Ronnie started the tournament by playing Andrew Higginson in an astonishing match which saw Ronnie lose the first 4 frames only to turn his form around and run out 5-4 winner. He then went on to reach the last eight with a 5-1 win against Joe Perry and then progressed to the last four with a 5-3 win against Matthew Stevens.

Judd Trump started his campaign with a 5-1 win against Paul Davison and followed this up with a 5-2 win over Mark Allen to reach the last eight, but was then defeated 4-5 by Stephen Maguire.

Stuart Bingham also started with a win, beating former world champion Peter Ebdon 5-3 but then lost 2-5 to Mark Williams in round two.

Yu Delu and Liu Song successfully negotiated their way through the wildcard round, beating Chris Norbury 5-3 and Soner Sari 5-0 respectively.

Delu then went on to play Ding Junhui in the first round proper and notched up a fantastic win over the world no 9, beating him 5-3. However he was unable to reach the third round after a 2-5 defeat to Stephen Lee late on Thursday night.

Liu Song had a tough opponent in the last 32 in Mark Selby and was defeated 0-5.

Australia’s Neil Robertson put an end to Judd Trump’s progress after beating him 6-3 in an easy semi-final encounter at Alexandra Palace. The match was expected to be one of the toughest encounters of the event but it finished in quite similar fashion to earlier games. The young Trump had no chance to unsettle his Aussie opponent and tumbled down by three frames.

Snooker Masters 2012, one of the Triple Crowns of world snooker featured some of the best snooker matches which included a couple of major upsets. The semi-final clash between the Englishman and Australian produced an unexpected result featuring the former World Snooker Champion as the winner.

The Robertson/Trump clash was one of the major upsets because the Bristolian executed outstanding pots from the beginning and was in a strong shape to claim the title. On the other hand, the Aussie potter had a bit of mixed luck during his campaign but he held his nerves and played sensibly during the semi-final to outplay his opponent.

Before the match, the odds were stacked heavily in favour of Trump as he had defeated Robertson at the 2011 UK Championship and the 2011 World Snooker Championship. The young Bristolian was considered to be one of the favourites to claim the 2012 Masters trophy. However, luck was favouring the Thunder from Down Under this time and he made his way straight to the finals.

The 29-year-old Robertson stunned his opponent with a superb 2-0 lead in the match after he grabbed the first two scrappy frames by 65-11 and 144-0, firing a couple of cracking knocks including a century clearance in Frame 2. Trump replied with his 76 knock and took the third set to move within one frame up at 2-1.

Robertson gave no further hope to Trump and won three consecutive frames by the score line of 89-0, 61-53 and 63-1. He was able to nudge the Englishman down by four frames at 5-1.

The 22-year-old Trump tried his best in the next session and clinched two straight frames but it was not enough from him, as Robertson secured the ninth frame in his favour by 74-24 and claimed the semi-final win. The World Number Four will be meeting England’s Shaun Murphy in the finals.

Last 8:

Judd Trump advanced into the last four of the Masters after a 6-2 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan at Alexandra Palace.

Trump, 22, raced into a 4-0 lead going into the mid-session interval, which included a tremendous 140 break.

The four-time champion came out and rallied, winning two out of three frames and scoring a 141 break, the highest of the tournament so far.

But Trump held his nerve with a 65 break in the eighth frame, and will face Neil Robertson or Mark Williams.

Trump came into the tournament as UK champion, having beaten Mark Allen 10-8 in last month’s final.

And the man from Bristol said he felt the result was never in doubt.

“I came into the tournament full of confidence thinking I can win it and all the other players want to beat me,” he said.

“I didn’t miss many balls [although] I got a little impatient towards the end to try and get over the winning line, but Ronnie had the crowd on his side.

“He has done what few in the game have done and I look up to him.”

Three-time world champion O’Sullivan reciprocated the praise, saying of Trump: “Judd scored heavily and played a fantastic match. He put in some good breaks under pressure.

“All you can do is sit there and hope for your chance but it’s difficult to stop someone with so much confidence.

“I couldn’t give any more out there and he played better on the day.”

A nervous opening frame saw both players miss opportunities, with O’Sullivan failing to sink an easy cut on the black off its spot. He was duly punished by his opponent who knocked in a break of 39 to clinch the frame.

O’Sullivan found himself snookered from the break-off in frame two and missed the reds, leaving world number five Judd a free-ball, from which a 66 break gave him the frame.

