Saw the semis and final for once, and they were excellent. Mark made a great 80 break in his semi, Liang Wenbo was unbelievably unlucky in his semi, and Hossein played the break-building stuff he had done all the way along. Well done to him, although I doubt there'll be an Iranian Open in Tehran any time soon
This year's edition starts on Wednesday from the Morningside Arena in Leicester
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Think Big Bob Milkins got through last night. Some starry 1st round ties (eg Allen-Lisowski) which will mean a lot of no-hopers will get further than they might have expected to.
Reanne Evans claimed a notable victory over Stuart Bingham to progress.
Home favourite Mark Selby is out though after a loss to Mark Davis.
Stephen Maguire lived up to his nickname with a self-pitying interview about the state of snooker.
Whereas this evening, his complete opposite Dechawat Poomjaeng gave the crowd what they wanted as he KO'd Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Third round draw
Jak Jones v Xu Si
Fergal O’Brien v Julien LeClercq
Lukas Kleckers v Yuan Sijun
Dylan Emery v Noppon Saengkham
Cao Yupeng v Ali Carter
Fan Zhengyi v Michael Holt
Liam Highfield v Martin Gould
Mark Williams v Dechawat Poomjaeng
Michael White v Alexander Ursenbacher
David Grace v David Lilley
Joe Perry v Chris Wakelin
Tom Ford v Vladislav Gradinari
Zhou Yuelong v Gary Wilson
Mark Davis v Jack Lisowski
Daniel Wells v Ben Woollaston
Dominic Dale v Asjad Iqbal
4th round:
Tom Ford v Ali Carter
Yuan Sijun v Julien LeClercq
Dominic Dale v Zhou Yuelong
Michael White v David Grace
Jak Jones v Chris Wakelin
Noppon Saengkham v Daniel Wells
Michael Holt v Jack Lisowski
Liam Highfield v Dechawat Poomjaeng
In the end it was a final between Englishman Chris Wakelin and tour debutant Julien LeClercq of Belgium.
And Wakelin kept his composure to seal victory in style with a magnificent break of 119 to clinch the title, a spot in the Champion of Champions along with £50,000 and a huge boost to his ranking points. Superb frame.
Poomjaeng sadly went out in the last 16 with Highfield able to freeze him out.
Well done to Wakelin though I don't suppose it will affect his demeanour of a Grange Hill student being told off. Also well done to LeClercq, an impressive few days work.
Started today in Swansea, I believe.