The fifth round of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters championship, played in a best-of-nine frames format, concluded Tuesday, featuring 16 players who qualified through previous rounds and an additional 16 players with the highest rankings.
Among the participants were British snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan, and his compatriot Judd Trump, the world’s top-ranked player.
The competition kicked off with eight matches that saw intense rivalry among the participants. This was evident in the first match between Judd Trump and China’s Wu Yize, where Wu took an early lead with four consecutive frames. However, the Englishman managed to turn the tide, delivering an impressive performance to win five consecutive frames and secure his place in the round of 16.
China’s Xiao Guodong surprised by defeating the world’s second-ranked player, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen, with a 5-1 victory. Similarly, Scotland’s Scott Donaldson triumphed over England’s Barry Hawkins with the same score.
Meanwhile, England’s Shaun Murphy
secured a convincing 5-2 win against China’s Yuan Sijun, and Gary Wilson defeated fellow Englishman David Gilbert with the same 5-2 result.
The scoreline of 5-3 appeared in three matches: first, Australian Neil Robertson defeated Englishman Mark Selby, followed by Englishman Jack Lisowski overcoming Welshman Jak Jones. The score also marked the end of the first part of the competition, where Englishmen Ali Carter and Elliot Slessor faced off, with Slessor emerging victorious.
The second part of the competition began with a match featuring legend O’Sullivan against Chinese player Lei Peifan. The Englishman delivered an impressive performance, defeating his opponent 5-1 to advance to the next round. He will next face Chinese player Zhang Anda.
Moreover, current World Champion Kyren Wilson secured the final qualification spot by defeating China’s Liu Hongyu 5-3.
The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters continues on Wednesday, with the Round of 16 matches starting at 2:00 PM.
Source: Saudi Press Agency