The UK PTC Event 3, is played in Gloucester, and the pros started their campaign on September 7, 2012. All Grove players entered, including Ronnie O’Sullivan who made his return to competition on Saturday, but it was short lived as he lost his last 128 match. On Friday, Judd and Sleepy won their three matches and booked their spot to the Final day, they were joined by Stuart on Saturday. None of them got past the last 16 though Read about the team matches here

Friday 7th of September

Last 128

11am

Liang Wenbo 4-1 Eden Sharav
Eden is a very capable young amateur who plays a bit like Stephen Maguire and when he won the first frame with a 82 he gave a clear warning that he shouldn’t be taken lightly. But Wenbo responded well and took four frames on the trot to seal the win. All frames but the last were pretty much about big breaks from both…

Jack Lisowski 2-4 Zak Surety
Jack won the first two and looked set for a routine win over amateur Zak Surety. But Zak proved how good he is by winning all next four, scoring a half century+ in each. Well done.

Andrew Higginson 3-4 Chen Zhe
Sleepy was wide awake today! Breaks of 87 and 81 helped him to this very important win against the experienced and highly rated Andrew Higginson. It should boost his confidence as he starts to adjust to the Main Tour.

3pm

Anthony Hamilton 0-4 Zhang Anda
Another good win for the Grove team an Anda as he whitewashes Anthony Hamilton. Without seeing the match it’s hard to judge how it went exactly but “Ants” is usually a tough nut to crack.

Judd Trump 4-1 Anthony McGill
After a first frame where he seemed to be knocking the balls around and that he lost, Judd took a much more composed approach and totally dominated the match. In the last frame though he reverted to his usual flamboyant style which obviously pleased the audience.

Last 64

5 pm

Liang Wenbo 4-3 Michael White
Michael White is a very heavy scorer and has recently hit form, so this match was no gimme. Wenbo lead 2-0 but was pegged back to 2-2. He “stole” the next frame from way behind to make it 3-2, but Michael came back again to force a decider. Wenbo though held it together and took the match.

Chen Zhe 4-2 Ian Burns
Ian Burns is a very tough competitor and he proved it again when he came back from 0-3 down to make it 2-3. Sleepy though managed to win the scrappy and low scoring sixth frame for the match.

7 pm
Zhang Anda 0-4 Judd Trump
The story of this match was this: Anda was getting in first, building a substantial lead, but wasn’t able to secure the frames before missing or running out of position. Judd usually won the safety batteles, helped by a superior long potting and tactical game, and snatched them…

Last 32

9 pm

Liang Wenbo 1-4 Ali Carter
Despite scoring a 98 in the only frame he won, Wenbo was outplayed by Ali, who was scoring well himself (90 and 74) and was winning the tactical ones.

Zak Surety 1-4 Chen Zhe
Sleepy quickly won the first two frames with 87 and 115, but then Zak pulled one back and the match went more tactical and scrappy. Crucially though this time Zhe was able to win those as well and was the first man to book his spot into the final day.

Judd Trump 4-2 Joe Swail
Joe won the scrappy first and it looked as if he could possibly upset Judd and repeat his Paul Hunter Classic exploits. Not so though as Judd then took control and breaks of 46, 100, 56 and 60 helped him to secure the win and his pass to the Final day.

Saturday 8th of September

Last 128

11am

Simon Bedford 4-3 Ronnie O’Sullivan
What to say about this match? Ronnie played it exhibition style, taking about everything remotely pottable, and clearly more eager to entertain than to win. So we got a mixed bag of some extraordinary shots and quite a few reckless ones that he missed. He lead 2-0 and 3-2 but Simon who was playing very professionally, forced a decider, taking advantage of Ronnie’s all-attack-no-safeties approach. In the decider, Simon made a very good break off, leaving Ronnie snookered. Ronnie played to nestle into the pack, which he managed to do but left a very difficult red to Simon who got it and made a 98 from there. Well done Simon, he deserved it.

Li Yan 0-4 Adam Duffy
Li Yan had a highest break of 19 in this match … very d-bad day in office it seems.

Stuart Bingham 4-0 David Gilbert
Stuart had a 125 in the last frame but other that he built his victory with thirty something breaks. Good match play, and fast as well.

1pm

Yu DeLu 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
Going by the frame scores, this must have been a hard matchplay type of game. Yu had only one break over 50, a 69, while Jimmy scored a 90 in frame five but still lost the match.

Last 64

5 pm

Neil Robertson 0-4 Stuart Bingham
A very one sided match except for frame 3 that was epic. Robertson was first in and managed to lead 71-4 in the frame with 67 on the table, so Stuart could still tie. Stuart started to grind his way back in the frame but crucially failed to pot a colour after a red meaning he needed snookers. It was 71-37 with 27 on the table. He got the two snookers he needed but failed to pot the green. Neil succeeded in potting the green which meant that Stuart needed snookers again. He managed to force a foul on the pink and from there cleared to steal the frame. That was the turning point as it became clear in the last frame that Neil had had enough.

7 pm

Yu Delu 3-4 Ding Junhui
Despite not playing great Yu took the first two frames as Ding was missing about everything and looked very frustrated. Ding managed to win frame three though and from there he started playing more fluently. He also took the next two before Yu forced a decider with a good one visit frame winning break. But that was it though, Ding dominated the decider and the outcome never looked in doubt.

Last 32

9 am

Stuart Bingham 4-3 Alan McManus
Alan lead 3-0 before Stuart came back to win four on the trot and the match. Both players had a couple of good breaks, Stuart hit the highest break of the match, a 85 – but as was to be expected when “Angles” is involved there was some good tactical hard fought matchplay as well.

Sunday 9th of September

10 pm Last 16

Ali Carter 4-2 Chen Zhe
Sleepy gave Ali Carter a really good game and despite losing this match he has a lot of positives to take from the week-end. He’ll be back for more soon, no doubts.

Robert Milkins 4-1 Judd Trump
Rob has a good record against Judd, and he proved it once again. Judd took the opener, with the help of two glaring mistakes from Rob. But after that it was Judd making the mistakes and leaving a by then fully focused Rob with chances. Ron punished those mistakes and excellent breaks of 106, 87, 48 and 76 sealed Judd’s fate and defeat.

Rod Lawler 4-3 Stuart Bingham
The longest match of the round – not unexpected when Rod is involved. It was hard fought and good match and Stuart did well to force a decider but then, Rod was first in and knocked in a 130 to take the match. Not much anyone can do about that.