Day three from Pontin’s sees the entrance of some of the bigger players to the event. Click below for my updates and here to view the draw over at GSC…
Morning Session
The two biggest names in the third round today both got their China Open campaigns off to a winning start as Ricky Walden and Judd Trump ran out comfortable winners and made century breaks in the process.
Indeed it was Walden who was the first man of the day to win as having lost the opening frame to the experienced Andy Hicks, he won the next five to move into the final qualifying round. The highlight from him was a break of 123 which is currently the highest break of the TV stage of this event. This is because Liang Wenbo’s match has been held over to China, so in order for everyone to have the same opportunity of winning the high break prize, the TV stages are deemed to start here.
Next up for Walden will be a match with Michael Judge tomorrow.
As for Judd Trump he was given a sterner test by Huddersfield pro Kuldesh Johal as the Yorkshireman mounted a brave comeback from 4-1 down to trail by just a single frame, but a break of 71 in frame eight was enough to see Judd go through.
Awaiting him in the final qualifying round will be Irishman Ken Doherty, the man who Judd defeated 5-2 in the semi-finals of the Masters qualifiers last month. It will be an important match for both as Ken desperately needs the win to keep his hopes of a top 32, let alone a top 16 spot alive while Judd will want to keep his own good form going.
While Walden and Trump were expected to win, less predictable was another good win for China’s Jin Long this week as he becomes the first qualifier from round 1 to make the final qualifying round this week. Today his victim was Leicester’s Tom Ford, a talented player who has so far endured a difficult season and perhaps that showed as this match entered its closing stages. It was a close one throughout as the players were never separated by more than a frame, but from 4-3 down it was Long who found something extra and took the last two frames to secure a 5-4 win.
This is another fine win for Long who on his fourth spell on the main tour is enjoying probably his most consistent season yet. I believe that this is now his third appearance in the last 48 of a ranking event so if he can defeat Stephen Lee tomorrow he will be in the last 32 for the first time in his career…
Another impressive result for me today was the win of Scotland’s Jamie Burnett who came from 2-0 and 3-1 down against coutryman Scott MacKenzie to book his place in the fourth round. Not only was this a good fightback in its own right but given the ongoing match-fixing investigation into his UK Championship match, it must have taken something extra to keep focused on his game.
Awaiting him tomorrow will be the struggling Nigel Bond who is yet to win a ranking event match his season so Jamie will fancy his chances of qualifying for the TV stages I would imagine…
Round Three
Liang Wenbo – Rob Milkins**
Jimmy Michie 5-4 Andrew Norman 0-95(91), 78(34,44)-10, 8-83(62), 74(59)-44, 28-67, 64-61(60), 66-2, 9-70(61), 70(64)-53
Judd Trump 5-3 Kuldesh Johal 9-76(70), 69(40)-41, 100(100)-4, 68(58)-22, 54-51, 54(37)-63, 45-59, 71(71)-8
Ricky Walden 5-1 Andy Hicks 37-73(37), 68-25, 131(123)-0, 74(74)-0, 69(68)-1, 83(52)-46
Jamie Burnett 5-3 Scott MacKenzie 1-103, 56-61, 95(53)-6, 1-72, 66-1, 74-7
Alan McManus 3-5 Stuart Pettman 30-70(60), 24-66(66), 81(69)-6, 48-66, 71-15, 64-8
Adrian Gunnell 2-5 Rod Lawler 28-68, 29-60, 6-94(52), 0-76, 64-54
Tom Ford 4-5 Jin Long 86-13, 0-80(80), 8-64(63), 88(82)-1, 11-75, 82-30, 78-34, 25-105
Afternoon Session
David Gray continued his recent revival with another hard fought win today, this time against Scottish world number 42 Marcus Campbell. Like many of the matches this evening it was a close run thing, but David eventually won 5-3 to book a place in the last 48 of a ranking event for the first time since the season-opening Northern Ireland Trophy.
Having slipped down from a peak position of number 12 in the rankings just five years ago to number 49 now, it has been quite a fall for David, but with a couple of good wins in the Masters qualifiers last month and now again here there are now some positive signs at least. Indeed it is just as well because down at number 62 in the latest provisional rankings, David was in desperate need of a good run not just for his confidence, but for his place on the main tour. Awaiting him tomorrow is Barry Hawkins who is also on a good run himself at the moment.
There were three matches tonight that went to a deciding frame and one of these saw Nottingham’s Michael Holt come through to end the challenge of India’s Aditya Mehta. It was a good effort from Aditya (who was in the third round of an event for only the second time this season), to come back from 2-0 and 4-2 down to force a decider, but eventually Holt held off his comeback and booked a clash with Ian McCulloch in the final qualifying round.
Similarly Andrew Higginson survived a scare from Martin Gould to come through a ninth and final frame to book a clash with Fergal O’Brien as he looks to retain a place in the top 48. Andrew actually led 4-1 at one stage and looked like coming through with ease, but breaks of 54 and 87 helped Gould force a decider.
Finally the impressive run of James McBain from the first round continued as he recorded a 5-4 win over David Gilbert. Speaking recently to the Tamworth Herald, David was expecting to face Mark Davis here but McBain it was and unfortunately for David, another disappointing defeat. Next up for James though is a tough tie with Welshman Mark Williams, a player with an enviable record in tournaments held in Asia…
While McBain has survived from the first round however, a number of other players remaining in the competition from the first round were defeated tonight, including Robert Stephen who went down 5-3 to former world champion John Parrott. Similarly Atthasit Mahitthi and Andy Lee bowed out as the class of the higher ranked players eventually told.