Time is flying and we are already on day three of this prestigious tournament in the snooker calendar. First up was Judd Trump who is currently riding on the crest of a wave in this competition. His opponent Scott Donaldson got off to flying start and before long had a 2-1 advantage over Judd. However with Donaldson needing all the remaining balls in the third frame, Judd upped his game and potted the crucial yellow that Donaldson needed to stay in the frame and after two snookers needed Scott conceded the frame, 2-2.
After the interval, a close match ensued with both players vying for the lead and with a 4-3 lead, Trump got locked into a safety battle with opponent, nestling on the baulk cushion at every opportunity. However Scott made the first mistake and stuck a red up but Trump missed a cut back black and so a safety battle occurred once again. Trump got back and killed off the frame to make it 5-3 after Donaldson conceded. In the next, Scott had it all his way with one way traffic taking over. Donaldson took the frame with a comfortable 115 break and raising the stakes for Trump.However in the end the match went Judd’s way and he won with a decisive 6-4 victory.
On another television table, Shaun Murphy was playing the Riga champion, Yan Bingtao. Murphy steamed ahead to a 5-0 advantage with Yan only scoring 8 points. However what followed was a miraculous comeback with Bingtao challenging Murphy to cross the winning line, taking four frames but in the end Bingtao needed five frames to tie and Murphy one to win and unfortunately for the Chinese player, this was a bridge too far with Murphy winning 6-4, not a whitewash as originally anticipated.
In the evening session, Mark Selby was up against Ben Woollaston, Woollaston took the first frame to make it 1-0. After several snooker attempts by Selby in the next, Wollaston fought back and gradually picked off balls in the frame to leave Selby dazed and confused, wondering why he was now 2-0 behind. With Selby behind, the class act Mark kicked into action and he produced a textbook clearance of 127 to claw one back to make it 1-2. In the fourth frame Mark eventually started to score after a series of missed opportunities by both players and a break of 59 was sufficient enough to draw the 3 times world champion level. Selby was quickly in again after the interval with a breaks of 50 and 65 to make it 4-2.
Selby must have been kicking himself in the seventh frame as he let it slip out of his grasp and Ben went on to clear the table, winning the frame by a pointto cut the deficit to 4-3. But Selby continued his onslaught by making 103 in the following frame and put himself in reaching distance of the winning line. A feat he achieved by taking the crucial frame to win convincingly 6-3.
Ding inflicted a thumping 6-1 victory over Xiao Guodong in an exciting all Chinese affair and here is the match for you to enjoy…..
Game of the day was the excellent match between Shaun Murphy and Yan Bingtao here’s the match in full for you to enjoy…..
