The Paul Hunter Classic 2019 got underway yesterday in Fürth. It’s not on televion, it’s not even on the ES player or streamed. It’s reduced to a 16 men (actually 13 men and three boys) field. Anyway … here is the report by Worldsnooker on day1 action:
Top 16 stars Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins and David Gilbert all enjoyed emphatic wins on the first day of the Paul Hunter Classic to reach the quarter-finals.
The tournament in Furth, Germany, is a 16-man invitation event this year, with a mixture of professional players and promising amateurs.
Wilson is defending the title and got off to a strong start as he needed just 60 minutes to beat Austrian amateur Florian Nuessle 4-0, making breaks of 55, 86, 80 and 60.
Hawkins was a fine form in a 4-1 win over Gary Wilson, knocking in breaks of 101, 94 and 113. Gilbert compiled runs of 108 and 89 as he beat Michael Holt 4-1. Belgium’s Luca Brecel top-scored with 102 in a 4-1 win over Ken Doherty.
Joe Perry saw off Ben Mertens 4-0 while Ricky Walden made a 104 in a 4-0 defeat of Julian Boiko. Mark King beat teenager Ryan Davies 4-0 with runs of 58, 56, 67 and 67 while Dominic Dale scored a 4-1 victory over Matthew Selt.
The tournament is played to a finish on Sunday.
Quarter-final line-up
Kyren Wilson v Dominic Dale
Luca Brecel v Ricky Walden
David Gilbert v Joe Perry
Mark King v Barry Hawkins
Iulian Boiko came through the qualifying event, beating Barry Pinches in the Final. He’s from Ukraine and only 13. Shaun Murphy had to withdraw due to injury (achilles I heard) and Matthew Stevens withdrew as well. Fortunately they got replaced before the start of the tournament. A lot of pro players it seems regret the way the tournament was downgraded and were more than ready to play in it given the chance.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 