Scottish Open Review
It was another fast and furious day of snooker yesterday in Glasgow with the majority of the top sixteen surviving an early exit. Mark Allen continued his good run with a 4-1 victory over Louis Heathcote. Allen trying to forget his whitewash in York at the hands of Stephen Maguire, will have his mind eased that his Victor was later dispatched by Marco Fu. Fu is back on the up and showed in his match against Maguire what a player he truly is. A 4-2 win with breaks of 72, 66, 104 and 57 was more than enough to seal the winning deal against the canny Scot. Perhaps Stephen’s previous win against Jimmy White was an omen that this player wasn’t going to go much further in this tournament. He enough to beat Jimmy but White clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders on the night. It was a game of respect rather than attrition.
John Higgins came up against a possible hurdle with a draw against the Swiss player, Alexander Ursenbacker. Alexander won the first frame but then his table nightmare began with John Higgins playing his aggressive game, equaling Stephen Hendry’s record of 775 centuries with a 123 break on the way to a 4-1 victory. Higgins shrugged off the record later, saying that playing any match was also about the win. He was lucky on the day as he managed to find his “A” game, a game that has been lacking in previous matches. Had he put in an average performance the score line could have easily swung in the opposite direction. Wins also came for Judd Trump who beat Yuan Sijan, 4-0, Jack Lisowski who took out David Grace, 4-0 and Neil Robertson dispatched Ian Burns, 4-1 with a 105 break in the opening frame.
Ronnie O’Sullivan wanted to reek revenge on James Cahill for his World Championship loss. Cahill hasn’t frankly played well since that surprise victory and so yesterday was a test for both players to see who could get one over on the other. In the end, it turned into the Ronnie O’Sullivan show with Ronnie refusing to shake the referee’s hand at the start of the match for fear of germs. He later admitted that he suffers from OCD and can’t touch the touched, having to use tissues to open doors with handles. In a blink this match was over and it only lasted thirty-two minutes with Ronnie getting breaks of 93, 111 and 86 to lead to a 4-0 whitewash. There was a great win for Shaun Murphy who whitewashed Mark Davis, 4-0 with breaks of 65, 60, 55 and 89. David Gilbert beat Chang Bingyu, 4-2, Graeme Dott dispatched Ben Woolaston, 4-1 and he will now face Ding Junhui after he convincingly beat MeI Xi Wen, 4-0 with breaks of 132 and 100 helping him along the way. The evening was topped off with the impressive Kurt Maflin who put an end to Matthew Stevens’ run with a close 4-3 win. Maflin sealed the deal with a 127 break in the closing frame.
John Higgins came up against a possible hurdle with a draw against the Swiss player, Alexander Ursenbacker. Alexander won the first frame but then his table nightmare began with John Higgins playing his aggressive game, equaling Stephen Hendry’s record of 775 centuries with a 123 break on the way to a 4-1 victory. Higgins shrugged off the record later, saying that playing any match was also about the win. He was lucky on the day as he managed to find his “A” game, a game that has been lacking in previous matches. Had he put in an average performance the score line could have easily swung in the opposite direction. Wins also came for Judd Trump who beat Yuan Sijan, 4-0, Jack Lisowski who took out David Grace, 4-0 and Neil Robertson dispatched Ian Burns, 4-1 with a 105 break in the opening frame.
Ronnie O’Sullivan wanted to reek revenge on James Cahill for his World Championship loss. Cahill hasn’t frankly played well since that surprise victory and so yesterday was a test for both players to see who could get one over on the other. In the end, it turned into the Ronnie O’Sullivan show with Ronnie refusing to shake the referee’s hand at the start of the match for fear of germs. He later admitted that he suffers from OCD and can’t touch the touched, having to use tissues to open doors with handles. In a blink this match was over and it only lasted thirty-two minutes with Ronnie getting breaks of 93, 111 and 86 to lead to a 4-0 whitewash. There was a great win for Shaun Murphy who whitewashed Mark Davis, 4-0 with breaks of 65, 60, 55 and 89. David Gilbert beat Chang Bingyu, 4-2, Graeme Dott dispatched Ben Woolaston, 4-1 and he will now face Ding Junhui after he convincingly beat MeI Xi Wen, 4-0 with breaks of 132 and 100 helping him along the way. The evening was topped off with the impressive Kurt Maflin who put an end to Matthew Stevens’ run with a close 4-3 win. Maflin sealed the deal with a 127 break in the closing frame.
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