With play proceeding at a frantic pace and Trump taking every chance that came his way, he was soon 3-0 ahead and the 22-year-old looked a picture of composure as he notched a tournament highest-break 140 in the fourth.

O’Sullivan’s 67 in the next got him on the board, and preserved his record of never having been whitewashed at the Masters.

Trump, who also defeated O’Sullivan at the UK Championship last month, emerged from a tactical battle in the sixth frame to lead 5-1 but his opponent was not going down without a fight, and was cheered on by the boisterous London crowd as he stroked in a 141 clearance, snatching the tournament’s highest break from Trump by a single point.

But he broke down on 54 in the next frame and Trump held his nerve to clear the table and go through.

Last 16:

Ronnie O’Sullivan survived a fightback from defending champion Ding Junhui to advance to the second round of the Masters with a thrilling 6-4 victory.

The four-time Masters champion settled the quicker of the two players at the tournament’s new venue, Alexandra Palace, to take a 4-1 lead.

Ding hit back to win the next three frames, but O’Sullivan found some form and sealed the match with a 125 break.

O’Sullivan will face either Judd Trump or Stuart Bingham, who play on Monday.

O’Sullivan, who beat Ding 6-2 in the 2005 quarter-finals as well as his 10-3 demolition of the youngster in the 2007 final, surprisingly missed a black off its spot in the opening frame, allowing Ding a great chance to take it.

But the defending champion broke down on 58, and a brilliant long red saw O’Sullivan clear up with a break of 36.

Chinese star Ding, who beat Marco Fu 10-4 to win his maiden Masters title last year, was first in in the second with 21, but O’Sullivan responded with 57, which proved sufficient for a 2-0 lead.

O’Sullivan sunk another long red and made 48, but broke down when trying to split the reds. Ding, who was looking to reach the Masters final for the third time, hit back with breaks of 45 and 31 to get a score on the board.

O’Sullivan restored his two frame advantage with a beautifully constructed break of 76 to lead 3-1 going into the mid-session interval and then extended that lead with a break of 62.

In frame six, the momentum appeared to shift when Ding, who had come to the table 45-10 down after O’Sullivan broke down on 36, fluked a red which rattled the top left pocket’s jaws before sliding across the top cushion and dropping in the top right pocket.

The Chinese player cleared up to win the frame and then mistakes from O’Sullivan, who appeared to suffer a lapse in concentration after losing the previous frame, in the next two allowed Ding to level the match at 4-4.

Ding, who arrived at Alexandra Palace having lost his last four matches against ‘The Rocket’, had the first chance in frame nine, but breaks of 51 and 20, which included a long red under pressure, allowed O’Sullivan to stop the rot.

Winning frame nine appeared to settle O’Sullivan as the world number 16 fired in a break of 125, the highest of the match, his 50th Masters century and the first ton to be compiled at Alexandra Palace, to progress to the last eight.

Judd Trump won four frames in a row to beat Stuart Bingham 6-3 and secure a quarter-final tie against Ronnie O’Sullivan on Thursday.

Bingham went 2-1 up in the best of eleven match but Trump levelled with a 107 break in the fourth frame.

Despite Bingham then taking a 3-2 lead, Trump took control in a run of four frames which included a 121 break in the seventh frame.

“I’ll have to improve probably 50% if I want to beat Ronnie,” admitted Trump. “I felt relaxed and I felt after the first frame that I’ve got a lead and I thought I could run away with it, but I just kept giving him chances.

“I cannot give Ronnie those chances I was giving Stuart.

“The first round can be the hardest round. You want to get it out of the way, no matter how you do it.”

Despite his two centuries the 22-year-old from Bristol was prone to errors that Australian Open champion Bingham was quick to capitalise on.

World number eight Trump looked at ease as he compiled a confident 87 in the opener, but made just 19 at the start of the second before a hasty blue paved the way for Bingham to hit a 69 and pull level.

Bingham prevailed in a scrappy third by hitting breaks of 24 and 25 in a close tussle before an emphatic 107 in the next improved Trump’s mood.

The pair exchanged frames again as Basildon potter Bingham re-established his lead at 3-2.

Trump responded with gritty breaks of 25 and 29 to level before a break of 121 moved him ahead for the first time since the opening frame.

A 37 at the start of the eighth frame put Trump in charge but a superb long red triggered a run of 32 from Bingham before a missed pink let his opponent back in.

