Day two from Newport and things are really hotting up as the defending champion Mark Selby gets his campaign underway. During the course rest of the day I will continue to update this post as the results come in so please keep checking back…
Results
Ali Carter 5-1 Jimmy White
72(45)-17, 19-72(72), 64-12, 64-0, 58(49)-0, 99(72)-19
Shaun Murphy 5-3 Barry Pinches
64(38)-50, 36-55, 46-66(44),74(48)-6,112(96)-12,6-97(53),79-19,64-57
Joe Perry 4-5 David Gilbert
32-68, 58-48, 44-70(50), 107(107)-0,71(56)-6,4-75(75),6-74,71-62(53),0-72(49)
Mark Selby 5-0 Paul Davies
79-14, 79(79)-0, 65(42)-52, 126(126)-7, 73(73)-1
Graeme Dott 5-3 Mike Dunn
92(81)-10, 58-8, 39-77(45), 18-58, 67-56, 72(72)-31, 35-70(38), 110(105)-6
Stephen Hendry 3-5 Martin Gould
56-53, 0-135(135), 10-58, 95(70)-0, 6-62(42), 52-65, 79-25, 66(66)-70(44)
Ryan Day 3-5 Michael Judge
14-101(89), 106(88)-0, 58-61, 1-109(109), 30-72(67), 104(104)-0, 109(109)-0, 49-60
Peter Ebdon 2-5 Anthony Hamilton
70(49)-4, 39-71(55), 38-69, 61(42)-63, 8-78(41), 62(38)-19, 53-64
To view the latest scores you can use either the BBC website here, the embedded live scores on the official World Snooker website here or the relaunched Global Snooker site here.
Apologies for some of the results above being incomplete, it would appear that Global Snooker are still adjusting to the new version of their website.
Reports
The ever-popular Jimmy White might have brought in the fans today but unfortunately for him he ran into an in-form Ali Carter who barring one frame managed to dominate throughout. It was a scrappy start but Carter managed to clinch the opener before a 72 from White brought him level. From then on though he couldn’t not get going and Ali managed to sweep through into the next round where he will face either Graeme Dott or Mike Dunn. He looks to be in good form and I would not bet against him at least making a fourth ranking event semi-final this season.
For Jimmy it is disappointing that he did not really play as he could, but it is a while since he last played in front of the BBC cameras and perhaps he found it hard to acclimatise to the conditions out there.
A note on the tables too, as was the case yesterday, the cloths look to be particularly quick, even more so than normal so it will be interesting to see how the players manage this.
UK Champion Shaun Murphy moved safely into the last 16 this afternoon, though not without a scare from qualifier Barry Pinches who gave him a run for his money. Indeed early on it was the man from Norwich who looked to continue his strong run in the tournament and led 2-1. Shaun though showed his class and moed 3-2 ahead with a break of 96 before Barry levelled things again at 3-3. Next to respond was Shaun as he moved one away at 4-3, before a dramatic eight frame which went all the way to a re-spotted black. It looked like we might be in for a decider but a tough miss on the black left it hanging in the jaws for Shaun to gratefully knock in and book a tie with either Mark King or Dave Harold in the last 16.
A good win for Shaun who has managed to negotiate a tricky tie against a man who despite not having a great season previously, strung a few very impressive wins together to qualify for the event. He will next be in action at the World Championship qualifiers where he will take on either Lee Spick or Stephen Craigie as he looks to secure a top 48 place for next season.
After his terrific win against local favourite Mark Williams last night, Dave Gilbert did it again this afternoon against Joe Perry to qualify for the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in his career. In what was a really close match the momentum swung one way and then the other with both scoring well, until the pair ended up level at 4-4. Given that Joe is the more experienced player and had made a gutsy fightback to win frame eight and send it to a decider you could have been forgiven for making him favourite, but Gilbert had other ideas and with the help of an early 49, managed to take it and secure a memorable win.
While it is a shame to see Joe Perry lose early, particularly given the fact that he had avoided O’Sullivan in the draw for once this season, it is fantastic to see Gilbert put a few wins together in front of the TV cameras for the first time. Next up for him will be another real test though in the form of defending champion Mark Selby…
And that is because Mark managed to sweep past Welshman Paul Davies this afternoon without the loss of a frame. It was a really impressive performance from Selby who was only really troubled in frame three when he had to snatch it on the colours. Otherwise though breaks of 126 and 79 helped move him ahead before he wrapped up the win with a 73. Unbelievably down in 9th on the latest provisional rankings, now would be a good time for Selby to put a run together in a ranking event and no doubt he will be looking to put up a firm defence of his title…
Graeme Dott’s recent resurgence continued today with a strong 5-2 victory over Redcar’s Mike Dunn tonight. Finishing off with a century break, it was a good result for a man who had only won one ranking event match this season prior to this tournament and it would be nice to see him go on a run given some of the problems that he has had in his personal life over the last year or so. It is a shame for Mike that he has again fallen at the last 32 stage of a ranking event, but the points already gained will at least see him retain a place in the top 40 of the provisional rankings.
World number 63 Martin Gould caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far this evening as he sent three-times Welsh Open champion Stephen Hendry crashing out of the 2009 event. Despite watching Stephen steal the opening frame having needed a snooker, Gould was in fine form early on and duly recorded a 135 break in the second frame, the highest run of the week so far. This soon became a 2-1 lead and it could well have been 3-1 at the interval but for a few wasted opportunities giving Stephen a chance to snatch it with his first big break of the match.
Despite this reprieve though things did not pick up when they resumed and Gould took the next two to move 4-2 ahead, notably including a crucial sixth frame after Hendry had missed a delicate cut-back into the right-centre pocket. At this point though Martin began to wobble, allowing Hendry to close to 4-3 before looking like setting up a tense deciding frame. It summed up Stephen’s day though when he missed a frame ball red and a very well-taken clearance from Gould secured him a famous victory. This is a terrific result for Martin and he will next come up against Joe Swail, the veteran from Northern Ireland.
For Hendry though this is the latest in a series of first round exits this season and for me the most disappointing yet when you consider the chances he had and the experience of his opponent. Don’t get me wrong, Martin played well and thoroughly deserved it, but if Hendry is going to remain in the top 16 for much longer then he really needs to be winning these matches…
Hendry was not the only big seed to crash out however as Welshman Ryan Day tumbled out of his home event following a 5-3 defeat to Michael Judge. It was a high quality match as Judge made breaks of 89, 109 and 67 on his way to a 4-1 lead, before Ryan made consecutive centuries to put the pressure on and close to within just one frame again. Though he had his chances to force a decider however, Judge held himself together to make a very good clearance under pressure and book a clash with either Peter Ebdon or Anthony Hamilton in the next round.
A great win for Judge, it is a second first round defeat in a row at a ranking event for Day and while he is still well up the rankings, after reaching as high as number three after reaching the final of the Grand Prix, his form since has not been quite the same. Hopefully he will be able to do better in China and at the Crucible in the upcoming months…
And finally! At 12:55am Anthony Hamilton completes a 5-2 win over the struggling Peter Ebdon to book a place in the last 16 of the Welsh Open. Peter got off to a good start with a break of 49 helping him to the opening frame but that was about as good as it got as Hamilton managed to take five of the next six to secure a late victory. This is an important result for Anthony and keeps his hopes of retaining a top 32 spot very much alive as the season draws to a conclusion. Next up for him this week will be a clash with Michael Judge, another man battling around the top 32 mark so it could be a very important match indeed…