Indian Open Snooker 2017: McGill, Higgins survive but Murphy, Bingham falter

The round of 16 of the Indian Open Snooker Tournament at Novotel, Vizag started with defending champion Anthony McGill taking on Hossein Vafaei. The Scot looked in touch and was hitting his shots well. He lost the second frame to Vafaei but then won three frames on the trot to win the match 4-1.

Mark King caused an upset by winning against Stuart Bingham a former world champion. Bingham raced to a 2-0 lead against Mark King but then lost the next two giving Mark a confidence booster. In a battle of shots and mind, eventually, Mark King got the better of Bingham in the 7th frame by a narrow margin of 65-63. He was down 22-63 in the frame, and then managed to rack up 43 points to win the 7th frame.

Shaun Murphy who looked good in yesterday's match against Fergal O'Brien, was not up to the mark today against Elliot Slessor. He could only manage to win the second frame. Slessor capitalized on the mistakes of Murphy and won convincingly with a score of 4-1.

Shaun Murphy

Chinese pair of Xu Si and Zhang Anda also caused upset over Ricky Walden and Ken Doherty with identical scores of 4-3. Xu Si would be contesting his first quarterfinal of his career after his win over Walden. He kept his calm and nerve in the final frame and managed to have a break of 53 in his win over Walden. Zhang Anda too did the same, giving Doherty a tough fight on the table.

John Higgins had an easy outing, winning 4-1 against Michael Holt. David Gilbert too won with the same score against Mark Allen. Liam Highfield made it to the quarters by defeating Akani of Thailand 4-2.

With the quarters being played on the same day in the evening session, it was a battle of nerves and stamina and the hunger to win. The round of 16 gave some upsets and it was to be seen who would make it to the semi-final.

In the quarter-final, surprisingly only one match was a close affair. Mark King and Elliot Slessor had a close encounter with Mark winning 4-2 in the 6th frame, with a break of 110.

Anthony Mcgill, Xu Si, and John Higgins made short work of their opponents and won convincingly with scores of 4-0. Xu Si is having a wonderful tournament but will next face Higgins, a favorite to win the tournament and a veteran on the snooker table.Anthony McGill is another favorite with already having won this title last year. he next faces Mark King.

Semifinal lineup:

Anthony McGill vs Mark King

John Higgins vs Xu Si