese player was no match for Trump as the lad for Bristol dominated the match. Judd had the cue ball min a string, producing a snooker masterclass. When the Chinese player had the few chances he did, he couldn’t capitalise and nerves took hold, missing relatively easy pots. Trump was in no mood to hang around and smelt victory blood and left his opponent stunned and confused throughout the match. In the end, a whitewash was always on the cards and ended up being the final result. After a blistering 5-0 win and breaks of 104, 63, 70 and 69, Judd now goes on to play Sam Craigie in the next round.
In the afternoon’s play, wins also came for Mark Selby who beat Anthony Hamilton, 5-3, sealing the match with a 96 break and five fifty plus breaks led Shaun Murphy to win his match against Alan McManus, 5-2. Wins also came for Liang Wenbo with a 5-0 whitewash over Barry Pinches and my good friend, Ken Doherty had a 5-3 win over Yi Yingdong. Stuart Bingham also won 4-2 against veteran, Nigel Bond.
In the evening’s session Ding Junhui played Billy Castle. This was a match that should have been a clear win for Ding at 3-0 but the tide turned and Castle got back into the match, picking up the fourth frame. The fifth could have been the turning point in the match for Ding with 50 points each, the Chinese player attempted a difficult last black down the cushion and it stayed out, leaving Billy a clear pot. Ding had already won a previous frame on a snooker and did the same in this one but with one exception, he didn’t win the frame. So the match went to 3-2, Ding. However in the next Castle had a 54 lead but missed. To the delight of the home audience, Ding cleared up and made it 4-2, needing just one more frame to win the match. Junhui had no feel nor touch in this match and I lost count of the number of chances he gave Castle. Ding was lucky that he was playing an opponent that hadn’t won a match this season but he must be embarrassed that he let Billy into the match so many times. The Chinese player doesn’t look sharp and this was not a vintage performance and so Junhui goes through, 5-2 and progresses two rounds as Liam Highfield was scratched from the tournament.
Elsewhere, there was a thrilling match between David Gilbert and Zhao Xintong. Gilbert was 4-0 down in the match but won five frames in a row to win 5-4. A great result for the player who had already got to four tournament finals. Let’s see if he can make a fifth and maybe win it this time? There was also a dramatic finish to the Yan Bingtao v Bai Langning match as the match went to a decider with Yan clearing the table first, 5-4 and Barry Hawkins beat Marco Fu, 5-3. Another thrilling day beckons tomorrow.
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