World Snooker Championship 2016 Results: Revised Schedule After Friday Scores
Marco Fu became the first player to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship on Friday as he completed a scrappy 13-9 victory against Anthony McGill.
Meanwhile, Mark Williams holds a four frame advantage heading into the second second session of his 10-6 second round encounter with Michael Holt.
Ali Carter holds a slim 9-7 lead over Alan McManus going into tomorrow morning's Crucible action and it's all square a four frames each between Sam Baird and 2014 champion Mark Selby.
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Here's a look at Friday's schedule and results, as well as the lineup for Saturday's action in the 2016 World Championship:
| Morning Session (10 a.m. BST) | Best of 25 Frames | |
| Mark Williams | 4-4 | Michael Holt |
| Marco Fu | 9-7 | Anthony McGill |
| Afternoon Session (2:30 p.m. BST) | ||
| Ali Carter | 9-7 | Alan McManus |
| Sam Baird | 4-4 | Mark Selby |
| Evening Session (7 p.m. BST) | ||
| Mark Williams | 10-6 | Michael Holt |
| Marco Fu | 13-9 | Anthony McGill |
| Morning Session (10 a.m. BST) | ||
| Ali Carter | vs. | Alan McManus |
| Sam Baird | vs. | Mark Selby |
| Afternoon Session (2:30 p.m. BST) | ||
| Mark Williams | vs. | Michael Holt |
| Barry Hawkins | vs. | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| Evening Session (7 p.m. BST) | ||
| Ricky Walden | vs. | John Higgins |
| Sam Baird | vs. | Mark Selby |
Morning Recap
McGill racked up three quick-fire frames on Friday morning to move from 5-3 down to 6-5 ahead as Fu looked edgy.
A break of 57 was the key contribution for the Scotsman in the first before a 67 visit handed him the second.
Fu regained parity at 6-6 just before the mid-session interval in a scrappy frame. The Hong Kong player claimed a good lead and left McGill needing a snooker with only the pink and black remaining.
After some poor play Fu finally drove home his advantage and potted the pink to move back to all square.
An excellent 102 break from Fu in the fifth session of the morning—made possible by a brilliant long red to open—saw him edge ahead once more, per BBC Snooker:
Then came a mammoth frame—the second longest so far in the tournament—in which Fu threw away a winning position to allow McGill in to steal.
The 14th seed took a big lead to leave McGill needing two snookers. The Scot duly got them both and was then allowed in to pinch the frame when Fu carelessly potted the cue ball on the blue.
Fu made amends to an extent in the next frame, taking it to lead 8-7 with a decent clearance having been let in after McGill was the one to pot the white this time, per Snooker Updates:
He then took the final frame of the morning to go 9-7 ahead and McGill will be kicking himself that he did not take advantage of Fu's poor display.
Holt made a storming start to his match against Williams, rushing into a 3-0 lead and producing two breaks in the 60s as the Welshman looked some way off his best.
Williams finally got on the board just before the mid-session interval but was trailing by three again when Holt's 62 visit saw him claim the fifth frame.
Still playing nowhere near his best—his highest break of the session was just 42—Williams scrapped back to parity by winning the last three frames of the session and the pair will go into Friday's evening action at 4-4.
Afternoon Recap
Ali Carter arrived at the second session of his second-round match with an overnight lead of 5-3 against Alan McManus and would end the contest with the same two-frame advantage after splitting the next eight frames at four each.
The pair could not be separated throughout the afternoon's contest with the pendulum of momentum swinging each way in every frame.
Carter opened his account with the first frame of the second session and McManus gathered the second in what turned out to be a complete back and forth contest in every aspect.
McManus played the better snooker of the two, with the experienced Scot marking his session with breaks of 77 and 71 in the 13th and 15th frames respectively. However, he still trails two-time runner-up Carter heading into the morning's action.
Snooker blogger David Caulfield believed it was McManus in the ascendancy before Carter took the final frame of the day:
In the other session of the afternoon, World No.1 Mark Selby was kept at bay by Sam Baird as the pair shared the opening eight frames of their second-round contest.
Baird, No. 59 in the World, showed real resilience to hold off the former champion, with both players producing classy snooker to end their session level.
World Snooker's official account praised Baird for keeping pace with Selby:
Neither player were about to secure consecutive frame wins, with each frame settled by a break over a half-century.
Unfancied Baird made the highest break of the match in his 100-0 sixth frame victory, however, there is still all to play for.
The BBC Snooker account provides the breakdown of stats at the halfway point of the clash:
Evening Recap
Two-time champion Mark Williams moved into a commanding lead with a 10-6 advantage in his match with Michael Holt as he won six of the opening eight frames in their second session.
The 41-year-old was unstoppable at the table and rightly lived up to his nickname as The Welsh Potting Machine by rushing into a 6-4 lead following the parity from their morning action.
Hold pulled level by winning the next two frames—which included a break of 83—but Williams' pursuit of a place in the quarter-finals could not be diminished as he won the next four frames without reply.
The Welshman outscored his rival 309-65 following the mid-session interval and edge closer to a first last-eight appearance since 2011.
The BBC Wales Sport account reveals exactly what is in order for Williams tomorrow:
In the final action of the day, Hong Kong superstar Marco Fu became the first player to seal his place in the last-eight of the competition with a 13-9 win over Anthony McGill.
The World No. 14 dropped the first frame of his evening session clash but secured victory with four of the last frames.
Neither player were satisfied with their performances in a nervy encounter, with plenty of misses on show for both players.
Despite reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in over a decade, Fu told the BBC: "I didn't play very well at all in the first two sessions, but started to regain confidence in the final session.
"Hopefully I can play better as the tournament progresses and peak at the right time."
Fu, 38, will now come up against either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Barry Hawkins on April 26.
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