Thursday in Newport and we are down to the last eight following the conclusion of the six remaining last 16 ties today. Click below for a round-up…
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The rivalry between Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan will be renewed tomorrow as the pair came through their matches against Stuart Bingham and Mark Williams today, both by a 4-1 scoreline.
It could have been a different story for Judd however as it was Stuart who started the stronger of the two, taking the opener with a break of 74 before being presented the first chance in the second following a failed long-range attempt from Trump.
The match was to change however as Stuart surprisingly missed a black off the spot when in the balls which allowed Judd to clear with 73, before a miscue from Bingham in the next was all Judd needed to lead 2-1 in barely half an hour. From there the momentum was with the reigning UK champion and with the help of his second ton of the week in frame four, Trump soon secured a quick-fire victory.
O’Sullivan meanwhile extended his fine run against Mark Williams whose ten-year drought (Championship League aside), against the three-time world champion continues. It was a high-quality start to the match from both as they exchanged century breaks, first with a 125 from Ronnie before Williams hit back with a 133. Ronnie moved back ahead thanks to a run of 96 in frame two, before he took two more evenly matched frames with breaks of 45 and 56 to secure victory.
As has been suggested on Twitter this evening, the law of averages would suggest that O’Sullivan is overdue a win against Judd following his defeats against the youngster at the UK Championship and Masters tournaments already this season, not to mention the PTC final in Antwerp last year. That said however, given how impressive Trump looked tonight, one senses that it will take more than the law of averages to stop him.
Elsewhere, Stephen Hendry might have rolled back the years against Neil Robertson in his opening match, but he could not reproduce the same form against Mark Allen as the man from Northern Ireland defeated his idol without the loss of a frame. He will now meet Shaun Murphy in the next round after the 2006 Welsh Open finalist saw off another legend in the form of Steve Davis yesterday evening.
Welsh interest in the tournament was ended with the defeat of Matthew Stevens to Stephen Maguire as the Scot capitalised on a missed red from Stevens when in with a chance to force a decider. It was not easy however and playing it left-handed while stretching, it would prove to be his final shot as Maguire duly dished for the match.
Next up for the German Masters finalist will be Mark Selby after the world number one emerged a 4-1 winner against Martin Gould in the final match of the round to conclude. As was the case during his opening round win against Sam Baird, Mark looked to be far from his best form, but having lost a 50 minute opening frame, Martin’s evening rarely looked like improving as the form that he had shown early in his match against Peter Ebdon previously too deserted him.
Finally, Stephen Lee is also through to the quarter-finals following a 4-1 victory against Tom Ford, started with a break of 129 in the opening frame.
With the progression to best of nines tomorrow, the tournament really starts here…