China Open Day 4

Neil Robertson looked Dangerous after he beat Mark Allen
5-1. Image: World Snooker

An unforgiving Neil Robertson put Mark Allen to the sword as he marched through to the Quarter-Finals with a 5-1 win over Mark Allen. Allen didn’t do an awful lot wrong in truth but Robbo was clinical with his chances and did benefit with more than his fair share of luck during the match. The Ulsterman won the opener with a 75 but Robertson hit back, hitting breaks of 113 and a 138 total clearance in the next two. Allen made a 55 break in frame four but Robertson hit back and benefitted from a stroke of luck after missing the blue to middle but it found its way into a corner pocket putting him 3-1 up at the break. The Aussie then hit a 51 break to take the fifth and was on a maximum before running aground on 72 in the next, which he eventually won, sealing the victory.

Marcus Campbell got the better of Graeme Dott in an all-Scottish affair after winning the deciding frame. The first four frames were shared and Dott won the fifth to go 3-2 up but Campbell hit a 54 to draw level again. Dott went 4-3 up with a 55 break but Campbell forced a decider after hitting a 93 in the next and a break of 50 aided him to victory in the final frame.

Stuart Bingham fought back from 3-1 down to defeat world number 19 Robert Milkins 5-3. Breaks of 70 and 109 put Milkins two ahead at the interval but Bingham hit back with top breaks of 134 and 84 to win the next four on the bounce and seal victory.

Stephen Maguire won the other evening match 5-1 against Barry Hawkins. Maguire took the first three and although Hawkins pulled one back by hitting a 64 in frame four, the Scot took the next two after the interval to book his place against Bingham in tomorrow’s Quarter-Finals.

Jack Lisowski kept up his impressive run earlier in the day, defeating Mark Davis 5-4. The score was 2-2 at the interval with Lisowski hitting top breaks of 91 and 67 but it looked like his run would be brought to an end when Davis won the next two to go 4-2 up. However, jack hit back with excellent runs of 80, 71 and 81 in the next three frames to progress.

He’ll face Shaun Murphy tomorrow afternoon after he beat Rory McLeod 5-3. Murphy was 3-1 up at the break with runs of 99 and 66 and won frame five to lead 4-1. McLeod was not ready to throw the towel in, and won the next two including a 110 but Murphy also hit a century in frame eight, a 124, to secure victory.

Mark Williams got the better of Ali Carter in another close match which went the distance. Carter won frames five and six to go 4-2 up but in a similar fashion to the Lisowski-Davis match, Williams stepped on the gas and won the next three frames thanks to runs of 136, 81 and 79.

His Quarter-Final opponent is Mark Selby after he efficiently saw off Ricky Walden 5-2. Selby hit a break of 91 in the opener and won two of the next three to lead 3-1 at the break. Walden closed the gap to 3-2 but Selby made breaks of 67 and 75 in the next two to secure the win.