Wilson Makes Strong Start To Title Defence
Kyren Wilson moved within one win of a place in the final stages of the BetVictor German Masters with a 5-1 victory over Rod Lawler on day one of the qualifiers in Barnsley.
All players need to win two matches to make it to the Tempodrom in Berlin for the world ranking event which runs from January 29 to February 2.
Wilson won the title last season, beating David Gilbert in the final, and he was on fine form today as breaks of 130 and 132 helped set up a match with Ken Doherty or Zhao Xintong.
UK Champion Ding Junhui made it 12 wins from his last 13 matches by beating Alex Borg 5-0 with top breaks of 86, 60, 87, 64 and 65.
Neil Robertson came from 3-2 down to beat Martin O’Donnell 5-3 with a top break of 98 while Mark Williams top scored with 73 in a 5-1 defeat of Andy Hicks.
Ali Carter fired runs of 118, 64 and 84 as he recovered a 3-1 deficit to beat Germany’s Simon Lichtenberg 5-3.
Michael White top scored with 95 in a 5-1 defeat of Jack Lisowski while Liang Wenbo closed with a 133 as he beat Jimmy White 5-3.
Round one continues on Saturday, with round two to be played on Sunday.