Most matches yesterday went to the highest seed . There were only three “exceptions”.
None of those “exceptions” is a big surprise really. Fatigue probably caught up with Zhao Xintong, and Stuart Bingham who beat him is a top player himself. Barry Hawkins beating Mark Williams is no shock, Barry on form is very, very efficient and he tends to do well on the bigger stages. Jian Jun has been in good form in this event, he beat Mark Selby in round 1. He’s probably already exceeded his own expectations and therefore playing with some freedom. Him getting the better of Robbie Williams is certainly no shock either.
Neil Robertson played what he described as one of the best shots of his career in the deciding frame as he beat Jak Jones 4-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the BetVictor Welsh Open in Llandudno.
A tense decider came down to the last four colours, and Welshman Jones narrowly over-cut his attempted long brown to a top corner. Playing with deep screw, Robertson drilled in the brown and gained position on the blue which was close to the baulk cushion. He was also faced with a tricky pink but rolled it home for victory.
He is into the 90th ranking event quarter-final of his career and is seeking a 27th title. The Australian, who made breaks of 122 and 73 today, will be up against Barry Hawkins in the first match on Friday at 12pm.
“In terms of the way the shot on the brown was executed, I would definitely say it was one of the best of my career,” said world number three Robertson. “It wasn’t as if I threw my whole arm at it, it was really well controlled and greatly timed. The pink was also difficult because I couldn’t inject much pace into it so if I had missed it might have stayed over the pocket. Thankfully I got through because in the decider we both missed chances.
“I have had to keep my composure for the last few months because things haven’t quite gone my way. I have put myself in positions to win tournaments but lost a few times to the eventual champion. Hopefully I can still add some more silverware this season. After I won the title in Saudi at the start of the season, along with Joe (Perry) and (psychologist) Helen we agreed I needed to stay focussed and try to add more. I feel fresh and I’m looking forward to the last few tournaments.
“These home nations events are like a marathon, there are so many people at the start, then once you get to the quarter-finals it’s like coming into the last bend. Now it’s go-for-it mode, I will be aggressive and hope that’s enough to win.”
Hawkins was on the verge of pulling out of this event before his opening match on Monday, suffering with back pain, but he is now into the last eight thanks to a 4-2 win over home favourite Mark Williams.
After sharing the first two frames, Williams made a break of 115 to lead 2-1 before Hawkins levelled with a run of 69. The key moment of the tie came in frame five when Williams, on a break of 57, potted a difficult red with the rest to a top corner, only for the cue ball to drop into a centre pocket. His opponent converted a long red and cleared with 62, then went on to seal the result in frame six with an 84.
“Sometimes when you have an injury it takes your mind off everything, you just go out there and play,” said Hawkins, who is into a 55th ranking event quarter-final and has four titles to his name. “I was so close to pulling out because my back was really sore. A few people persuaded me to play, I took some pain killers and as my first match went on it loosened up a bit.
“I don’t know how I hurt it. I might have tweaked it in the gym, and then went to practise and it got worse. It happened to me once before, it was a muscle strain – a lot of snooker players end up with bad backs and bad necks. Hopefully mine is slowly getting better.”
Reflecting on the match, Hawkins added: “Mark was so unlucky to go in-off (in the fifth frame), you couldn’t do that if you tried. I cued in the long red nicely and made a good clearance – those are the kind of frames that give you confidence.”
China’s 20-year-old Jiang Jun reached his second ranking event quarter-final – having got that far at the BetVictor Scottish Open in December – as he beat Robbie Williams 4-1 with a top break of 69. He now meets in-form Wu Yize, who crushed David Grace 4-0 with breaks of 78, 71, 104 and 70.
Stuart Bingham ended Zhao Xintong’s hopes of winning three consecutive ranking titles with a 4-2 victory in the last 16 of the BetVictor Welsh Open.
Crucible king Zhao had won his previous 11 matches, landing the World Grand Prix and Players Championship this month, but his dreams of becoming only the sixth player in snooker history to win a hat-trick of ranking titles in a row were smashed by Bingham, who goes into the quarter-finals in Llandudno to meet Jack Lisowski on Friday afternoon.
World number 17 Bingham, who turns 50 in May, hasn’t won a ranking title in seven years but has high hopes of landing a second Welsh Open crown having lifted the trophy in 2017. Top breaks of 75 and 64 helped him to an impressive win tonight.
“In the first frame my hand was shaking like a leaf, it was just adrenaline,” said the Essex cueman. “From the second frame I settled down and took most of my chances. If I can have a good run here it could get me into the top 16 for the World Championship so there’s a lot riding on it.
“I have great memories of winning this in 2017, it was Ray Reardon presenting me with the trophy and that was a special moment. I was actually watching a video of the final against Judd Trump the other day which gave me a bit of inspiration. I have had three finals in this event so it has been good to me.
“I have put more effort into practice recently. Before that I was going into my snooker room, doing an hour and then sitting with a cup of tea and looking at my phone. I realised that wasn’t enough so I have been working harder and hopefully I’m now reaping the rewards.“
Lisowski beat Jackson Page 4-2 in a fast and thrilling contest, the six frames taking just 66 minutes. Breaks of 67, 84, 99 and 54 helped Lisowski continue his best run since he won the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open in October. Two more wins this week would earn him the massive £150,000 bonus for the leading money-winner across the BetVictor Home Nations series.
Page had been the last Welshman standing which means that the wait for a home winner goes on; Mark Williams was the last to lift the trophy back in 1999.
China’s Zhou Yuelong is also in the BetVictor bonus race and will land that windfall if he goes all the way to the title. He beat Sam Craigie 4-1 tonight with runs of 58, 74 and 54.
Zhou now plays John Higgins, who continued his superb start to 2026 by beating Zhang Anda 4-2 to reach a record-extending 156th ranking quarter-final. Scotland’s Higgins, runner-up in the Masters and Players Championship, knocked in runs of 95, 78 and 60 before rounding off the match with a 144 total clearance, the new target for the £5,000 high break prize
Jiang Jun may have exceeded his own expectations, but I don’t think he’ll be playing with freedom! Every shot is a major drama with him at the moment, although it hasn’t always been this way. During the pandemic lockdowns 2020-23, he completely rebuilt his game and emerged with a formidable technique – quite possibly the best single-ball potter in snooker. But now (probably in the gap before next season) he needs to rebuild his approach. He’s like an extreme form of Peter Ebdon.
Sadly, they chose to schedule the two youngest players – potenial top players – on Table 2 for the Q-finals.
Jiang Jun may have exceeded his own expectations, but I don’t think he’ll be playing with freedom! Every shot is a major drama with him at the moment, although it hasn’t always been this way. During the pandemic lockdowns 2020-23, he completely rebuilt his game and emerged with a formidable technique – quite possibly the best single-ball potter in snooker. But now (probably in the gap before next season) he needs to rebuild his approach. He’s like an extreme form of Peter Ebdon.
Sadly, they chose to schedule the two youngest players – potenial top players – on Table 2 for the Q-finals.