Day Three from the World Cup and results went largely to form with further wins for England, Scotland and Wales while Ireland also got in on the act – eventually!
Before heading off out to work this morning I had hoped to catch a bit more of the doubles action in order to get a better idea of how well the format was working but unfortunately the opening TV match between the Republic of Ireland and Egypt proved to be something of a slog as all four players struggled for form. First up was Ken Doherty who had pink and black to win the opening match but inexplicably overhit the pink to the right middle and could only watch as it caught the far jaw and stayed out.
The second match also proved to be a 45 minute marathon but despite a string of missed blues from Fergal early on, he was eventually able to level proceedings. From there while the snooker continued to be tough going, indeed during their match they managed to get through two matches on the other table, but Ken and Fergal will have been delighted with the outcome as they added the doubles frame as well as the two reverse singles to secure an important 4-1 victory.
Of course while Ireland did lose their first match, with the groups to be decided on frames won, they remain well in contention to progress at this stage. In the other match in this group Welsh duo Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens were able to edge Germany 3-2 to consolidate their position at the top of the standings.
Elsewhere, Mark Selby put in some strong performances to help England to a 3-2 win against Belgium as an off-colour Ali Carter found the going tough, while Scotland and China also won again.
Two days to go in the groups and it remains as hard to call the quarter-finalists as it was on Monday morning at present! Click here for the latest standings.