World Snooker Championship 2016 Results: Latest Schedule After Saturday Scores
Ali Carter suffered a case of the Crucible nerves on Saturday, as veteran Alan McManus battled back in their second-round contest to win 13-11 in a shock victory at the 2016 World Snooker Championship.
The 45-year-old Scotsman racked up the frames in the morning session after Carter suffered a dramatic loss of form at the table.
In Saturday's other morning session, former world champion Mark Selby and Sam Baird counterpunched each other as they battled in their encounter, with the scored tied at 9-7 in Selby's favour. The battle raged on during the evening session, with favourite Selby advancing after a 13-11 win.
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Into the afternoon, Mark Williams sealed his place in the last-eight of the tournament with a 13-8 win over Michael Holt, while Ronnie O'Sullivan got his second-round clash underway with Barry Hawkins. The five-time champion ended the first session 5-3 down heading into tomorrow's action.
Meanwhile, in the other evening session, four-time winner John Higgins took a 5-3 advantage in his clash with Ricky Walden.
Here are the latest scores from Sheffield:
| Ali Carter | 11-13 | Alan McManus |
| Sam Baird | 6-8* | Mark Selby |
| Mark Williams | 13-8 | Michael Holt |
| Barry Hawkins | 5-3* | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| Ricky Walden | 3-5* | John Higgins |
| Sam Baird | 11-13 | Mark Selby |
| Judd Trump | vs. | Ding Junhui |
| Mark Allen | vs. | Kyren Wilson |
| Ricky Walden | 3-5* | John Higgins |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | 3-5* | Barry Hawkins |
| Judd Trump | vs. | Ding Junhui |
| Mark Allen | vs. | Kyren Wilson |
Morning Recap
McManus found his best form in the opening session on Saturday as he caught and surpassed Carter to take a shock 13-11 victory and seal his place in the next round.
Carter led 9-7 midway through the match but a bad miss on the blue opened the door for the Scottish qualifier.
The Englishman struggled with the mental challenge as McManus played his best snooker of the season—as Carter's body language disintegrated.
McManus won four frames in a row to make it 11-9, hitting a break of 119 as his opponent sat motionless in his seat.
Carter made a century to pull one back at 12-10 but the experienced Scot snatched the next frame to get over the line.
Per BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez, Carter was anything but pleased with the playing conditions:
"The conditions were horrific. There were kicks every other shot and big bounces off the cushions.
But it was a disgusting performance from me. Alan dictated the match and I was powerless to do anything about it.
I just wanted to smash the place up at the interval.
"
Baird proved to be Selby's equal in the opening session on Saturday, winning the final two frames of the session to tie 6-6 at the break.
Selby hit a 115 break in the 10th frame to make it 6-4, but he couldn't maintain his momentum as Baird pegged him back efficiently.
The Jester from Leicester then captured the first two frames after the mid-morning session, winning the first with a break of 133 before ending their day's play with the score at 9-7.
Afternoon Recap
Mark Williams eased through to the quarter-finals of the competition with a comfortable 13-8 victory over Michael Holt.
The Welsh Potting Machine was not at his best on Saturday, but he didn’t need to be against the 29th seed, entering the afternoon session with a 10-6 advantage.
Williams took the opening frame of their third session with a break of 50 before dropping the next two frames, as Holt produced some sparkling break-building to notch scores of 75 and 109.
However, there was to be no shock comeback, as the two-time winner sealed victory by winning the next two frames in succession.
Holt told BetFred that the frame before the interval played a crucial role in the outcome of the result:
Williams, who was crowned champion in 2000 and 2003 at The Crucible, has only twice reached the last-eight of the competition since 2006.
Following last year’s first-round exit, the 41-year-old Welshman will now face either Judd Trump or China’s Ding Junhui for a place in the semi-finals.
In the other action in the afternoon, Ronnie O’Sullivan got his second-round match with Barry Hawkins underway, and it wasn’t to be smooth sailing for the Rocket.
Following his simple 10-7 win over David Gilbert in the first-round, combined with the shock exit of several star names such as last year’s winner Stuart Bingham, Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy, O’Sullivan appeared in good stead to add to his five World title victories.
But Hawkins proved he was not to be a pushover after taking the opening frame of the match. O’Sullivan hit back to take the next frame with a sensational clearance break of 139, before Hawkins regained his lead after making a century of his own.
Livesnooker provided their thoughts on the state of play:
O’Sullivan mounted a score of 88 to level the tie before the mid-session interval and returned with a 103 break to take the lead for the first time in the contest.
Matt from ProSnookerBlog thought it was fascinating O'Sullivan trailed despite his strong potting form:
However, it would be a dream start for the 11th seeded Hawkins, as he won the next three frames without reply to end his day’s work with a 5-3 advantage heading into tomorrow’s action.
Evening Recap
John Higgins will take a 5-3 advantage into the second session of his second-round encounter with Ricky Walden.
The four-time champion took Saturday's opening frame with a break of 62, before Walden struck back to tie things up.
Forty-year-old Higgins made breaks of 48 and 47 to jump back in front, before Walden fired in a terrific century-break of 102 and tied things up before the interval.
Matt from ProSnookerBlog revealed just how well Higgins was playing:
Higgins came out firing following the stoppage in play to open up a 4-2 advantage. Walden pulled one back in the penultimate frame, but a magnificent 107 from the Wizard from Wishaw enabled him to regain his cushion heading into tomorrow’s action.
In the evening decider, there was dramatic action between World No. 1 Mark Selby and Sam Baird, who fought back from 11-7 down to level the second-round clash at 11 frames all.
The 2014 champion started superbly with a frame-winning clearance of 134 to extend his advantage to 10-7. He then added a superb break of 84 to move four frames ahead.
However, the unfancied Baird—seeded 30th in the competition—would mount a magnificent comeback to level the game and take the match into an agonising best-of-three scenario.
Tensions were high in The Crucible Theatre with Baird mounting a shock challenge, but following a 42-minute frame, Selby pulled in front in the absorbing encounter. The Jester from Leicester showed why he's considered among the favourites to win this year's clash with another fine break of 54 in the 24th frame, ending Baird's challenge.
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