| Venue: Celtic Manor Resort, Newport Dates: 28 February – 6 March |
| Protection: Watch reside on BBC Two Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Purple Button, BBC Sport web site and the BBC Sport app. Highlights on BBC Two Wales, on-line and the BBC Purple Button. |
World champion Mark Selby, UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong and five-time winner John Higgins have been knocked out of the Welsh Open.
World primary Selby was overwhelmed 4-3 by fellow Englishman Liam Highfield in an entertaining second-round encounter.
In one other shock, Welshman Jak Jones beat world quantity seven Zhao of China 4-3 in entrance of a delighted dwelling crowd.
Higgins’ dream of a sixth title was dashed with a 4-2 third-round defeat by Ali Carter.
However Ronnie O’Sullivan is safely via to the third spherical after beating Germany’s Lukas Kleckers 4-2 and can play Ding Junhui.
Highfield retains composure to advance
Selby was 2-0 down in opposition to Highfield however battled again to guide 3-2, making an excellent break of 115 within the fifth body.
Highfield responded with a 74 within the sixth to take the match to a decider, which Selby began nicely earlier than breaking down on 40 factors.
A prolonged security change adopted till a snooker by world quantity 40 Highfield received him a free ball and he stepped ahead to make a 92 clearance and knock out the 2008 Welsh Open champion.
“I stored my composure during the match and I actually loved it on the market as I’ve not loved my previous few TV matches,” stated Highfield, who now performs Welshman Michael White for a spot within the final 16.
Zhao, who adopted up his UK Championship win with victory within the German Masters in January, was main 3-2 in opposition to Jones however a well timed clearance of 83 by the house favorite pressured the decider, which went the best way of the Welshman with a 77 break.
Jones, the world quantity 48, now faces the reigning Snooker Shoot Out champion Hossein Vafaei within the final 32.
“I assumed I performed terribly till the final body, however they will essentially the most pleasing wins while you battle and nonetheless win,” stated 28-year-old Jones.
Jones is considered one of 4 Welsh gamers left within the event, alongside Matthew Stevens, Ryan Day and White.
Stevens had a busy day, successful each his spherical two match 4-2 in opposition to Lu Ning within the morning session and his third-round match 4-0 in opposition to Mitchell Mann within the night to succeed in the final 16 for the primary time since 2018.
Higgins was overwhelmed for the second 12 months operating within the final 32 by an impressed Carter, who made breaks of 141, 50, 51, 87 and 81 on his technique to face one other Scot, Scott Donaldson, within the final 16.
Joe Perry prevailed in a late-night tense final-frame decider within the third spherical to knock out Northern Irishman Mark Allen, the eleventh seed, 4-3.
There have been wins additionally for Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump.
Day three outcomes:
Lu Ning 2-4 Matthew Stevens (R2)
Graeme Dott 4-1 Jamie Clarke (R2)
Li Dangle 0-4 Kyren Wilson (R2)
Elliot Slessor 4-3 Stuart Bingham (R2)
Zak Surety 1-4 Ryan Day (R2)
Anthony Hamilton 1-4 Shaun Murphy (R2)
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 Lukas Kleckers (R2)
Ricky Walden 4-1 Noppon Saengkham (R2)
Jak Jones 4-3 Zhao Xintong (R2)
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Ashley Carty (R2)
Yan Bingtao 4-0 Zhao Jianbo (R2)
Liam Highfield 4-3 Mark Selby (R2)
Mitchell Mann 0-4 Matthew Stevens (R3)
Neil Robertson 4-1 Graeme Dott (R3)
Jimmy Robertson 4-2 Fergal O’Brien (R3)
Kurt Maflin 1-4 Scott Donaldson (R3)
Zhang Anda 4-2 Yuan SiJun (R3)
Si Jiahui 2-4 Judd Trump (R3)
Joe Perry 4-3 Mark Allen (R3)
John Higgins 2-4 Ali Carter (R3)
Day 4 spherical three fixtures (all occasions GMT):
13:00 Hossein Vafaei v Jak Jones
13:00 Ryan Day v Shaun Murphy
13:00 Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ding Junhui
13:00 Yan Bingtao v Ricky Walden
14:00 Barry Hawkins v Ben Woollaston
14:00 Matthew Selt v Kyren Wilson
14:00 Jack Lisowski v Elliot Slessor
14:00 Michael White v Liam Highfield
Night session schedule to be determined
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