World Open Day 3

World Open Day 3

There was almost another upset at the World Open in Tuesday’s afternoon session as another wildcard entry, Lu Ning, gave world number 1 Mark Selby a run for his money. The 18 year old, who defeated Nigel Bond 5-4 to set up his first round match against The Jester from Leicester, snatch a two frame lead before Selby took the next two to go in level at the interval. Lu went ahead again taking the fifth frame but Selby spared his blushes by winning the next three frames to ensure his place in the last 16.

Robert Milkins who beat Stephen Maguire 5-3 (not my picture)

Mark King pulled out a surprise victory over the Welshman Mark Williams as King ran out a 5 frames to 1 winner. Fellow Welsh player Matthew Stevens played out a very close match with Joe Perry which went all the way to a decider in which Perry was victorious. Mark Allen enjoyed a much easier first round match though as he defeated Jimmy Robertson 5-1.

Robert Milkins raised a few eyebrows in the evening session as he defeated a recently in-form Stephen Maguire. Milkins missed match ball in the eight frame but Maguire failed to pot a pink leaving him to concede. Neil Robertson’s defence of the 2010 win saw him face Stephen Hendry but the Australian progressed with a 5-3 victory. The remaining evening match saw Jamie Cope making good progress in a ranking event for the first time this season as he saw off Martin Gould after a final frame decider.

The last 16 begins tomorrow with the pick of the games Judd Trump v Mark Allen in the afternoon session which begins at 0630GMT. Also in the afternoon it’s Mark King v Tom Ford, Shaun Murphy v Joe Perry and Michael Holt v Mark Selby. In the evening session (1130GMT) Stephen Lee faces Neil Robertson whilst either Robert Milkins or Jin Long will get the chance to make a rare appearance in the quarter finals of a ranking event if they win their match. Also, John Higgins plays Jamie Cope and it’s an all Scottish affair between Graeme Dott and Marcus Campbell.