Wuhan Open

Quarter Finals:

Judd Trump v Chris Wakelin
Zhang Anda v Si Jiahui
Jack Lisowski v Long Zehuang
Shaun Murphy v Xiao Guodong

Higgins plan to beat Judd with granite snooker started going wrong from frame 2 when Judd fluked the green. Judd wasn't making frame winning breaks, but Higgins wasn't on the granite form he needed to be on to make the clearances.

Happily Hawkins lost 5-2 to Xiao Guadong.

High drama in the match between Mark Joyce and Zhang Anda. Joyce isn't currently a professional and was a wildcard entry. Nevertheless he got a 139 break to go 4-2 up. Zhang responded with a 137 break then levelled the scores at 4-4. Zhang won the deciding frame on a respotted black.

Hopefully this time Jackpot can emerge with the tournament win.
It's long, long overdue.

^ Nope.
Thrashed 5-1 by Long Zehuang.

Xiao Guodong overcame Shaun Murphy by the same scoreline.

The other two quarter finals now underway in Wuhan.

Judd beat Chris Wakelin 5-4 in a thriller. Wakelin was playing better before the interval than after. Judd wasn't killing frames off with frame winning breaks. In a dramatic decider, Wakelin fluked a red getting out of a snooker and had an opportunity to win the match. With just brown, blue and pink required, and everyone probably thinking he was going to get the upset, Wakelin missed an easy brown and left it over the pocket for Judd to kill off the match.

Zhang Anda was involved in another respotted black, this time in frame 5. Si Jiahui won it to go 3-2 up. Zhang got a 96 break to level at 3-3, but with 2 frame winning breaks in the next 2 frames Si Jiahui eased to a 5-3 victory.

Tubbs is out Xiao Guodong made 3 centuries in the first 3 frames, including a 139, to pave the way for his passage into the semi-final.

Jack Lisowski was snatching at shots and making unforced errors allowing Long Zehuang to beat him comfortably. Mark Selby must feel redeemed now that the player who knocked him out of the qualifying round is in the semi-final.

The Chinese must be pleased at how the event is going. (Edit) 4 Chinese players in the quarter finals, 3 in the semis.

Semi Final Line up
Long Zehuang v Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump v Si Jiahui

Awful missed brown from Wakelin with the match at his mercy. He will struggle to live that one down. Dreadful miss.

Hoping for Xiao v Si final but can't see past Trump really.

I've said before about how good it is that lesser names get further in tournaments sometimes, and Long might benefit from this mild buzz. But Judd-Xiao seems the likelier final.

Si Jiahui was practically unplayable today. He came out meaning business with a 144 total clearance in the 2nd frame, and in frame 4 a moment of history as he made his first 147 in a professional tournament. He made a further century in frame 7 to go 5-2 up and wrapped up the game in frame 8 after Judd opened up the reds but missed the blue and left Si a chance to make a frame winning break. Judd made high breaks of 109 and 89 just to get 2 frames on the board.

There were 4 centuries in the other match as well (2 each), and what a match it was! Local Wuhan boy Long Zehuang went 4-1 one up, but Xiao Guodong won five frames in a row to win 6-4. The match referee was the very beautiful Queenie Lou. Love the way she pronounces the players names in Chinese and says "yerrow" when a player nominates the yellow.

This is Xiao's 4th professional tournament final. He finished runner up to Ding Jinhui in the 2013 Shanghai Masters, and he lost 2 Shootout finals, to Michael White in 2015, and Anthony McGill in 2017.

It's Si's 2nd professional tournament final. He lost to Judd Trump in the German Masters final earlier this year, a loss which he must have been happy to avenge today.

Yay.

Xiao v Si it is.

Excellent .

The live crowds will presumably be eager for this one. A big step for either guy.