The Wuxi Classic is the first tournament of the new season and is scheduled from 23 to 29 June, 2014 in Wuxi, China. Neil is the defending champion. Five Grove players are competing: Neil, Judd, Yu Delu, Liang Wenbo, Cao Yupeng and Lyu Chenwei. Yu had a wilcard to play first but lost. Wenbo had a great win over Mark Selby in the last 32. Judd, Cao and Wenbo lost in the last 16. Neil beat Joe Perry by 10-9 in the Final and it clearly meant a lot to him but at the same time he looked sorry to deny his close friend his first title! Hard.

Wildcard Round

Yu DeLu 4-5 Yan Bingtao
Scores: 88-16; 77(56)-6; 14-54; 48-68; 35-66; 34-67; 84(66)-1; 81(81)-56(56); 72-15
Referee: Zhang Xin

Last 64

Judd Trump 5-1 David Grace
Scores: 79-11; 49-61; 59-46; 87-44; 80-50(50); 64-49
Referee: Leo Scullion
Judd was far from his best – his break building wasn’t as good as usual, 46 was his best today – and the match was closer than the score suggests but David missed 2 or 3 crucial balls when he had a clear opportunity to win frames. On the positive side though, Judd showed patience and his safety was very good.

Liang Wenbo 5-1 Jamie Burnett
cores: 128(128)-0; 19-54; 76-48; 62-50; 105(105)-0; 122(101)-6
Centuries: Wenbo: 128, 105, 101
Referee: Leo Scullion
Wenbo played very well, started with a century and finished with back to back centuries. His reward could well be to play the World Champion next.

Jack Lisowski 5-2 Lyu Chenwei
Scores: 83-0; 80(72)-28; 51-53; 73(56)-39; 33-89; 70-58(58); 72(72)-0
Referee: Wang Wei

Cao Yupeng 5-1 Mark King
Scores: 98(97)-25; 76(52)-12; 29-55; 69-39; 77-45; 66(66)-55(54)
Referee: Tang Xu

Last 32

Neil Robertson 5-3 Michael Giorgiou
Scores: 7-88(88); 38-47; 74-6; 69-48; 76-23; 1-96; 105(105)-0; 121(69, 52)-1
Centuries: Robertson: 105
Referee: Leo Scullion
Neil had a slow start and trailed 0-2. The second frame was very, very scrappy and lasted nearly an hour. After that Neil slowly improved whilst Michael seemed to have lost all fluency and with it, his confidence. Neil went into the MSI 2-2 and that was a result actually.
But he finished well, and found his potting in time, making a 105 in frame 7 and a good winning break to finish the match.

Liang Wenbo 5-3 Mark Selby
Scores: 96(71)-0; 95-42; 19-81(81); 1-119(119); 100(100)-38; 73(50)-18; 25-95; 78-4
Centuries: Wenbo: 100, Selby: 119
Referee: Deng Shihao
Very good win for Wenbo over the World Champion. It was a good match overall despite the perceptible tension in both players that showed in some unexpected errors. There was a lot at stake for both. But Wenbo held it very well together in the end.

Judd Trump 5-3 Ben Woollaston
Scores: 52-60; 91(65)-0; 48-53; 73(57)-0; 71-46; 109(77)-7; 52-65; 116(116)-1
Centuries: Trump: 116
Referee: Lyu Zhiwei

Cao Yupeng 5-3 Ricky Walden
Scores: 64(64)-5; 4-77(68); 58-14; 62-28; 25-83(69); 74-46; 0-96(92); 77(62)-28
Referee: Wang Lei

Last 16

Neil Robertson 5-1 Michael Holt
Scores: 67(52)-16; 73(67)-38; 62-44; 0-114(89); 130(130)-7; 61-43
Centuries: Robertson: 130
Referee: Deng Shihao

Joe Perry 5-2 Liang Wenbo
Scores: 84(69)-0; 63-45; 68-23; 36-81(77); 0-89(81); 74-8; 63-19
Referee: Zheng Weili
Wenbo fought to the last ball but he really struggled in this match. There was none of the fluency of the previous rounds. Perry was solid without being brilliant but he won comfortably in the end.

Stephen Maguire 5-0 Judd Trump
Scores: 66-54; 60-9; 71-58; 63-45; 59-40
Referee: Xie Yixin
Stephen Maguire didn’t play well but Judd was really, really poor. Both players had countless chances and Maguire took more of them that Judd.

Robin Hull 5-1 Cao Yupeng
Scores: 87(87)-21; 63-15; 29-69(52); 94(52)-18; 95(67)-29; 60-20
Referee: Wang Lei

Last 8

Neil Robertson 5-4 Shaun Murphy
Scores: 28-75; 61-5; 70-2; 62-44; 21-58; 22-77(77); 20-99; 95(95)-0; 68-65
Referee: Zhang Xin

Last 4

Neil Robertson 6-3 Barry Hawkins
Scores: 128(128)-0; 71(59)-8; 0-86(86); 29-66(62); 92(88)-3; 23-74(63); 77-39; 61(61)-8; 66-52(50)
Centuries: Robertson: 128
Referee: Zheng Weili

The Final

Neil Robertson 10-9 Joe Perry
Scores: 49-61; 9-76; 21-62(56); 78-6; 70-33; 0-135(74, 61); 79(72)-1; 21-87; 55-52; 81-0; 25-72(68); 72-31; 76-0; 69-44; 18-92(54); 60-64; 0-93(93); 87(87)-0; 78(78)-14
Referee: Leo Scullion
The match was very hard fought and thrilling, Perry looking the strongest at the start, leading 4-2, Neil coming back at him to get 8-6 in front, Joe responding to lead 9-8 again and Neil winning the last 2 to defend his title. It clearly meant a lot to Neil who couldn’t hide his emotions after the win but at the same time looked sorry for his close friend Joe who was chasing his first title. Hard.