The outcome of the quarter-finals at the 2024 Wuhan Open yesterday guaranties that there will be a Chinese player in the final. Here are the reports by WST on what happened at the table.
SENSATIONAL XIAO FIRES PAST MAGICIAN
China’s Xiao Guodong produced a devastating display to thrash 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy 5-1 and reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.
Victory for Xiao sees him reach the semis of a ranking event on Chinese soil. The 35-year-old was runner-up to Ding Junhui in the 2013 Shanghai Masters. However, despite making the title match at the 2017 Shoot Out, he hasn’t made a full format final since 2013. Tomorrow he has the opportunity to reach a second ranking final when he faces compatriot Long Zehuang.
Today’s result acts as revenge for 35-year-old Xiao after a quarter-final loss at the hands of Murphy in the recent inaugural running of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, where Murphy prevailed 6-2.
Xiao came firing out of the traps this afternoon with three back-to-back century runs of 139, 113 and 125 to immediately pull clear at 3-0. A run of 75 in the next moved him just a frame away from victory at 4-0 heading into the mid-session.
When play resumed Murphy showed his class with a 112 to respond to the barrage of breaks from Xiao and reduce his arrears. However, there was to be no comeback, with Xiao clinching the tie in the sixth to emerge a 5-1 victor.
“I got into my rhythm faster than Shaun and I capitalized on the opportunities he gave me. In the first four frames, I made hardly any mistakes. That helped me build a solid lead and lay a good foundation for the rest of the match,” said world number 29 Xiao.
“To be honest, I wasn’t favored in this draw, going up against Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins, and Shaun Murphy. They are all tough opponents, so I’m just glad I was able to showcase my game.
“It’s great that two Chinese players have reached the semi-finals in a Chinese event, guaranteeing a spot in the final for one of us. Congratulations to Long Zehuang. We’re very close and we play together every day at Ding’s Academy and often eat together. I’m really happy to be facing him on such a big stage.”
Long earned his place in a maiden semi-final with a 5-1 demolition of six-time ranking event finalist Jack Lisowski.
Former World Junior 9-ball Champion Long is competing in front of his home fans this week in Wuhan, having grown up in the region. It was an emotional moment for his family, who were looking on from the stands as he got over the line.
“I didn’t expect this scoreline, or to make it to the semi-finals. I feel like I had a bit of luck. My performance was normal, but in snooker, sometimes you need that bit of luck. This is my first time reaching the semi-finals and I hadn’t expected it,” said 27-year-old Long.
“Playing at home helps a bit because I’m familiar with the environment. I felt quite relaxed during the match. I heard just now that Xiao Guodong won his match, so I’ll prepare to learn from him. I don’t have any particular expectations—just a mindset of learning and focusing on playing every shot well.“
TRUMP PIPS WAKELIN IN THRILLER
World number one Judd Trump claimed his 14th win in 14 matches against Chris Wakelin, with a dramatic 5-4 victory to reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.
Trump’s narrow triumph is also a continuation of his incredible record in Chinese events so far this season, where he has won 14 of 15 matches played. The only defeat on Chinese soil for Trump this term came against Kyren Wilson in the Xi’an Grand Prix final. He picked up the title at the Shanghai Masters.
The Ace in the Pack is gunning for a 30th piece of ranking silverware with victory this weekend and a third title of the season, having won the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Wakelin bows out after yet another heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Trump. He’s also suffered losses in the final at the Northern Ireland Open last year, as well as a deciding frame 10-9 reverse at the 2018 World Championship.
A dramatic final frame had looked to be going the way of Trump when he built a 51-0 advantage. Wakelin had a chance to steal, but could only muster 36 before clipping a baulk colour and missing out on ideal position on the second last red.
Eventually the frame came down to the colours, with Wakelin spurning a chance on the brown. Trump came to the table, developed the pink from a safe position and cleared to secure a nerve shredding win.
Earlier in the tie Wakelin had led 3-1 before being reeled back to 3-3. He claimed the seventh, but a break of 63 from Trump forced the decider, where he sealed yet another win over his fellow Englishman. He now faces China’s Si Jiahui in the last four.
“It was frustrating at times and especially in that last frame, where it looked like he was going to fluke a couple of balls and end up winning. In the end, I took my chance and played a really good shot on the brown to knock the pink out,” said 35-year-old Trump.
“You are just relying on your opponent to miss (in those situations). He did that in the last frame. There was a bit of pressure out there and he took his eye off the brown looking for an angle to get the pink out.
“I’m very impressed with Si Jiahui. He is very young in snooker terms and he has shot up the rankings in the last two years. For me he is possibly the best of all the young players. He is going to be around for a long time.”
Si earned a place in the fourth ranking semi-final of his career, after battling past Chinese compatriot Zhang Anda 5-3.
The talented 22-year-old now faces a repeat of this year’s German Masters final, where he went down 10-5.
Si has also appeared in semi-finals at this season’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the 2023 World Championship.
He crafted breaks of 83, 85 and 50 this evening to dispatch International Champion Zhang and make the last four.
Si said: “Both of us were a bit nervous for the whole game. We both really wanted to win. I’ve played him a few times before and have lost every time. When I face players with strong safety games, I often struggle. I pushed myself to play my own game today.
“I’m not worried about how strong my opponent is. If I play well, I can beat anyone. But if I don’t, I could lose even to lower ranked opponents. So the key is focusing on my own game.”
I didn’t watch the Xiao v Murphy game, instead I followed the Long v Lisowski match. Jack I’m afraid was his frustrating/infuriating self once again. After a brilliant performance the day before, he was poor yesterday. But to be fair to Long, he was solid, he went for his shots without being reckless and got most of them. He’s a very good “single ball potter”. He put pressure on Jack and it paid off. I really liked what he showed at the table yesterday. The joy of his wife when he won was heartwarming. She was sitting in the audience with a friend and looked tense all match … more so than her husband at the table!
In the second session of the day, I watched Judd Trump v Chris Wakelin and, frankly, Chris should have won this match. He was 3-1 up at the MSI and, at that point, the better player at the table without a shadow of a doubt. The interval did him no good. Judd on the contrary played better after the MSI. All the same, that brown that Chris missed will haunt him. He had the match at his mercy. Judd said that he missed the brown because he was trying to promote the pink at the same time. Possibly. But if he had potted brown and blue, Judd could only tie. Why not leave that pink alone until he reached that point?1 Chris, by the way, came on FB afterwards, admitting that this was a tough loss to take but also honestly saying that he really felt the pressure at the end.
- This is a genuine question. I can’t play snooker to any level worth mentioning, I don’t know what I’m doing at the table… so, those of you who do play, what would you have done in Chris situation, and why? ↩︎
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Methinks, the focus on one single shot is misplaced. Here’s why:
That match wasn’t lost because of one single shot. Wakelin didn’t capitalize on his 3-1 lead.
Arguably, Wakelin underperformed during most of his career because of low confidence. With a confidence-boosting Shootout title to his name, he learned that acting more confidently at the baize leads to better performance. He emerged much-improved after that.
The focus should be on finding the right balance between confidence and caution, finding a level of confidence that matches the levels of his abilities at any given time – these levels vary a good deal, and that’s true for the entire bunch.
Going after a complex shot in a decider is what aspiring champions do, and I’d hope Wakelin gets it right, playing with a high level of confidence, to good effect, even if – say – a brown occasionally refuses to drop. No matter, he’s a better player that way, and more enjoyable to boot.
I agree with you, but ultimately he was at the table, in a break and that shot made the difference. But, of course he didn’t need to put himself in that situation. What happened earlier in the match, the way he lost his lead… all that contributed to him missing that shot.