THE FINAL! | Mark Selby vs Pang Junxu HIGHLIGHTS 🏆 | WST Classic

Rocket Up And Running In Shanghai

Ronnie O’Sullivan came through two matches to progress to the last 16 on day three of the Shanghai Masters.

The Rocket’s performance last week in Coventry saw him reach the Champion of Champions final, where he eventually lost out 10-8 against Shaun Murphy.

Due to his involvement in Sunday’s final, his last 64 tie took place this morning. The 41-year-old made a tournament high break of 144 in beating Gary Wilson 5-2. O’Sullivan then faced a second match of the day  against Joe Perry, where he emerged a 5-1 victor.

The Gentleman set the early pace in  a repeat of this year’s Masters final, taking the opener to lead 1-0. However, O’Sullivan responded emphatically by winning five on the bounce with a top score of 127 to win 5-1 and book a last 16 tie with Barry Hawkins.

Judd Trump took under an hour to blow Ben Woollaston away with a 5-0 whitewash. The Ace in the Pack fired in breaks of 50, 74, 92 and 64 as he stormed to victory.

Trump said: “I felt quite good today. I missed a couple in the first frame but then I found some confidence. I felt good and it is a nice feeling when you get on a roll like that.

“This is one of the events that I really look forward to. Sometimes I try too hard here and lose early. If I can just relax like I have done so far hopefully I can have a good run.”

Trump will face Stephen Maguire in the last 16. The Scot recorded a tremendous 5-4 defeat of world number 12 Ali Carter.

John Higgins went in-off on 125 during a 147 attempt against Zhou Yuelong. Despite the disappointment of the near miss, the 29-time ranking winner came through a comfortable 5-1 winner to book his last 16 spot. He’ll face Liang Wenbo up next.

Mark Selby and Mark Williams will meet for the second consecutive time in the last 16 of a ranking event. They faced each other at the same stage at the International Championship in Daqing. On that occasion Selby won 6-4 and went on to lift the title.

Today Selby overcame Alan McManus 5-4 in a final frame decider. Whilst Williams defeated Northern Ireland’s Gerard Greene 5-0.

Jack Lisowski survived a Cao Yupeng fightback to emerge a 5-4 winner. He had led 3-0 before Cao battled back to lead 4-3. However, it was Lisowski who got himself over the line.

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