Snooker World Grand Prix 2016: Wednesday Results, Updated Draw and Reaction
World champion Stuart Bingham and defending champion Judd Trump both qualified for the second round of the 2016 Snooker Word Grand Prix on Wednesday, beating David Gilbert and Mark Williams, respectively.
Shaun Murphy also advanced to the next round, while Mark Selby and Marco Fu suffered shock defeats.
Here's a look at Wednesday's results:
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Judd Trump | 4-1 | Mark Williams |
| David Gilbert | 1-4 | Stuart Bingham |
| Mark Selby | 2-4 | Tom Ford |
| Luca Brecel | 1-4 | Ali Carter |
| Kyren Wilson | 4-2 | Jamie Jones |
| Shaun Murphy | 4-0 | Michael White |
| Liang Wenbo | 4-1 | Graeme Dott |
| Marco Fu | 3-4 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh |
The schedule for Round 2:
| John Higgins MBE | vs. | Ryan Day |
| Judd Trump | vs. | Stuart Bingham |
| Tom Ford | vs. | Ali Carter |
| Joe Perry | vs. | Kyren Wilson |
| Martin Gould | vs. | Shaun Murphy |
| Michael Holt | vs. | Liang Wenbo |
| Mark Allen | vs. | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh |
| Ding Junhui | vs. | Peter Ebdon |
For the full tournament bracket visit the World Snooker website.
Recap
Trump cruised to a 4-1 win over Williams during the morning session, starting his title defence in promising fashion. Juddernaut needed just 26 minutes to build a lead of two frames and showed his break-building ability in the final frame, recording a stunning break of 122.
Williams has been in solid form of late, but he didn't put up much resistance on Wednesday. But even if he had, the result likely would have been similar, as Trump played some fantastic snooker.
Per Live Snooker, the Ace in the Pack was happy with his performance:
"Trump: "I played some good stuff, I only really missed one ball. This season has been a bit patchy but my form has been there."
— Live Snooker (@Livesnooker) March 9, 2016"
Trump has struggled in the major tournaments in 2016, but after his strong showing in the Championship League, he seems to be finding his best form at just the right time. A successful title defence would hand Juddernaut just the kind of momentum he needs, with the World Championship right around the corner.
Bingham was a surprise winner at the Crucible last year, and after an up-and-down season, he too seems to be rounding into form at the right time. Gilbert was never expected to challenge Ball-run much, and he took just one frame during their session.
Bingham's highest break was 80, and per Live Snooker, he believes he can still do much better despite the one-sided win:
Fu bowed out of the tournament in shocking fashion, losing a decider against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. He did well to tie things up in the sixth frame, but in the decider, he missed a key red up 50 points and watched as his opponent pulled a few points back before laying a perfect snooker.
After one miss, he played the wrong side of the red and left the table wide-open for Un-Nooh to clear.
Former world champion Selby also suffered an upset, losing to an in-form Tom Ford in six frames. Per Matt of the Pro Snooker Blog, it continued a trend in this year's World Grand Prix:
With Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson and now Selby already out of the tournament, the road appears clear for Trump to successfully defend his title. He'll have to get past Bingham in the next round, however, which won't be an easy task.
Murphy also seems in excellent form, as he swept past Michael White on Wednesday, and Ali Carter played some excellent snooker as well, beating Luca Brecel 4-1 in the first round.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
