Ronnie O’Sullivan (pictured below) got his season off to a flyer with a 6-0 victory over Chinese amateur Zhang Yi. The man known as the rocket fired in breaks of 54,55,65 and 69 to race into a 4-0 lead at the interval.
After the interval Ronnie was a man in a hurry as he stroked in back to back centuries to complete victory. Ronnie will face a lot stiffer tests than this but in this excellent break building form he is going to take some stopping here in Shanghai.
Jack Lisowski ( pictured below) Piled more misery on the former world number 1 Mark Selby with a 6-3 victory in the first round here in Shanghai. Breaks of 72, 105 and 119 guided Lisowski to victory but that was only half of the story as Selby missed a host of guilt edged chances and its definitely worrying times for the 3 time world champion. Selby looks completely void of confidence and cast a despondent figure in his chair through large parts of the match and he will be looking to bounce back in Guangzhou at the China Championships in 13 days time.
‘Former world champions Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy (pictured below) produced an absolute thriller with Murphy coming out a 6-5 winner. In a match which featured 8 breaks of 50 plus and 2 magnificent centuries the crowd here in Shanghai definitely got their money’s worth. Murphy’s recent run to the final of the International championship has done his confidence wonders and he is starting to look like the Murphy of old and for his adoring fans it’s great to see.
There were also victories for Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and David Gilbert all pictured below.
Game of the day has to be the thriller between Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy and here is highlights of that match for you to enjoy…..
