Matthew Stevens hits second round of 2012 Australian Goldfields Open beating Liang Wenbo
Opening round of the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open started with some tremendous snooker competitions at the Bendigo Stadium arena in Victoria, Australia. The line up of the initial matches was all set to take on the challengers who came through four rounds
of the qualifying sessions at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.
Wales’ Matthew Stevens had had a great start of the tournament with his superb victory over the Chinese potter, Liang Wenbo. The Welshman showed some great skills during his run in the first game and was able to push his opponent 5-3 down at the end.
Wenbo showed impressive potting skills in the first session of the match and tried to nudge his opponent down but the Welsh potter defended himself beautifully and claimed the match victory grabbing two-frame lead in the second session. Stevens was overjoyed
after registering his first victory in the second edition of the Australian Goldfields Open snooker event.
While speaking to World Snooker, Stevens said, “It was a tough match. It was my first match of the season so it was a bit nerve-racking out there. I haven't really played any competitive snooker for two months, I've not even practiced. I was a little bit
rusty but I've got a few days off now so hopefully I can put a bit of work in and improve in my next match.”
The Welshman added, “I was very lucky there, Liang had a kick in the last frame on the yellow otherwise he would have cleared up to make it 4-4. It was a struggle, you get that sometimes, not every match is one-visit stuff.”
The opening session of the match was totally dominated by Stevens as he cruised to a 3-1 lead with the highest break of 128 in the third frame. Wenbo failed to capitalise accordingly and Stevens took advantage of the situation to nudge him down by 3-1.
However, the Chinese cueman bounced back into the game during the second session proceedings with impressive breaks of 67 and 71 but that did not help him push Stevens down. On the other hand, the Welsh potter hit back tremendously and claimed two frames
to push Wenbo down and earn his place in the second round of the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open.
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