It has been a good morning for Jimmy White who has registered an impressive 6-4 win over former world champion Shaun Murphy today as the knockout phase gets underway in Thailand…
Beijing International Challenge – (click for results)
Today sees the group phase of the tournament over in Beijing come to a close and it has been business as usual for Stephen Maguire who has completed a 3-0 win over Tian Pengfei to finish top of Group B and cement his position as favourite for the event.
There he will meet Stephen Hendry who was able to finish second in Group A with a 3-1 win over Jin Long today. With all matches now completed, this means that Liang Wenbo finishes top of that group and will face Mark Allen who edged through a tight clash with Marco Fu 3-2 in the final match today. While Fu and Pengfei also finish up with one win, it is Allen who qualifies due to having won seven frames, more than either Marco or Tian.
Tomorrow’s fixtures are:
Stephen Maguire v Stephen Hendry
Liang Wenbo v Mark Allen
Sangsom 6-Red World Grand Prix – (click for results, draw and more)
The last 32 matches have been completed today over in Thailand and the men responsible for the biggest shocks are Jimmy White, James Wattana and perhaps most impressively Mohammed Mustafa Shehab, who defeated Shaun Murphy, Joe Perry and Nigel Bond respectively.
Murphy started well against White by taking the opening frame but Jimmy then managed to rattle off four in a row including an excellent ‘maximum’ of 75 in frame three to give himself what proved to be a decisive cushion. Next up for him will be defending champion Ricky Walden who came through against Mohammed Sajjad 6-3.
Encouraging signs for James Wattana who back on the main tour will go into the new season with added confidence with a 6-3 win over Joe Perry. Awaiting him tomorrow is Ryan Day who recorded a straightforward 6-1 victory over Hong Kong’s Fung Kwok Wai.
The biggest upset however was arguably the 6-4 defeat suffered by former World Championship finalist Nigel Bond against Mohammed Mustafa Shehab. Bond actually led 3-1 at one stage but from there things began to go wrong and the man from the UAE will meet Judd Trump tomorrow at the bottom of the draw, after the man from Bristol brushed aside the challenge of Peter Ebdon today.
Other big names to advance were John Higgins who edged out Thailand’s Supoj Saenla, Mark King who continued his strong form with a win over Wael Talat, Michael Holt who defeated fellow pro Noppadol Sangnil and reigning IBSF champion Thepchaiya Un-nooh who ended the challenge of Brendan O’Donoghue.
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10 comments
Andrew says:
July 10, 2009 at 7:10 pm (UTC 0 )
thepchaiya lost
oh well, kachaiwong’s still in it, so still chance of an asian winner, shame he lost his place on the tour though :/
matt2745 says:
July 10, 2009 at 7:13 pm (UTC 0 )
Good spot actually, I misread the draw and thought that the last 16 matches were tomorrow.
Another great win for Jimmy White and as you say, Issara has seemingly been great. Great to see Wattana doing well.
And Higgins v Trump looks mouthwatering…
Andrew says:
July 10, 2009 at 7:52 pm (UTC 0 )
I know, I was wondering why you hadn’t updated, you usually have a keen eye on these things
and yeah, do you think this type of format suits white better? he was/is the whirlind after all.
Wow, Trump had quite a touch match against shehab, favour Higgins on that one though, as he he’ll be coming off a 6-0 thrashing of Un-Nooh. he seems to struggle against the big players, lost 6-0 against williams aswell
matt2745 says:
July 10, 2009 at 8:02 pm (UTC 0 )
Yeah it probably does, added to the fact that he’s probably playing as well generally as he has in the last 2-3 years at the moment.
I thought it was a bit odd that all the results were up by noon but I got my dates wrong and assumed that was it and headed out to the shops. Oh well
Andrew says:
July 10, 2009 at 8:14 pm (UTC 0 )
haha, well, I guess shoppings always a good replacement for anything.
I happened to notice that some of the matches were shown on ‘True Sport 3′, some Thai channel, I searched it in google, but the streams don’t work, which is a shame, because theres no coverage anywhere. *sob*
By the way, James Wattana, well, I think its him,(Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Urm?) has sneaked into the quarter final stage! Bodes well for his comeback to the tour next season!
who’s your money on? XD
matt2745 says:
July 10, 2009 at 8:24 pm (UTC 0 )
I know that the tournament is being broadcast on various local TV stations but I’m reluctant to mention streams and suchlike as naturally I don’t want to be sued or anything.
That is James, good stuff yeah, though 15 red, best of 9 snooker at Prestatyn is another world I guess. Still though, winning can never be a bad thing.
An overall winner is tough to call but I’ll go with the winner of Higgins/Trump, quite possibly Judd.
Andrew says:
July 10, 2009 at 8:35 pm (UTC 0 )
yeah of course, lack of coverage though is a shame, comsidering its featuring quite a few top players.
ha, yeah, that is quite a leap! let’s hope it only improves his game though.
yeah, I think Issara is a dark horse for the title, but i’m going to have to go for Higgins, he’s got better as the tournament went on, though I’d love to see an overseas winner, even though erm, the British players are the overseas ones here, haha!
I like the 6 reds format, do you think it could gain more popularity this season?
matt2745 says:
July 10, 2009 at 8:47 pm (UTC 0 )
I don’t ever think that it is going to catch on with what I would class the hardcore snooker fans, indeed I would be lying if I said that I am a big fan.
I can however see it being more popular with people who perhaps have a more passing interest, and it might be a useful introduction to the sport for those people. I don’t mind it being run in an exhibition tournament such as this really, it’s a bit different.
Ultimately though I am of the view that the game as it is with 15 reds is fine and that any problems that the sport is experiencing are more to do with what is surrounding the sport, rather than the game itself.
All about opinions though and there is obviously some sort of market for it.
Armbrust
Twitter: ArmbrustOnWiki
says:
July 11, 2009 at 1:56 pm (UTC 0 )
The finals are:
Beijing International Snooker Challenge: Liang Wenbo v Stephen Maguire
Sangsom 6-red World Grand Prix: Jimmy White v Barry Hawkins
matt2745 says:
July 11, 2009 at 1:57 pm (UTC 0 )
Yeah I’m posting at the moment, need to type quicker