Leading 52-49 with the colours remaining, Trump was given half a chance on a long yellow after a period of cat-and-mouse and duly fired home before slotting in the remaining colours for a 5-3 lead.

Bingham hit breaks of 24 and 26 in response to Trump’s 50 in the next to leave the frame delicately poised.

The players slugged it out for several shots before Bingham finally opened the door for Trump, who smashed in the green and the remaining colours to take the victory.

The Grove’s Judd Trump is the new UK Champion. Judd took the title for the first time after beating Mark Allen 10-8.

Judd had cruised past Dominic Dale, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson without ever hitting top gear at York’s Barbican Centre. But he found his best form to win a first UK title, his second ranking event of the year, and pocket the £100,000 first prize.

And after the first all left-hander ranking final for 22 years, when Tony Meo beat Dean Reynolds, Judd now moves up to number 5 in the world rankings.

“It sounds brilliant to be called UK champion,” said Judd. “Mark pushed me the whole way, and it was a good job I had a big lead. It is the best anyone has ever played against me, so luckily I took my chance at the end.”

Judd had a 5-3 lead going into the evening and then moved into overdrive, rattling in runs of 109, 78 and 74 to surge 8-4 ahead. Allen blasted three centuries in four frames as he hit back to 9-8 behind.

But Judd held his nerve with a break of 91 to close out the match.

Friday:

Judd Trump reached the UK Championship final for the first time with a 9-7 victory over Neil Robertson in York.

Trump, 22, fired in breaks of 51, 84 and 67 as he led his fellow left-hander 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 in the early stages. But Robertson’s 77 break ensured the players went into the evening’s session all-square at 4-4. Trump pulled ahead to 7-5, then his opponent fought back to level, before Judd struck 51 then edged a tight final frame to win.

“I think Neil tried to slow it down and make things awkward for me,” said Trump, who will face the winner of Saturday’s semi-final between Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen and England’s Ricky Walden on Sunday.

“The game went really slow and nothing happened for about 20 minutes and I was just sitting there falling asleep. He came back to 7-7 and I thought he could win from there. In the end I think we were over-trying and that’s why we started to miss a few. It’d be nice to end the year on a high and win this tournament.”

Thursday:

Judd Trump became the first man to reach the semi-finals of the UK Championship in York after a 6-3 victory over Stephen Maguire.

The 22-year-old lost the opening frame but reeled off five in succession.

World number nine Maguire pulled back two consecutive frames, compiling an 80 in the eighth frame and had a 92% potting success rate during the match.

But Trump was in imperious potting form and finished the match in style with a break of 120.

Tuesday:

Judd Trump won a thrilling match against Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5 on Tuesday to progress to a quarter-final match against Stephen Maguire.

Monday:

Judd Trump had a good start to his campaign on Monday with a 6-4 first round win against Dominic Dale.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has made it through to the last 16 after a 6-1 win against six-times world champion Steve Davis.

However Stuart Bingham is out, falling at the last 32 stage 4-6 to Marco Fu.

Yu Delu started with a 4-1 win against Sam Harvey but then lost by the same scoreline to world no 2 Mark Williams in the second round.

Stuart Bingham made it into round 2 with a 4-2 win against Stuart Carrington but was then defeated 3-4 by Andrew Norman. Jack Lisowski beat Sam Craigie 4-1 but then lost 2-4 to world no 1 Mark Selby. Judd Trump lost a tight game against Tian Pengfei in round one, 3-4. Ronnie O’Sullivan was defeated in the first round 4-2 against Sam Baird.

Chen Zhe started well with a 4-0 win against Rogelio Esterio in qualifying round 2 but was then defeated 1-4 by Ali Carter in the first round proper. Zhang Anda also started with a win in qualifying round 2, 4-2 against Mitchell Travis, but then lost 2-4 to Stephen Maguire in the last 128.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN won his seventh PartyPoker.com Premier League title in eight years and tenth overall as he made light work of Ding Junhui to record a 7-1 victory at Potters Leisure Resort at Hopton on Sea.

Ding perhaps didn’t have the rub of the green at times but he was ruthlessly punished by a dominant O’Sullivan who killed off the 50/50 frames with ease.

“That was brilliant. I played good and I know Ding didn’t play as good as he could. He had a bad kick luckily for me and did a decent clearance to take the frame and go 6-1,” said O’Sullivan.

