Gary Wilson remains in the hunt for a return to the world’s top 16, after overhauling world number one Judd Trump to win 5-4 and make the last eight of the Wuhan Open.
World number 18 Wilson is in line to make the top 16 in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings if he reaches the final this week. His next assignment is a quarter-final clash with four-time Crucible king John Higgins, who beat Tom Ford 5-1.
Victory for Wilson represents his first win over Trump for seven years, dating back to the 2018 World Open. Defeat for Trump comes off the back of a 5-3 opening match exit at the hands of Oliver Lines in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
There was never more than a solitary frame between the pair in this evening’s encounter. Wilson top scored with 103, but it was Trump who fired in contributions of 68, 63, 57 and 58 to move one from victory at 4-3.
Wilson held his nerve to force a decider, where both players spurned opportunities before the Tyneside cueman got himself over the line for an important victory.
“I’m really happy with the win. It is great to beat Judd. Being hyper critical there were a few bad mistakes, where a player of Judd’s class he doesn’t normally let you off the hook,” said 40-year-old Wilson.
“You have to be your own harshest critic. That is what top level sport is about. You need to be harsh, but in the right way. When I’m analysing the game, I have no problems being harsh, but I’m also honest. It was a great result against a great player.
“Naturally the rewards are big being in the top 16. It gets you in different competitions like the Shanghai Masters and the Masters. Of course, all season long, it will be a goal in the back of my head. But in the forefront of my mind it will be about enjoying playing.”
Former UK and Masters champion Mark Allen scored a fine 5-1 defeat of quickfire Thai Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to make his first quarter-final of the campaign.
The Northern Irishman missed the Shanghai Masters and lost his opening match to Chang Bingyu in Saudi Arabia, so he is hoping to kick his campaign off in earnest this week.
Allen now faces Si Jiahui, who beat Stephen Maguire 5-2. He top scored with 94 and was relieved to comfortably see off the dangerous Un-Nooh.
Allen said: “He has given me a few hammerings lately. I just had to tighten up a bit and my safety was good there. That created a few chances and I scored well when I needed to.
“In the blink of an eye it could be 3-1 to 3-3, or even worse. So I was pleased to get over the line there and make it to the quarter-finals.”
I must confess that I didn’t watch much of it today.
That said …
The 5-0 win by Stan Moody over Barry Hawkins really surprised me. Not so much the win, as Stan is a very capable player, but I certainly didn’t expect the score, a whitewash, and even less the frames scores, with the hugely experienced Barry only scoring 39 points all match, and all 39 points coming in frame 1… It’s the first time that Stan reaches the QFs in a ranking event. He will face Xiao Guodong who beat Matthew Selt.
The other results didn’t particularly surprise me. Judd Trump has not been at his best for some times now. Thepchaiya isn’t the most consistent player and Mark Allen looks very solid and scored heavily. Mark Williams also is in good form and is always very astute tactically. Mark Selby made the two highest breaks in that match but lost the close frames. Not many players can do that to Mark Selby but Willo is one of them…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 