World Snooker Championship: Neil Robertson, Yan Bingtao and Dave Gilbert through at Crucible
- Published
Neil Robertson has not reached the semi-finals at the Crucible since 2014
Betfred World Snooker Championship |
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Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 17 April-3 May |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. |
World number three Neil Robertson was in dazzling form as he completed a 10-3 win over Liang Wenbo to race through to round two of the World Championship.
The 2010 champion, 39, led 6-3 overnight and rattled off four frames in a row, with two centuries and a score of 73 seeing him over the line.
Robertson, who faces Jack Lisowski or Ali Carter in the last 16, said playing his natural attacking game was key.
"It was a good performance. It's important to play how I want," he said.
"Liang was one of the tougher ones to draw. But I maintained my levels and I feel really good and really happy.
"I have been working on my concentration and maintaining my focus session after session. I played well. If the game's the way I want to play it and not too scrappy, I really enjoy it."
Robertson was joined in the second round by Welsh qualifier Jamie Jones, who won 10 out of 11 frames to beat world number eight Stephen Maguire 10-4 and tee up a match against Ding Junhui or Stuart Bingham.
Scotland's Maguire was desperately short of his brilliant best as he suffered his eighth first-round exit in his past 11 Crucible appearances.
Yan on track to break Hendry's record
Yan Bingtao is making his third appearance at the World Championship
Earlier, reigning Masters champion Yan Bingtao and world number 15 David Gilbert both impressed as they moved into round two with very little alarm.
Chinese world number 10 Yan closed out an impressive 10-6 win over qualifier Martin Gould after an entertaining first session was tied at 4-4.
Two centuries and a break of 70 helped the 21-year-old build an 8-5 lead and a fluked red helped him to within a frame of a win, which he sealed after a scrappy finale.
World number 27 Gould, who was making his 11th Crucible appearance, battled superbly but was plagued with bad luck in the closing stages.
Sheffield-based Yan, who could take Stephen Hendry's record and become the youngest world champion, plays Shaun Murphy or Mark Davis in round two.
Gilbert sets up possible Trump meeting
Gilbert, a 2019 semi-finalist, was in superb form in scoring three centuries and five other breaks of more than 50 as he beat good friend Chris Wakelin 10-4.
Wakelin won two of the first three frames on Sunday to get back to 8-4 but Gilbert responded, with a stylish 84 getting him over the finishing line.
Gilbert, who comes up against either world number one Judd Trump or qualifier Liam Highfield in the second round, said: "I felt great last night and had a good rhythm and played some good snooker. I broke the match last night."
The other afternoon match was tense, scrappy and slow, with Scotland's four-time champion John Higgins struggling back to trail Chinese world number 53 Tian Pengfei 4-3 at the end of their opening session.
Higgins, 45, was out of sorts and slipped 4-1 behind, but he managed to take the final two frames - including a 45-minute frame seven - before the game was called off two frames early. They play to a finish on Monday afternoon.
Elsewhere, Anthony McGill leads qualifier Ricky Walden 5-4 in a tense contest between two former Crucible semi-finalists.
Walden, who made the last four in 2013, recorded back-to-back century breaks as he fought back to lead 3-2 but Scotland's world number 16 regained his composure, compiling his first ton of the match and an 88 to edge ahead.
A sparse crowd totalling 389 over three sessions watched on at the 980-capacity venue on the second day of the tournament, which can be up to a third full for the first round under government regulations as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease.
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