“Ding did have a few chances and balls didn’t run for him but I had a bit of luck and made it count,” he added.

“He’s playing very good and I didn’t play better than last night’s semi-final and when you play Ronnie, you have to play your best,” said Ding.

O’Sullivan got proceedings underway as he compiled a tidy break of 52 to take the opener. In the next, he played a shocking safety that surprised even himself as the cue ball collided with the pink and stayed at the wrong end of the table. The balls fell nicely for him though and Ding could not capitalise.

O’Sullivan’s good fortune was even more telling as he subsequently compiled an excellent 92 to move the score ominously to 2-0.

O’Sullivan flashed in a superb long red and split the pack across the table but the black failed to drop. Once again he left nothing on and when the Rocket went in off screwing back off a long red, Ding failed to pot a long red himself. Both players were missing at each visit before O’Sullivan gathered himself to record a 56 break.

Ding was looking distinctly uneasy and O’Sullivan went on to take the frame and a 3-0 lead.

The Chinese, who has two wins against five defeats in matches versus O’Sullivan, needed to do something to rescue the situation and looked on track in the fourth frame. He broke down when on 42 and O’Sullivan stepped in to clear up and go to 4-0.

O’Sullivan missed an easy red into the centre pocket in the next to give Ding a boost and they both had chances. O’Sullivan missed a simple black off the spot though and Ding cashed in with a doubled red and went on to take his first frame of the match.

In the sixth, when on 31, O’Sullivan missed a red into the corner pocket and Ding seemed to have a chance but an awful kick on a red with just three reds left on the table put paid to his hopes.

A 60 break from Ding ended when he missed a tough pot on a long red into the centre pocket. From there O’Sullivan completed an ice cool clearance of 63 to get to within one rack of retaining the title.

The job was duly completed in the next when a break of 77 made it game, set and match for O’Sullivan.

“Last year I wasn’t going to play anymore but got my head right and was able to play on. Now I want to play and I’m enjoying it and that’s the most positive I’ve felt,” said O’Sullivan.

“This is one that’s always nice to win. It’s a fantastic crowd, a great weekend of snooker and hopefully it will set me up to win a few more this season,” he added.

Semi-final update, 27.11.11:

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN is on track for yet another PartyPoker.com Premier League title as he had too much for Welshman Mark Williams who he defeated 5-2 at Potters Leisure Resort.

It will be O’Sullivan’s eighth consecutive final and he will surely start a big favourite to beat Ding Junhui who had earlier beaten Judd Trump.

It was Williams though, who got off to an excellent start as he took an uneventful opener but O’Sullivan, aiming for his tenth Premier League title overall, squared things courtesy of a break of 46 in the second.

O’Sullivan got the bit between his teeth in the third with a nice break of 109 but Williams fought back to take the fourth and leave the score poised at 2-2. ‘The Rocket’ regained the lead in the next with breaks of 55 and 36, and Williams had it all to do.

The Welshman though could do nothing to stem the tide though as breaks of 84 and 88 gave O’Sullivan the match.

“Mark won the first easy and had a good chance to win the second but really, he let me off the hook,” said O’Sullivan.

“It was always a tough match and I have the utmost respect for Mark. No match is ever safe and you just have to do the best you can.

“I felt a bit flustered at the beginning and never settled but overall I’m pleased with the performance and looking forward to tomorrow,” he added.

DING JUNHUI made it through to his first ever final of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker with a comfortable 5-3 win over Judd Trump at Potters Leisure Resort in Norfolk. It was a lacklustre affair in the early stages but the Chinese asserted himself in the latter part with some top quality break-building.

That was the difference between the two and Ding will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Mark Williams and defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan

In front of a packed house, Ding left himself a tricky red after going into the pack in attempt to nudge them into the open. He missed it as his break ended on 42. Trump himself played a poor positional when on 28 and was forced to play safe. Ding got back to the table and cleared up to take the opener.

The second was a very scrappy affair which Trump edged courtesy of a run of 30 but the Bristol man looked more fluid in the next as a break of 58 put him into the lead.

That didn’t last for long though as Ding put together a run of 59 to square the match at 2-2. Neither player was at their best but with so much at stake it was developing into an intriguing encounter.

However, Ding grabbed the match by the scruff of its next in the fifth frame when he compiled a total clearance of 139. It was the second biggest break of the championship and it moved him into a 3-2 lead.

