Stan Moody scored the best win of his career so far with a 4-2 victory over Kyren Wilson to reach the last 32 of the Unibet British Open in Cheltenham.
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Promising 19-year-old Moody has had a strong start to the season, highlighted by a run to the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open when he knocked out Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui. And tonight’s success is another step forward on the English teenager’s journey as he looks to establish himself as a contender for titles.
A break of 132 helped Moody build a 3-1 lead, and although 2024 World Champion Wilson pulled one back with an 82 in frame five, the underdog clinched the result with an excellent 44 clearance in the sixth.
“It’s definitely my best win on tour,” said world number 55 Moody, who now faces Ian Burns on Wednesday night. “Beating Ding in China was very good but this tops it, on ITV in front of a big crowd in Cheltenham. I tried to stay as calm as I could towards the end and managed to get over the line. I felt comfortable out there, I am getting more used to playing on the TV table.”
Pick of the third round ties will see four-time Crucible king John Higgins go head to head with current World Champion Zhao Xintong at 7pm on Wednesday. Higgins enjoyed a narrow 4-3 success for the second round in a row, as he came from 3-1 down to beat Mark Davis on Monday and today edged out local favourite Jack Lisowski.
Leading 3-2, Lisowski failed to take several chances to close out the match in frame six, allowing Higgins to pinch it on the colours before winning the decider with a superb 132.
Higgins said: “The century in the last frame was my only real highlight of the match. I brought Jack down to my level because he was timing the ball well but then he must have seen all the balls I was missing and it played havoc with his head. I am so lucky to still be in the tournament, I really need to improve. Jack looked amazing when he went 3-2 up but then he missed a few in frame six.
“I know I have not put the effort into practice and you get what you deserve – I should have gone out in the first round. But the last frame today did give me some confidence. Last week Mark Allen was behind in so many matches and ended up winning it so it can happen. My fighting qualities are still there.”
China’s Zhao beat Stuart Bingham 4-1 with top breaks of 127 and 133, becoming the first player to reach 20 centuries so far this season.
Bai Yulu just missed out on becoming the first woman to beat a top 16 player in a ranking event as she lost 4-3 to Zhang Anda. Three consecutive centuries, 101, 130 and 125, put Zhang 3-1 up before Bai recovered to 3-3 only to lose the decider.
Robbie McGuigan scored one of his best wins, beating He Guoqiang 4-3, taking the decider on the final black. Mark Williams enjoyed a 4-3 win over Sanderson Lam while Iulian Boiko top scored with 101 in a 4-2 victory over Sam Craigie.
Gary Wilson made a tournament high 144 but was beaten 4-1 by Anthony McGill. Neil Robertson took his career tally of centuries to 998 as a break of 100 helped him beat Xu Si 4-1.
Not mentioned in the above report is the excellent 4-2 win by Antoni Kowalski over the vastly experienced Robert Milkins in a match that featured a break over 50 in 5 out of the 6 frames they played. Antoni scored the highest break of the match, a 109.
Stan Moody is really developing well. In general, I’m not a fan of “bigging” very young players too much. Sometimes it creates expectations that are “too heavy” for their young shoulders and their still immature personality. It can destroy them. I have seen it happen years ago with Rodion Judins. When that happens it’s very sad, it’s not fair and it’s not helping the sport either.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 