China Open Snooker 2016: Friday's Scores, Results and Updated Draw Schedule
John Higgins and Ricky Walden secured two of the four semi-final spots on offer during the afternoon session at the 2016 China Open on Friday. They were joined by Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire later in the day.
Higgins was given a scare in his match against Noppon Saengkham, but he stemmed a late fightback to eventually win 5-3. The afternoon’s other contest was a little more routine, with Walden turning in his finest performance of the week so far to eliminate reigning world champion Stuart Bingham by a 5-1 scoreline.
Mark King gave in-form Trump a slight scare during the evening session, while Maguire booked his spot at the Crucible with a win over Alfie Burden. The cut for the World Championship takes place after the China Open, meaning Ding Junhui can no longer pass him in the seeding and will have to go through qualifiers.
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Here is a look at the results, the matches to come and a recap of how the action panned out on Friday at the Beijing University Students' Gymnasium.
| John Higgins | 5-3 | Noppon Saengkham |
| Ricky Walden | 5-1 | Stuart Bingham |
| Judd Trump | 5-3 | Mark King |
| Stephen Maguire | 5-1 | Alfie Burden |
| Stephen Maguire | vs. | Judd Trump |
| John Higgins | vs. | Ricky Walden |
Friday Recap
Maguire's improbably run to the main table of the World Championship was completed on Friday, as the Glasgow native reached the semi-final of the China open by beating Burden and passed Ding in the rankings in the process.
The home favourite lost his first-round match against Lee Walker and had to watch as Maguire kept winning matches, eventually pushing him out of the top 16.
World Snooker confirmed Friday's win was the one that clinched Maguire's Crucible spot:
Per BBC 5 Live's George Riley, it's been quite the fall from grace for Ding:
"Stephen Maguire's win in China condemns Ding Junhui to have to go through qualifying for the Crucible. He was world #1 last year bbcsnooker
— George Riley (@georgeyboy) April 1, 2016"
Maguire has played solid, safe snooker all week long and did so again against Burden, taking the first frame with a break of 62 and finishing with a high break of 88.
King is finding his best form just before the World Championship as well, and the 42-year-old nearly bagged another major upset on Friday, as Trump needed eight frames to get past the Royal King.
Juddernaut has been in sensational form throughout the tournament but found it difficult to put King away early, and the two were tied after six frames. Trump eventually found his best play to win the last two frames, but he didn't look as confident as he has the past few days, and Maximumsnooker.com's Steve can't wait to see him take on Maguire:
Higgins has been in a brilliant groove at this tournament all week and the early signs in this match suggested he was upping the ante further with the climax moving into view.
The four-time world champion seemed set to steamroller Saengkham initially, as he roared into a 4-0 lead, including an impressive break of 75 in the third. As noted by Live Snooker, things weren’t looking good for the man from Thailand:
But there were some small signs that the underdog, with a little more care in his play, could have turned a couple of those early frames his way. And after the interval, he found some extra composure, cutting the deficit to 4-3 with some fine breaks. Suddenly, Higgins was rocking and an upset looked to be on the cards.
There's a reason the Scot is a four-time Crucible winner, though, and with the match outcome in the balance, he was collected in his play and able to prevent a deciding frame, winning the eighth to clinch a 5-3 win.
In the afternoon's other contest, after taking an early lead in his match with Bingham, Walden was faced with a difficult table in the second frame.
The world champion usually excels in these tactical situations, but the underdog held his nerve wonderfully in a nail-biter, taking a crucial 2-0 lead. Here’s a look back at what was a significant moment in the match:
From there Walden had momentum behind him, and he was clearly growing in stature and confidence with both his break-building and shot selection. Bingham did eventually get one frame on the board, but the world No. 2 was well short of his best, and credit must go to Walden, who played brilliantly to win 5-1 with a break of 79 to round things off.
As noted by Matt from ProSnookerBlog, elimination represented double disappointment for Bingham, who missed the chance to go to the top of the world rankings:
It’s a tournament that has seen so many twists and turns to this point.
For a player like Walden, who has been on the periphery of the elite bracket, this is a wonderful chance to get a ranking event under his belt. Higgins is going to be a tough man to dislodge, though.
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