Trump had a golden opportunity to help his cause in the next after Ding left an easy red on. He missed a red into the centre pocket when on 45 though, and the initiative switched back to the Chinese.

He missed on 34 to leave Trump a great chance but he failed to take it as the frame became scrappy. Trump was offered several chances which he couldn’t convert and Ding stole the frame with a run of 34.

At 4-2 down Trump had it all to do and he won the next to give himself a chance. He missed another red with the rest when on 25 in the eighth frame and left a difficult angled plant for Ding. The Chinese took it on and created a great opportunity to win the match, and a break of 75 saw him over the line and into Sunday night’s final.

Semi Final 1: Ding Junhui 5-3 Judd Trump
89-37 (Ding 42, 47), 28-53 (Trump 30), 15-74 (Trump 58), 68 – 17 (Ding 59), 139 – 0 (Ding 139), 69-58 (Trump 45, Ding 34), 14-70 (Trump 43), 75-25 (Ding 75)

Semi Final 2: Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Mark Williams
0-66 (Williams 43), 70-33 (Williams 32, O’Sullivan 46), 109-3 (O’Sullivan 109), 34-59 (Williams 35), 96-0 (O’Sullivan 55 & 36), 85-0 (O’Sullivan 84) 92-9 (O’Sullivan 88)

Group stage update, 19.11.11:

Congratulations to Grove players Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump who both made it through to the last four of this year’s PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker competition.

Each player played in four of the ten qualifying matches. Ronnie started with a 2-3 loss against Shuan Murphy, but then won week 4 with a 3-0 win against Matthew Stevens and a 3-1 win against Ali Carter. He then beat Judd 3-2 before losing to Ding Junhui 1-3, but in the final week beat Jimmy White 3-0 and Shaun Murphy 3-1, to give him an 18-10 record which put him at the top of the ten-man qualifying group.

Judd started well with four straight wins to take events 5 and 7, beating Mark Williams 3-1, Matthew Stevens 3-0, Ali Carter 3-1 and Neil Robertson 3-1. After losing to Ronnie 2-3 he then lost 0-3 in the last match to Shaun Murphy, having already qualified. Judd’s record was 14-9 which placed him third overall behind Ding Junhui but ahead of Mark Williams.

The four players will play off in the semi-finals and finals, taking place at Hopton on 26/27 NOvember.

Ronnie started in impressive form after beating Ali Carter 335-245, Graeme Dott in a close match 185-182 and Neil Robertson in the semi-final by a record 519 points to 157. Martin Gould had edged the other semi-final against Mark Selby 253-246.

In the final, Gould came from behind to beat Ronnie 286-258, who had charged into a lead of over 150 points before Gould hit back to win.

Judd Trump lost his first round match against Gould 332-229, who then went on to beat Grove new boy Stuart Bingham 247-180 in the next round. Stuart had started the tournament with an excellent win against former world champion Shaun Murphy 376-112.

Picture: Monique Limbos

Judd won a high-quality final which saw seven frames played in just over an hour and ten minutes. Judd knocked in breaks of 68, 69 and 69 to go 3-1 up but Ronnie came back with two breaks of 118 and 132. Judd was fortunate to win the last frame after a fluked red but there can be no question that he deserved his victory overall.

Judd made it through to the final after six straight wins, against Martin O’Donnell 4-1, Craig Steadman 4-2, Jimmy White 4-3, Tom Ford 4-0, John Higgins 4-2 and Martin Gould 4-1. Ronnie also enjoyed six straight wins, against Anthony Hamilton 4-0, Adam Wicheard 4-1, Andrew Norman 4-0, Stephen Lee 4-2, Neil Robertson 4-1 and Graeme Dott 4-1.

The tournament also saw Ronnie and Judd rise to numbers 1 and 2 respectively in the PTC Order of Merit.

Of the other Grove players, Jack Liswoski had a great event too, making the quarter finals after starting with a good 4-2 win against world no 25 Marcus Campbell, and then beating Liu Song 4-1, Andrew Pagett 4-2 and David Morris 4-0 before losing to world no 10 Graeme Dott 2-4. Fellow Grove player Liu Song was unfortunate to meet Jack in the second round after enjoying an excellent first round victory against world no 26 Joe Perry, 4-3.

