Day two from the Shanghai Masters qualifiers and with three all-Chinese matches to play with four other players from Asia in action, there is certainly an international aspect to today’s action. Click below for more…
Fast establishing himself as one of the most dangerous players starting out in the first round, many had fancied Tian Pengfei to upset his higher-ranked countryman Liu Song in their second round clash today but eventually it was Liu who was to come through a 5-4 winner. Next up for him will be a clash with Maltese number one Tony Drago who will be hoping to win his first ranking event match of the season when they meet tomorrow.
Joining his countryman in the next round is Liu Chuang who edged out his impressive opponent Li Yan, also in a deciding frame this morning. Having seen Liu in action extensively during the World Championship qualifiers earlier this year I have become something of a fan of the youngster who lets not forget once qualified for the Crucible during his début season. A tough match beckons tomorrow against Jamie Burnett but win or lose I think that sooner or later we will see Liu making a serious push for a place among the top 48.
Also making a push for the top 48 is a man at the opposite stage of his career in the form of crowd favourite Jimmy White and the whirlwind did his chances no harm today with a 5-3 victory against Adam Wicheard. The last time these two met back at the UK qualifiers last year it was to prove a one-sided affair as Jimmy ran out a 9-1 winner, but to his credit Adam was able to make it competitive today before eventually losing out. Next up for Jimmy will be Nigel Bond in a repeat of a typical 1990’s clash!
Another 90’s stalwart is Scotland’s Alan McManus and he recorded a confidence-boosting 5-0 win against Ireland’s David Hogan this morning. Having made it this far courtesy of two walkovers, today David was to have more than a match on his hands and could do little to prevent his experienced opponent from moving onwards to a tie against Anthony Hamilton tomorrow, assuming that Anthony’s neck has improved in recent times after he was forced to miss out on the Australian Open.
Congratulations are in order for Welsh youngster Michael White who not only recorded an impressive 5-2 win against fellow On-Q player Alfie Burden, but in doing so notched up a break of 145, the highest of his career to date. A heavy scorer when in the groove, Michael will tomorrow meet Fergal O’Brien in an intriguing contest.
There was also an excellent result for 20-year-old Jack Lisowski who dispatched Leeds’ David Grace without the loss of a frame in the afternoon session, David apologising on Twitter to anyone who spent £2.99 on watching his match while on a more serious note admitting that he did not put his opponent under enough pressure during the match.
Elsewhere it was an excellent day for Thailand with both James Wattana and Passakorn Suwannawat defeating higher ranked opposition, while India’s Aditya Mehta secured an excellent 5-4 win against the ever-present Rod Lawler.