Today marks the start of a busy couple of weeks for the players lower down the rankings as the qualifiers for the Masters get underway, with the UK Championship coming a week later. I am hoping to attend for a few days but for now, I will be posting periodical updates as to how the matches are unfolding…
Morning Matches:
All of the first four matches went the way of the higher ranked player this morning as Rory McLeod, Anthony Hamilton, Ricky Walden and Liang Wenbo moved into the last 32.
Of the four, it was Rory who had the toughest scrap as Pickering’s Paul Davison recovered from 2-0 down to push him to a decider at 3-3. In the end though McLeod came through in a tense final frame to book a match with Matthew Stevens on Sunday.
Shanghai Master Ricky Walden also had a good scrap with Stefan Mazrocis, but breaks of 136, 80, 57 and 56 were enough to see him through 4-2. With the form he has shown recently he must be one of the favourites to win the event, though even if he doesn’t I think he will have a strong case for the other wildcard spot.
Next up for Walden is Nottingham’s Anthony Hamilton who whitewashed Welshman Andrew Pagett 4-0 today. Also enjoying a straightforward win was provisional world number 24 Liang Wenbo who won 4-1 against Liu Chuang who will play the winner of this afternoon’s match between Daniel Wells and Jimmy Michie.
Liang Wenbo 4-1 Liu Chuang 86(77)-6, 69(48)-52(33), 21-67(62), 85(69)-12, 69(38)-37
Ricky Walden 4-2 Stefan Mazrocis 0-94(69), 136(136)-0, 68(57)-20, 80(80)-0, 18-56, 76(56)-68(60)
Rory McLeod 4-3 Paul S Davison 77-49(41), 60(37)-21, 31-86(48,38), 34-61, 63-23, 26-81, 54-36
Anthony Hamilton 4-0 Andrew Pagett 63-49(48), 92(87)-10, 71-45, 66(39)-30
Afternoon Matches:
The biggest upset of the day so far came in the match between Jimmy Michie and Daniel Wells which saw the world number 46 hammered 4-0 by his young opponent. Wells, of the newcomers to the main tour this season, scored well in each frame with breaks of 44, 50, 57 and 74 which proved to be too much for Michie to cope with. His reward for probably the best win of his season so far is a match with Liang Wenbo in the last 32.
Michael Georgiou’s nightmare debut season continued though with another first-round defeat, this time against the experienced Gerard Greene. While this is no disgrace by any means, he urgently needs a confidence boosting win in the near future if he is to stand any chance of staying on the tour for another year.
Another long match today was between Barry Pinches and another tour debutant, Lewis Roberts. It was Lewis who made the better start and though Pinches pulled him back to 3-3, he held on to secure a very good win over the man from Norwich. Next up for him is a clash with veteran Fergal O’Brien.
Also through to the next round and a clash with Mark Williams is Andrew Higginson who received a bye against Chris McBreen.
Barry Pinches 3-4 Lewis Roberts 5-92(84), 51(40)-62(36), 89(37)-7, 48(40)-90(63), 84(58)-0, 72(62)-30, 56-59
Jimmy Michie 0-4 Daniel Wells 0-86(50), 19-75(74), 22-75(44), 39-70(57)
Gerard Green 4-0 Michael Georgiou 63-49, 87(47)-12, 71(71)-7, 77-40(36)
Andrew Higginson w/o Chris McBreen
Evening Matches:
If Jimmy Michie’s defeat earlier was an upset then Stephen Lee’s defeat to Simon Bedford today was sensational, Simon winning 4-2. Though Simon has played well this season, particularly at the Grand Prix when he defeated twice world champion Mark Williams to reach the last 32, Stephen was a hot favourite for this match. It wasn’t to be though for last season’s Wembley finalist as he lost a match with very few notable breaks in to slip out of qualifying at the first hurdle. Bedford though will now play Gerard Greene in the next round.
GSC
In the other matches, Barry Hawkins and Kuldesh Johal both came through deciding frames against Wayne Cooper and David Roe respectively. Hawkins, the winner of this qualifying event last season, will be pleased to recover from 2-0 down and book his place in the next round having expressed his confidence of a repeat on the World Snooker website the other day! Johal’s match was probably the highest quality of the day as opponent Roe opened with a 114, before Kuldesh hit 67, 75 and 50 to eventually edge it. He now plays the struggling Joe Swail next.
Finally Peter Lines slumped to a disappointing 4-0 defeat to Mark Joyce, annoying for Peter having done so well in the Bahrain qualifiers. Mark is slowly beginning to improve however and this result can only give him more confidence. Next up for him will be a clash with Hawkins.