Kyren Wilson of England entered the semifinal of the Indian Open world ranking snooker championship with a 4-2 win over Thailand’s Akani Songsermsawad at the HICC-Novotel here on Friday.
The 24-year-old Kyren, winner of the recent Shanghai Masters, continued his impressive form to get the better of a very attacking Thai opponent. Clearly drawing from the experience of training with former world champion Peter Ebdon, who incidentally was playing another quarterfinal match on the adjacent table here today, Kyren showed his class in not just potting but also ensuring that the white was at the right place on the table to keep the pressure on.
The ability to switch – from attack to safety – was one of the features of World No. 16 Kyren's game, which proved to be decisive. And, to his delight with the frame score reading 3-2 in his favour, Kyren had the fortune of seeing his opponent miss a simple pink in the sixth frame with only the black on the table. Just the kind of opportunity, the Englishman was looking for to wrap up the issue and he did in style potting the pink and the black with ease.
Kyren later felt that the miss might have been because of the 20-year-old opponent’s inexperience at this level. “But, he is a very good player to watch out,” he added. “It was obvious that we both had chances in the sixth frame. But, I am glad to enter the semis here. Well, winning the Shanghai Masters has taken the pressure me to a great extent. And, it is great to train with someone like Ebdon as his experience is priceless to me.”
In another quarter-final featuring two veterans, Nigel Bond of England put it across the 2002 world champion and country-mate Peter Ebdon 4-3 in a marathon match which lasted close to four hours. The 50-year-old Bond, the 1995 world championship quarterfinalist, raised the bar in the decider after the frame scores were tied three-all to clinch the issue against 45-year-old Ebdon.
Earlier in the morning, Anthony McGill of Scotland knocked out reigning world snooker champion Stuart Bingham 4-0 in the pre-quarterfinal.
Results
Quarterfinals: Kyren Wilson (Eng) bt Akani Songsermsawad (Thai) 56-22, 0-71(71), 18-78, 90 (60)-8, 89-16, 50-49; Nigel Bond (Eng) bt Peter Ebdon (Eng) 54-65, 73-0, 76-38, 15-67, 6-72, 100(52)-4, 81-44. Anthony McGill (Scot) bt Stephen Maguire (Scot) 67-59, 8-74 (51), 60-2, 119 (112)-0, 81(52)-41; Shaun Murphy (Eng) bt David Lilley (Eng) 83 (70)-5, 69(50)-16, 8-88 (87), 39-75, 69 (66)-8, 89 (89)-0.
Pre-quarterfinals: Nigel Bond (Eng) bt John Astley (Eng) 67-47, 71(55)-4, 4-75 (54), 93 (54)-12, 52-61, 61-58 (54); Akani Songsermsawad (Thai) bt Gary Wilson (Eng) 104 (104)-15, 81-53, 0-96 (96), 1-74 (54), 65-38, 58-26; Peter Edbon (Eng) bt Dominic Dale (Wales) 0-99 (91), 90-24, 64-0, 64-0, 97 (97)-0; Kyren Wilson (Eng) bt Martin Gould (Eng) 92 (60)-0, 91(91)-0, 45-77, 13-106 (81), 83 (83)-0, 81(73)-31;Anthony McGill (Scot) bt Stuart Bingham (Eng) 64(64)-63, 77 (65)-35, 79 (60)-10, 73 (72)-1; Shaun Murphy (Eng) bt Oliver Lines (Eng) 113(109)-18, 59-53, 48-71(58), 67 (65)-5, 47-55, 121 (101)-7; Stepen Maguire (Scot) bt Barry Hawkins (Eng) 0-91 (84), 69-57 (52), 72 (72)-3, 4-77, 104 (104)-4,0- 65 (58), 76 (68)-0; David Lilley (Eng) bt Robert Milkins (Eng) 85 (56)-9, 80-5, 27-64, 71 (51)-39, 51(51)-69, 61-6.
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