Welsh Open Snooker 2017: Updated Scores, Draw, Schedule After Thursday's Results
Jackson Page's Cinderella run at the 2017 Welsh Open came to an end on Thursday, as the teenager suffered a whitewash loss at the hands of Judd Trump.
The 15-year-old was the feelgood story of this year's tournament, wining two matches to advance to the third round. The experienced Trump proved too much to overcome, however, and the World No. 4 made quick work of his much younger opponent, per sports writer Nick Metcalfe:
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Elsewhere, the upsets continued, as Igor Figueiredo knocked out Dominic Dale and Graeme Dott lost to Lee Walker. World No. 1 Mark Selby lost to Yan Bingtao in another major upset, and Alli Carter won just a single frame against Hossein Vafaei Ayouri.
Here's a look at Thursday's results:
| Mark Davis | 4-2 | Fergal O'Brien |
| Jimmy Robertson | 0-4 | Scott Donaldson |
| Zhou Yuelong | 4-1 | Ross Muir |
| Graeme Dott | 2-4 | Lee Walker |
| Judd Trump | 4-0 | Jackson Page |
| Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | 1-4 | Barry Hawkins |
| Anthony Hamilton | 2-4 | Craig Steadman |
| Dominic Dale | 1-4 | Igor Figueiredo |
| Stuart Carrington | 4-0 | Robin Hull |
| Josh Boileau | 0-4 | Robert Milkins |
| Allister Carter | 1-4 | Hossein Vafaei Ayouri |
| Stuart Bingham | 4-0 | Ian Burns |
| Michael White | 2-4 | Robbie Williams |
| Mark Allen | 2-4 | Mei Xiwen |
| Kurt Maflin | 4-2 | Mitchell Mann |
| Yan Bingtao | 4-1 | Mark Selby |
| Mark Davis | 3-4 | Scott Donaldson |
| Zhou Yuelong | 4-0 | Lee Walker |
| Judd Trump | 4-1 | Hossein Vafaei Ayouri |
| Barry Hawkins | 4-0 | Craig Steadman |
| Stuart Bingham | 4-0 | Robbie Williams |
| Igor Figueiredo | 1-4 | Stuart Carrington |
| Robert Milkins | 4-2 | Mei Xi Wen |
| Kurt Maflin | 4-1 | Yan Bingtao |
Here's an early look at Friday's schedule, with one quarter-final ticket still up for grabs:
| Scott Donaldson | vs. | Zhou Yuelong |
| Judd Trump | vs. | Barry Hawkins |
| Stuart Bingham | vs. | Stuart Carrington |
| Robert Milkins | vs. | Kurt Maflin |
Recap
Page took on former prodigy Trump in one of the most anticipated matches of Thursday's afternoon session, and unsurprisingly, the 27-year-old came out on top, winning in four frames.
Youngster Page had already overcome John Astley and Jason Weston in the tournament and had his moments in front of the Welsh fans.
As shared by World Snooker's official Twitter account, even the commentators had his back:
But Trump showed his experience and versatility, impressing with several long pots, smart safeties and clever break-building. The two-time China Open winner is playing some fantastic snooker right now, and with plenty of top players already eliminated, he could be in for his best-ever run at the Welsh Open.
Trump hasn't advanced past the semi-finals of this tournament since the 2012-13 campaign, but as shared by Matt from Pro Snooker Blog, the field doesn't look particularly daunting at this point:
Ronnie O'Sullivan lost in the second round, and the likes of Peter Ebdon, Shaun Murphy, Liang Wenbo and Marco Fu have already been eliminated as well.
Dale joined that list on Thursday, as he dropped a decider against Figueiredo. The Brazilian had never advanced past the second round of a ranking tournament in his career before this year's Welsh Open, but he's suddenly on pace to do much better.
His opponent in the fourth round was Stuart Carrington, who had made it out of the second round of a ranking tournament just once before―the UK Championship in the 2013-14 season. Carrington cruised to a win, booking his first ever ticket to a quarter-final.
There were more upsets later in the day, with Selby's loss against Bingtao ranking near the top of the list. The 17-year-old dropped the opening frame but won four on the trot with high scores of 111, 94 and 88, barely giving the Jester a chance at the table.
Bingtao couldn't repeat his heroics in the fourth round, as he lost to Kurt Maflin.
Vafaei Ayouri took another big scalp, that of Carter, in the afternoon session. Per World Snooker, he was ecstatic with his win:
His tournament came to an end just a few hours later, however, as Trump continued his superb run in the fourth round. He played one of the best shots of the day, which set up one of the toughest snookers you'll ever see:
Barry Hawkins cruised to the quarter-finals in a whitewash, easily beating Craig Stedman. Meanwhile, Robert Milkins booked his place in the final quarter-final match after beating Mei Xi Wen by two frames.
Milkins' reward for reaching the last eight is a game against Kurt Maflin. The Norwegian handily beat Bingtao 4-1. Bingtao was outclassed, but the 17-year-old was probably too taxed by the effort required to see off world No. 1 Selby earlier in the day.
Results like that are why the field is lacking some star power ahead of the last eight.
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