John Higgins defeated Liu Hadian to reach the Scottish Open quarter-finals, while Dominic Dale defeated Jimmy White 4-1 in the second round and Chris Wakelin ended Kieran Wilson’s run.
Liu Hadian’s break of 89 in his match against former world No. 1 John Higgins helped him into the first frame.
Liu looked to slice a red down the right, but forced the shot as he searched for position, and Higgins came back to the table to make it 47-24.
In the third frame, Higgins’ 68 helped put the pressure on the opposition and a mistake by the Chinese at 72-0 led to him conceding the frame as he took the lead for the first time in the match.
An early ace of saturation from Liu in the following frame let Higgins in, and he took his chance, getting out of a tight spot when he initially saw pink in the middle pocket, putting white for the next red. However, he again looked to improve his position as he put in a lot of work on the pink – put on the black – and he missed his break on 18.
Liu then cleared the rest of the balls with a break of 91 as he once again showed his prowess, leading him to a 100-18 win in the fourth frame.
Wilson struggles with fifth century at Scottish Open – 'It’s not done yet’
However, trailing 15-8 and trying to build a red pack, Liu again missed a lower right – a third time at that stage to become weak again – and Higgins missed his own chance with three sets in sight. When he returned to his seat, he immediately invited the player to sit down, looking frustrated.
Higgins was able to get back to the table when Liu missed a double, and when he threw the red, he expertly sunk a green and swept the cue ball stuck in the upper-right jaws for 62-54. Win to regain the lead.
Higgins’ break ended in 51 and another poor shot missed the middle pocket with the red, letting Liu back in.
Liu then came to the table with the reds well spread, but trying to build on his comeback, Higgins was able to come back and force his opponent to concede the frame and the match.
Sanderson Lam He also reached the quarter-finals after defeating another Scottish player Anthony McGill 4-1. Tom Ford Defeated Martin O’Donnell 4-2.
Nopone leaning Mathew defeated Celt 4-3 Stuart Bingham Whitewashed Zhang Anda 4-0.
In a set of previous matches, Dale White was 61-0 before getting some points on the board, but after adding 12 he returned to the table once more and put a brilliant red in the top right pocket to start a new break. One down after a poor positional shot from the yellow, leaving a narrow angle on two reds by the pink dot.
At the start of the second frame, White conceded two faults with Dale, who allowed his opponent to search for a way out, trapped behind low-scoring suits with no clear path to the reds.
Dale made hay as he prepared to take it to the table for the last time, going for 41, before White had a chance to break 16 when he rattled the bottom left pocket with a red.
The spaceman enjoyed good form in the shoot-out, where he finished as a quarter-finalist, and he made a quick break of 35 to claim a draw in the frame.
In the early exchanges of the third frame, Dale again put themselves in an 8-1 lead, but the suits were all skewed to the left side of the table, with most of the reds concentrated in the bottom left. Challenge to create.
At 18-1, with the pair exchanging snookers behind the yellow, Dale accidentally rolled the white into the blue and snuck over the pocket. The deadlock was broken on the next bout, and Dale was finally able to slide the red into the middle pocket, followed by some skillful play to take the third frame 70-23.
White moved 56-24 clear, and scrappy play ensued in less than half a century, ending with Red resting a pot in the bottom right and Dale’s fluid 45 tipping him ahead. Take just one frame from success.
In the final frame, White sank the white when he put the black with a powerful effort, putting Dale back in the lead 55-29, but quickly added six again before trapping three reds clustered against the cushion.
At 70-43 White had a slim chance of fighting back to stay in the game, but when he again potted White, the error-filled contest ended and Dale advanced.
Meanwhile, Wakelin Won 4-2 Kyron Wilson.
In the first frame, Wilson and Wakelin were tied 25–28 in Wakelin’s favor; They exchanged some defensive play at the top of the table, but the double – a brilliant or a fluke – set up Wilson for a potential clearance at long range.
Wilson scored enough for Wakelin to need three snookers, but once he sunk the yellow, there was no going back and he conceded the frame.
Wilson was on top in the second frame, winning it 75-38, and 52-4 in the third frame when he began to lose control of the cue ball and was given a hard red in the middle pocket, which he duly missed. .
However, Walklin, who had won just 69% at the time, immediately missed another bite by Wilson, who was struggling with his own success at 86%.
A good shot with the rest gave him the opportunity to play the remaining two Reds outside the side cushion and his 64 allowed him to halve the deficit.
An excellent long putt from Wilson, his third in seven tries in the match, risked letting his opponent in but instead allowed him to break 25 before a poor positional shot when he threw a pinky. Bottom left is red.
Wakelin then made a 79 that was stopped by a kiss on the green that prevented him from potting the yellow, but Wilson was ready to leave the score level.
The early moments of the next frame led to speculation of a re-rack, but Wilson broke the deadlock before Wakelin made it 16-0 at midnight, and some careless defense from Wilson.
It was past midnight when the scores were finally settled as Walklin marched into the match.
In one of the other afternoon games, Zhou Yuelong Beating Andrew Higginson 4-2.
Gary Wilson He complained about his „absolutely worthless” performance in last year’s 4-3 win over Joe O’Connor in the final, and Rory Thor Ashley beat Cardi 4-3.
„Całkowity introwertyk. Nieprzejednany specjalista od sieci. Przyjazny fanatyk bekonu. Student ekstremalnych. Miłośnik piwa. Organizator.”