Vafaei Beats Bingham On Final Black
Tonight’s last 16 line up:
Yan Bingtao v Anthony McGill
Aditya Mehta v Neil Robertson
Jack Lisowski v Judd Trump
Ronnie O’Sullivan v John Higgins
Michael White v James Wattana
Alexander Ursenbacher v Shaun Murphy
Andrew Higginson v Hossein Vafaei
Kyren Wilson v Xiao Guodong
Hossein Vafaei won a dramatic final frame to beat Stuart Bingham 4-3 and reach the last 16 of the Dafabet English Open in Barnsley.
Tickets for the last few days of the event are still available, for details click here
Iran’s Vafaei looked in full control as he took the first three frames with a top break of 61, but Bingham recovered to 3-3 with top runs of 104 and 58.
Bingham led 43-5 in the decider but Vafaei clawed his way back, helped by flukes on the last red and the blue. It came down to the last two balls and Vafaei converted superb pots on the pink and black to set up a match with Andrew Higginson.
Ronnie O’Sullivan was in fine form as he made three centuries in a 4-1 win over Zhang Yong. The Rocket fired runs of 68, 126, 127 and 129.
O’Sullivan will now meet John Higgins in a mouth-watering clash tonight. Higgins trailed Robert Milkins 2-0 but got the snookers he needed in the third frame and that proved the turning point as he went on to win 4-3 with a top break of 131.
If Lisowski wins again tonight he’ll be through to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the third time
Jack Lisowski scored an impressive 4-2 win over two-time World Champion Mark Williams. World number 55 Lisowski knocked in breaks of 65, 74, 50 and 90 and will now face his close friend Judd Trump , who beat Matthew Stevens 4-1 with a top run of 88.
World Champion Mark Selby remains trophy-less so far this season as he lost 4-1 to Xiao Guodong. From 1-1, China’s Xiao won three frames in a row with a top break of 60.
Alexander Ursenbacher, Switzerland’s only pro player, reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time with a 4-2 win over Stuart Carrington. Breaks of 79, 55 and 58 helped Ursenbacher through to a match Shaun Murphy, who edged out Liam Highfield 4-3
Neil Robertson made a 132 in a 4-2 win over namesake Jimmy. India’s Aditya Mehta saw off Chen Zifan 4-1 with a top run of 69 while Kyren Wilson made a 140 in a 4-1 win over Thor Chuan Leong.
Andrew Higginson top scored with 98 in a 4-1 win over Hammad Miah while Anthony McGill edged out Sunny Akani 4-3. Michael White saw off Ben Woollaston 4-0 while veteran Thai potter James Wattana beat Yuan Sijun 4-2.