China Open Snooker 2016: Wednesday's Scores, Results and Updated Draw Schedule
Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump cruised to the last 16 of the 2016 China Open Snooker on Wednesday, joining John Higgins and Marco Fu as the top stars still remaining in the draw.
Bingham was never troubled by Ian Burns, beating him 5-3, while Trump raced to a 5-1 win over Jimmy Robertson.
John Higgins booked his place in the last 16 of the 2016 China Open during the afternoon session, securing a routine 5-1 win over Mark Joyce.
TOP NEWS
Report: ESPN Trying To Land Steve Kerr
FAs Likely to Get Overpaid 💰
.jpg?w=256 "Cowboys Panthers Football")
Pickens Gauged Trade Market
With some big names falling in the tournament already, the Scot will have been delighted with his professional victory. Shaun Murphy, who was too good for David Grace in a 5-3 triumph, progressed into the second round with his victory during the morning session, only to fall to Mark King in the afternoon.
Here’s a summary of the results from Wednesday, the clashes to come and a more detailed rundown of the day’s play at the Beijing University Students' Gymnasium.
| David Grace | 3-5 | Shaun Murphy |
| Tian Pengfei | 5-4 | Barry Hawkins |
| Rhys Clark | 4-5 | Alfie Burden |
| Mike Dunn | 2-5 | Rory McLeod |
| Martin Joyce | 1-5 | John Higgins |
| Stephen Maguire | 5-2 | Jack Lisowski |
| Noppon Saengkham | 5-4 | Ben Woollaston |
| Matthew Selt | 1-5 | Martin O'Donnell |
| Kyren Wilson | 1-5 | Rod Lawler |
| Stuart Bingham | 5-3 | Ian Burns |
| Marco Fu | 5-0 | Robert Milkins |
| David Gilbert | 5-1 | Lee Walker |
| Darryl Hill | 3-5 | Dominic Dale |
| Mark King | 5-3 | Shaun Murphy |
| Tiang Penfei | 5-2 | Michael Holt |
| Yuan Sijun | 2-5 | Graeme Dott |
| Judd Trump | 5-1 | Jimmy Robertson |
The schedule for the round of 16:
| Alfie Burden | vs. | Rory McLeod |
| Martin O'Donnell | vs. | Mark King |
| Tian Pengfei | vs. | Ricky Walden |
| Rod Lawler | vs. | Stuart Bingham |
| Dominic Dale | vs. | Stephen Maguire |
| Judd Trump | vs. | Marco Fu |
| Noppon Saengkham | vs. | Graeme Dott |
| David Gilbert | vs. | John Higgins |
Wednesday Recap
Trump didn't waste any time getting past Robertson on Wednesday, losing just a single frame on his way to the next round. The Ace in the Pack finished his match before most of the other contests entered the fourth frame, finishing with breaks of 70, 97, 69 and 60.
Juddernaut still hasn't won a rankings title in 2016 but looks in fantastic form just weeks before the start of the World Championship. Per World Snooker's official website, he was more than satisfied with his performance against Robertson:
"I’m happy with how I performed today. I’ve got very good memories here because it was the first tournament I won in 2011 and I always get good support here. I haven’t done that well since the Masters in January so it’s important for me to do well this week. When I won this five years ago I had a lot of confidence going into the World Championship.
"
Bingham also finished his win over Burns with four breaks over 50, and while his long potting looked a little shaky at times, the defending world champion appears to be finding his form at the right time.
Teenage sensation Yuan Sijun saw his tournament come to an end at the hands of Graeme Dott, who will meet Noppon Saengkham in the next round. David Hendon of Eurosport finally got to use this tweet following the match:
Higgins has looked in confident form at this tournament, and with Neil Robertson dumped out in Round 1, he is the big favourite to go on and clinch the title.
The Scot, a four-time world champion, showcased an excellent performance on Wednesday afternoon. With the pressure on, he produced an assured display to overwhelm Joyce; breaks of 73 in the first frame and a classy 81 in the final one bookended a 5-1 victory.
Hendon thinks the 40-year-old has a fine chance of going all the way in this one:
One of the men well placed to challenge the world no. 7 will be Murphy, who got his China Open campaign under way with a win against Grace.
The 2005 world champion struggled to settle into a rhythm at times, but he eventually found his way through by a 5-3 scoreline.
As Matt from ProSnookerBlog noted, it’s a result that sees Murphy guaranteed as one of the top seeds for the upcoming World Championships:
One man who needs wins here to ensure he qualifies for that tournament is Stephen Maguire. And the Scot did exactly that on Wednesday, securing a comfortable 5-2 victory over Jack Lisowski.
There is a lot of class coming from players you typically wouldn’t tag as challengers for the title, too. As noted here by the Live Snooker Twitter feed, the enthralling tussle between Rhys Clark and Alfie Burden—eventually won 5-4 by the latter—was full of quality play:
Also impressive in victory was Martin O’Donnell, making light work of the dangerous Matthew Selt with a 5-1 win.
.jpg?w=480 "Cowboys Panthers Football")
.jpg?w=600 "A.J.-Eagles Relationship 'Cordial'")
