Welsh Wonder beats Carter
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ByEurosport
Updated 22/09/2010 at 08:40 GMT
Mark Williams played some majestic snooker to beat Shanghai Masters champion Ali Carter 3-1 to make it through to the last 16 of the World Open.
2010 Snooker WM Sheffield Mark Williams
Image credit: Eurosport
The Welshman, who has two World Championship titles to his name, took the first frame with a quickfire pair of opening breaks which included some inventive shot-making.
Carter had a good chance to level proceedings in the second, but a couple of mistakes proved costly as he fell just short of a 50 break, and Williams capitalised to steal the frame.
The Welsh Wonder almost wrapped it up in the third as he came back from 72-0 to 72-72, but his cut black to the bottom-right pocket just missed, leaving Carter with a simple tap-in.
Any fears of a comeback from the Essex man were put to bed as Williams continued his stunning display to finish the match off in style.
Big-match experience eventually proved the difference in the second match of the day as Ding Junhui knocked out Jimmy Michie 3-1.
A decent break of 58 was just enough for the Chinese Sensation to take the first frame, before an excellent century of 109 left his opponent facing a drubbing.
Michie rallied to take the third frame, largely thanks to a brilliant shot on the black using the rest where the Essex man managed to screw the white ball back into position to absolute perfection.
However, Michie was unable to sustain that level of play as he made another mistake in the fourth on a routine red - and Ding took full advantage, firing in a break of 78 to take the match.
The session was concluded with a marathon match lasting close to two and a half hours, as Stephen Lee eventually overcame a resilient Nigel Bond 3-2.
Despite making a few errors early on, Lee still comfortably took the first frame as Bond was struggling desperately with his form.
The second frame was of a higher quality, at least from Lee's perspective, as the 35-year-old lived up to his billing as an expert of cueing power in firing two breaks of 55.
Bond looked set for a trouncing but his patience eventually paid off as he edged the third before a gutsy break of 84 levelled the scores up.
The decider was a predictably tense affair, with neither player taking many gambles, both making mistakes and shot-making times often above the one-minute mark.
Lee finally took the frame to mercifully put an end to the match, following up a classy green with a pinpoint brown to send Bond home.
Stephen Hendry made light work of his clash with Mark Davis, sauntering past the Englishman 3-0.
The first two frames were essentially replicates of the each other, as Hendry made a tidy lead of 40-50 before making a mistake which Davis failed to capitalise on.
On both occasions, Hendry came back to the table to mop up the necessary pots before taking a slightly more competitive third frame to waltz into the next round.
Peter Ebdon stumbled over the finish line against Fergal O'Brien, beating the Irishman 3-2, but his performance was one that will be of grave concern to the former world champion.
He managed to edge two tightly contested frames, with both players making low breaks and frequent mistakes, and looked set to go through with a flattering 3-0 scoreline until a horror safety with two balls to go saw the white roll into the pocket.
The mistake seemed to rock his confidence and O'Brien, who must have been readying himself for a quick flight back to Dublin, took full advantage in the fourth with a delightful break of 129.
But the pressure got to the Irishman as well with a terrible error on a routine red to hand the match to Ebdon, who just about managed to finish the frame off in distinctly unimpressive fashion.
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