Yet another seed and former champion is out, Neil Robertson losing 10-6 to Michael Holt.
Day Four:
In the morning session Mark Selby recovered from the loss of the first four frames to see off Robert Milkins.
Milkins had a flurry of 50+ breaks in battling back to only 7-6 down before Selby reasserted himself with runs of 60, 67 and 70 to close out a 10-6 victory.
On the other table Michael Holt built an impressive 6-3 lead over one of the tournament favourites Neil Robertson.
Both men were cueing well. Holt with contributions of 75, 140, 115 and 50 while the Aussie knocked in breaks of 62, 101 and 107. But it was Holt's ability to win the 3 scrappy frames of the morning that made all the difference leaving the 2010 champion with much food for thought heading into the evening session.
So to the afternoon where John Higgins completed a routine 10-3 victory over Welshman Ryan Day.
From 7-2 down overnight Day had left himself too much to do and Higgins finished in style with a break of 121.
Northern Ireland number one Mark Allen holds a 6-3 lead over Mitchell Mann.
Mann won the opener with a 69 break Allen replied with a 74 before Mann retook the lead with a run of 77.
Allen then produced a four frame salvo hitting breaks of 64, 104, 85 and 78 to lead 5-2.
The last two frames of the session were shared to leave Allen with a three frame cushion overnight.
The evening session saw a huge shock exit for Neil Robertson as he was sent tumbling out in the first round by an inspired Michael Holt. The Nottingham potter held firm to win only his second ever match at the Crucible. He started the evening session with an excellent 79 clearance from 44-0 down.
From there 3 scrappy frames ensued but crucially Holt won 2 of them to extend his lead to 9-4, just one shy of victory.
Robertson clung on to claw it back to 9-6 but it was too big a mountain to climb and Holt sealed a famous win.
Meanwhile Barry Hawkins leads Zhang Anda 6-3 overnight despite a rather unconvincing display in the opening session.
Zhang was the heavier scorer with runs of 83, 91 and 93 but Hawkins won the scrappier frames although he did also make an excellent 66 to win the final frame of the day.
The victor will play Ronnie O'Sullivan in round two.
(19-04-2016 22:10 )Mellow Wrote: [ -> ]Yet another seed and former champion is out, Neil Robertson losing 10-6 to Michael Holt.
Doubly disappointed, Robertson is far better to watch and a better player, and Holt would be improved by having his fingers trapped in a door.
It's notable that (on Eurosport anyway) there was harping on about his previous win - in 2005, against an ailing Paul Hunter - and his famously flaky temperament. "He's obviously sorted it out" they said. It's been ELEVEN years! Murderers reform themselves quicker
Mark Allen has beaten Mitchell Mann 10-3
Barry Hawkins has beaten Zhang Anda 10-5
Hawkins made a 141 break, the highest of the tournament so far.
Day Five:
MAIN NEWS: DING THROUGH, TRUMP STRUGGLING.
In the morning session Mark Allen wasted little time in converting a 6-3 overnight lead into a convincing 10-3 win over Mitchell Mann. Allen won all four frames of the session and with it the match with 2 breaks of 67 helping him over the line.
Ding Junhui started superbly in his match with Martin Gould making runs of 90 and 110 to lead 2-0.
The Chinese star then looked set to produce a winning clearance from 69-0 down only to miss the final black and let Gould back in for 2-1. Ding made further contributions of 54, 87 and 87 again but Gould fought gamely to restrict his arrears to just one frame at 4-5 down by the end of the session including a quite outstanding break of 111 when a century looked almost impossible bearing in mind how the balls were positioned.
In the afternoon Barry Hawkins duly completed a 10-5 win over another Chinese star Zhang Anda.
Breaks of 52, 57, 55 and a final frame 141 helped seal victory as Hawkins produced an improved second session display to set up a clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan in round two.
Judd Trump is another seed who is facing a battle to avoid first round elimination as he trails charismatic Liang Wenbo 6-3 after their opening session. Wenbo was on fire early on making two successive centuries before the Bristolian replied with a 58 and an 86. Three of the next five frames proved scrappy affairs but Wenbo won all three to claim an invaluable advantage for the Thursday afternoon resumption.
In the evening session Ding Junhui prevailed in a Crucible classic to beat Martin Gould 10-8 in a scintillating match.
Gould won the first of the evening to level at 5-5 before the pair exchanged 53 breaks to go 6-6. Gould then rolled in a fine 96 and after winning the next on the black looked on course to win at 8-6.
But Ding responded superbly with breaks of 132, 86 and 100 to go 9-8 in front before winning the next to seal victory.
Kyren Wilson leads Joe Perry 5-4 after an excellent quality first session of snooker which featured nine fifty plus breaks in nine frames. Perry took an early 2-0 lead before Wilson made a superb 130 break. Perry responded with runs of 80, 64 and 54 to go 4-2 in front. The crucial point of the session came in frame 7 when Wilson went in off after potting the final yellow.
However Perry missed the respotted yellow to middle and Wilson cleared to make it 4-3. Wilson then won the final two frames of the session including an 89 break in frame 8 where he was on course for a maximum before missing a tricky 12th black. They resume tomorrow evening.
Ding bores me to tears. Gould far more fun
Judd Trump has come back from 3-7 down to beat Liang Wenbo 10-8
I was amazed at that, Wenbo looked in control, and Trump looked forlorn.
(14-04-2016 17:20 )snookered147 Wrote: [ -> ]Match of the round for me is Perry v Wilson.
Should be a quality match
I wasn't wrong.
It's a classic.
Awesome awesome awesome match.
9-8 Wilson at the mo.