Ebdon suffers at the hands of Dott
Ebdon loses out and drops out of elite 16
Peter Ebdon suffered a 10-5 defeat to Graeme Dott, and has now lost his place in the top 16 for the first time since 1994, meaning he will have to qualify for ranking events next season.
Ebdon trailed 7-2 overnight, but made a fist of it and reduced the deficit to only 8-5.
However, Ebdon missed a crucial red and allowed Dott the chance to take a 9-5 lead and eventually clinch the match.
"I lost it yesterday, Graeme played very well and even though we both struggled with the inconsistant bounces off the cushions, he applied himself the better of the two of us.
"I'm bitterly disappointed to be out of the top 16, but also very proud of being in that elite bracket for so long," said Ebdon.
Graeme Dott will now play either Stephen Maguire or Stephen Lee in the next round.
"It's good, it's nice to be back. I didn't play well tonight. Maybe I had the wrong attitude. I played so well yesterday, and basically at 7-2 the job was almost done and I probably relaxed a bit too much," said Dott.
Walk in the park for Ding Junhui
Ding Junhui sailed past Stuart Pettman 10-1 to advance to the last 16 of the world championship.
The Chinese sensation needed only two frames in the morning to seal the win after building up an 8-1 lead overnight. Ding scored heavily on his visits to the table, making breaks of 53, 77, 88, 120, 95 and 88.
He has been the most consistent player this season, picking up more ranking points than anyone else. “It was a lot easier than I expected against Stuart. He missed a lot and left me simple chances. I was playing like I do in practice,” Ding said.
Ding will take on either Gerard Greene or Shaun Murphy in the next round, and it is the latter he thinks he’ll play. “I am looking forward to my next match, and hope to play better than I did in this one. I expect to play Shaun Murphy, and I’ll have to concentrate hard to beat him if he wins,” he said.
Another Davis through, this time Mark over Ryan Day
Mark Davis upset Welsh No.1 Ryan Day, overcoming him in a tight battle 10-8.
Davis went into the final session 5-4 in front, but Dynamite Day won the first two frames to storm to a 6-5 advantage. Davis though, enjoying his best season in his career, also took the next two frames to lead 7-6, and then led 8-7. Day battled to draw level at eight frames each, but it was Davis who had the advantage, making a break of 56 to lead 9-8.
A final-frame decider looked to be on the cards when the balls were easily presented to Day, but he missed and allowed Davis to hold his nerve with a match-winning clearance of 61.
Davis will now take on Mark Allen, a 10-4 conqueror over Tom Ford, in the last-16.
Thunder from Down Under surges through
Neil Robertson recorded a 10-5 win over Fergal O'Brien, stopping a mini-fightback from the Irishman.
Robertson lead 6-3 from the first session, but O'Brien made the score 6-5 and looked to have the momentum.
Robertson made pulled two clear, and then a long 13th frame, almost 70 minutes long, was clinched by the Australian, and he showed his delight by celebrating in relief at the end of it.
"I'm obviously relieved to get through and also pleased to be having a day off tomorrow, because after that 70 minute frame I need to.
"Some of the safety in that frame was quality, it seemed like we were on the yellow forever. I looked over to the other table, and it was like they were zipping through their frames quicker than us trying to pot one ball," said Robertson.
The Melbourne Machine will play surprise winner Martin Gould in the last-16.
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