Both Chen Zhe and Zhang Anda successfully negotiated their way through amateur qualifying on Thursday, and what’s more they did so with a perfect 4-0 record in each match. Zhe beating Kristof de Bruyn and Patrick Geysels, Anda beating Pierre Dethier and Reanne Evans. Zhe was then defeated 1-4 by James Wattana in the first round proper on Friday morning and Anda lost 2-4 to Andrew Norman at the same stage. Yu Delu also lost in the first round, 1-4 to Ireland’s David Hogan.

Picture: Monique Limbos

Judd started his campaign with a 4-3 win against Adam Wicheard and followed this up with wins against Andrew Norman (4-2), Marco Fu and Stephen Lee (both 4-0) and Alan McManus (4-1). He managed to defeat current world no 1 Mark Selby 4-1 in the semi-final but was unable to maintain his momentum and lost to Neil Robertson by the same scoreline in the final. Another great week’s work for Judd though who has now risen to no 6 in the provisional world rankings.Final Neil Robertson [11] 4 - 1 Judd Trump [3] h2h

Yu Delu also made it through to the final day, starting with a 4-0 victory over fellow Grove player Jack Lisowski and following this up with two 4-2 wins against Andy Hicks and Andy Duffy. Delu met in-form Stuart Bingham in the last 16 and was defeated 1-4.

Ronnie O’Sullivan started with a 4-0 win against India’s Aditya Mehta but wasn’t able to make it to nine consecutive PTC match wins as he lost 1-4 to Xiao Guodong in round two.

Liu Song also won his first round match 4-3 against Simon Bedford but then lost 1-4 to world no 28 Ryan Day, who included a break of 142 in his victory.

Zhang Anda made it through to the final stages after beating Martin Ball 4-1 in the first qualifying round and then receiving a bye through the second after the withdrawal of Jak Jones. Anda was then unfortunate to lose 3-4 against world no 13 Mark Allen in round one.

Chen Zhe lost in the first qualifying round 3-4 to Jordan Brown.

Ronnie won seven straight games to take the title, adding to PTC1 which he took in June this year. This weekend Ronnie beat Jordan Winbourne 4-0, Aditya Mehat 4-0, Martin Gould 4-1, Stephen Maguire 4-2, Liu Chuang 4-1 and Michael White 4-2 before defeating Matthew Stevens in the final 4-2, including breaks of 95, 76, 53 and 88.

Of the other Grove players, Judd Trump made it through to round 3 after wins against Ian Glover and David Gilbert, both by 4 frames to 2, but then lost 3-4 to Ali Carter.

Yu Delu and Jack Lisowski both reached round two after wins against Nick Jennings and Matthew Selt, both by 4 frames to 1. Delu then lost 2-4 to Ben Harrison and Jack was defeated by the same scoreline by Michael Holt.

Zhang Anda successfully negotiated his way through the two amateur qualifying rounds by beating Thomas Emes 4-1 and Tom Maxfield 4-2, but then lost 3-4 to world no 13 Mark Allen.

Liu Song was defeated in his first round match David Morris, 2-4. Chen Zhe lost in the first qualifying round 2-4 to Kyren Wilson.

All players taking part are wearing pink shirts in support of Breast Cancer awareness month.

Jack enjoyed three very close wins on Friday. He defeated Andy Hicks 4-2, Andrew Norman 4-3 and Peter Lines 4-3 to set up a last 16 clash with David Gilbert on Sunday morning. Jack won this match 4-3 and then won a fourth consecutive match by the deciding frame against Jamie Burnett in the quarter-final to set up a clash with Andrew Higginson. However he wasn’t able to maintain the momentum and lost 1-4 to Higginson, who was on excellent form all weekend, beating John Higgins in the final 4-1 and only dropping five frames in his seven wins.

Judd Trump started well with a 4-2 win against Marco Fu and a 4-1 victory against Mark King, but was then defeated in round three by former Grove player Li Yan 1-4.

Ronnie O’Sullivan started with a great 4-1 win against world no 2 Mark Williams but then couldn’t keep his good PTC form going, and lost 2-4 to Peter Lines in the next round.

Liu Song and Yu Delu were drawn together in round one with Song overcoming his opponent 4-2, but then was defeated by the ever-improving Ben Woollaston 4-0.

Zhang Anda negotiated his way through the two amateur qualifying rounds once again, beating Alex Taubman 4-2 and Lee Page 4-0, but then lost narrowly against Sam Baird in the first round proper, 3-4.

Chen Zhe beat Alex Davies 4-3 in the first qualifying round but lost to Thailand’s Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 4-1.