Here are the reports by WST on yesterday’s matches in Wuhan
Wuhan Open Day Two Afternoon Update
Anthony McGill produced a break building blitz, to take the last three frames and beat Mostafa Dorgham 5-4 to set up a last 32 clash with defending champion Judd Trump at the Wuhan Open.
The 2016 Indian Open champion has had a slow start to the season, but showed signs of hitting form with recent qualifying wins to make the final stages of the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship.
Dorgham has only won three matches so far in his two seasons on tour, but the Egyptian found himself one frame from a big win when he took a surprise 4-2 lead. From there McGill summoned his best snooker to hammer home breaks of 101, 70 and 90 to take three on the bounce and emerge a 5-4 victor.
“I thought I played well the full match. It was just the way the balls went, sometimes they don’t let you play. To be fair to Mostafa, I thought he played amazing. His safety play was incredible. I couldn’t get too much out of him. As soon as I was allowed to flow a bit I played well, but I was always playing well,” said two-time ranking event winner McGill.
“I’m playing better than the results. I definitely have a game there, sometimes I’m not always allowed to bring it out but I just have to stay patient. I’ve got to remind myself that patience is the key.
“I’m trying to change a couple of things, which I’ll keep to myself, but I feel as though I have a good game. I can obviously be better, but I think I’ll be alright and things will pick up.“
World number one Trump came through with a 5-2 win over China’s He Guoqiang. The Ace in the Pack is aiming to win the title for a second year in a row, having won the title 12 months ago with a 10-7 defeat of Ali Carter in the final.
It was He who started fastest this morning, with a sublime 139 to take the opener. However, Trump claimed five of the next six to progress with breaks of 116, 103 and 68.
World Champion Kyren Wilson put on a stunning performance to brush aside Ireland’s Aaron Hill in a 5-0 whitewash.
The Warrior fired in runs of 72, 61, 111, 88 and 61 in consecutive frames to claim victory. He now faces Xiao Guodong, who beat Andrew Pagett 5-1.
Hossein Vafaei was a 5-3 winner against Jordan Brown, as he set up a last 32 tie against Zhang Anda, who beat 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott 5-3.
WUHAN OPEN DAY TWO EVENING ROUNDUP
John Higgins admitted that the destruction of his previous cue could be an act of ‘divine intervention’ after a 5-4 comeback win over China’s Fan Zhengyi at the Wuhan Open.
The Scot’s cue was left in an irreparable state after being drenched in rain at Paris Airport last month. The subsequent English Open saw him fall out of the world’s top 16 for the first time since 1995.
However, Higgins has found form with his replacement cue and a run to the recent British Open final, which he lost to Mark Selby, saw him return immediately to the top 16 in the rankings.
This evening’s match had been sliding away from Higgins, when former European Masters champion Fan led 3-0 and 4-2. However, a fine break of 61 saw Higgins steal the seventh on the black to remain in contention at 4-3.
That frame turned the tide of the match, with Higgins crafting runs of 66 and 67 to score a 5-4 win and earn a clash with Zak Surety, who beat Robert Milkins 5-4.
“I was going nowhere after Saudi Arabia with my old cue. My game was in bad shape. It maybe took some divine intervention, I don’t know what it was. It made me swap equipment and it seems to have given me a lease of life. Who knows how long it will last but today it seems good,” said 31-time ranking event winner Higgins.
“He could have won 5-2 today, but ran out of position. There always seems to be one shot among the mere mortals of the game that you have to do to get over that hurdle. Fan didn’t manage and then I managed to go 4-3 down and stay in the game. I was delighted to win.”
Shaun Murphy battled to a 5-3 win over former German Masters winner Anthony Hamilton to seal his progression.
The Magician top scored with 105 and his win secures a meeting with Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham, who thrashed Jimmy White 5-1. After this evening’s match he was delighted to have found a way past the experienced Hamilton.
Murphy said: “I don’t think anyone can swamp Anthony. He knows too much and is too clever. He has every shot in the book and I have vast amounts of respect for him. There were moments in the match where we both produced brilliance and moments where we both produced garbage. In the end I’m delighted to be through.”
Home hero Ding Junhui looked to be in fine form as he thrashed Chinese compatriot Xu Si 5-0. The 14-time ranking event winner made century runs of 111, 102 and 130 in the win and now plays Yuan Sijun.
There are, as always, a few matches that were overlooked by WST… notably an excellent 5-1 win by Ben Woollaston over Gary Wilson. But that’s not all:
- Wu Yize continues to impress. He beat Cheung Ka Wai by 5-0 but the match was much closer than the score suggests.
- Already mentioned above, Xiao Guodong demolished Andrew Pagett by 5-1 but it’s worth mentioning that Xiao had four breaks over fifty and finished in style with a 95 and a 121.
- Mark Joyce, who replaces Ronnie in the draw, beat Sanderson Lam by 5-2. This match featured six breaks over 50, including two centuries. Mark Joyce scored a 132 in frame 6.
- Zak Surety 5-4 win over Robert Milkins is mentioned but what isn’t is that Zak had to win the four last frames to go through and, quite astonishingly, scored a break of 74 in each of frames 6, 7 and 8!
- Yuan Sijun beat Xing Zihao by 5-2 and Martin O’Donnel beat Sunny Akani by the same score.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 