Kyren Wilson has his “fighting spirit” in abundance this week at the Xi’an Grand Prix and he stepped up the defence of his title with a 5-2 victory over Yuan Sijun 5-2 to reach the last 16.
…
Despite winning the invitational Shanghai Masters in July, world number two Wilson has had a slow start in ranking events this season and is yet to reach a semi-final. He revealed earlier this week that wife Sophie has had serious health problems, alluding to a “torrid time” away from the table. Thankfully she is now on the road to recovery and Wilson looks full of enthusiasm, inspired by memories of last year’s inaugural event when he beat Judd Trump in the final.
Breaks of 113 and 106 helped the 33-year-old to a comfortable win today and he now faces a mouth-watering clash with Shaun Murphy. “It’s a great feeling defending the title and I want to make that last as long as possible,” said Wilson, who can close the gap on Trump at the top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings this week.
“I just love the feeling of winning, it has become a nice habit. We’re still a long way from thinking about winning the title again. The standard will get better now because everyone has wins under their belt. I really enjoyed being here for the first time last year so I was looking forward to coming back. When you are excited and happy as a player, it brings out the best in you. Being announced as the defending champion has given me some fighting spirit this week. I am getting to know the city. I’ve had barbeque food two nights running at a restaurant called Sophie, which is my wife’s name so hopefully it’s bringing me some good luck!”
Ronnie O’Sullivan beat Stephen Maguire 5-0 with a top break of 134 and he has lost just one frame in his three matches so far. The seven-time Crucible king now meets Jak Jones. “I have played great all season, every match has been good,” said O’Sullivan, runner-up in August’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. “This game has a way of humbling you, so far I’m very happy but maybe next month I’ll be saying this game is really hard. You have to enjoy it when it’s good, and when it’s not you have to get through those periods.”
Liam Pullen continued to build his reputation as a star in the making as he thrashed Noppon Saengkham 5-0 with breaks of 103, 83, 96, 101 and 77 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time.
“That’s the best win of my career and the best I have played,” said Yorkshire’s 20-year-old Pullen, who knocked out John Higgins in the qualifying round. “I am a stronger player now than I have been in the past, I have a great team around me.” He will now meet another rising star, Ireland’s Aaron Hill who saw off Mark Davis 5-1 with runs of 97, 131, 81 and 102.
Oliver Lines is enjoying his best ever start to a season and took another step by coming from 4-2 down to beat Elliot Slessor 5-4, taking the decider with a 58 clearance to set up a tie with home hero Ding Junhui.
“The only time in the match I felt good was at the end clearing up,” said Lines. “I kept telling myself I was going to do it, and that calmed me down. This season I am believing in myself more. Over the years I haven’t dealt with set-backs as well as I could have done, I have got down on myself.”
Lines’ father and former pro Peter recently won a Q Tour event. He added: “It’s about time he won one of them! I have been telling him to get his act together and get back on tour next season. Hopefully he’s heading in that direction.”
Robert Milkins continued his attempt to lift himself out of the relegation zone in the projected end-of-season rankings as he beat Jimmy Robertson 5-4. Two-time ranking event winner Milkins has now won three matches in this event, having won just two more in other tournaments this season. He had three centuries today – 127, 113 and 121 – taking his career tally past the 200 mark.
Neil Robertson suffered a surprise 5-4 reverse against China’s He Guoqiang while Shaun Murphy, seeking back-to-back ranking titles having won the Unibet British Open, won a high quality match with Wu Yize 5-4, compiling breaks of 140, 94, 138 and 78.
Wuhan Open runner-up Gary Wilson edged out Mateusz Baranowski 5-4 with top runs of 112 and 102. Barry Hawkins top scored with 101 in a 5-2 defeat of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh while Mark Williams saw off Zhou Yuelong by the same scoreline.
No big break in the last frame! Come on, Ron, you should be ashamed of yourself !
I don’t really have anything to add to that report … for now. I haven’t watched Ronnie’s match just yet either. As they say, life came in the way of snooker today.
Looking at the 16 still in the draw and the matches to come tomorrow … we have some heavyweight encounters coming our way. Of the 16 remaining players, only Liam Pullen is seeded out of the top 64 and seven of the “top 16 seeds” are still in the draw. Tomorrow night, no more than five of them will still be on course for the title as Kyren Wilson (1) will face Shaun Murphy (15) and Mark Williams (6) will face Barry Hawkins (9). Brutal! Liam Pullen is only 20 and I must say that he has really impressed me this season so far!
Ronnie will play Jak Jones, someone we shouldn’t underestimate! He may not be in the top 16 currently, but we should remember that he was 2024 World Championship runner-up, and he had made a real fight of that final!. Indeed after losing the first session heavily (7-1), he won or “drew” the next three. It wasn’t enough but he can make his opponents life very difficult indeed.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 