Good morning from the Cueball Talk news desk. It is finals day in Gandia, and the Spanish Open's men's last 16 on Saturday night was hard on the losers. Two of the eight matches ended 11–0. In Nanjing, the Sunday morning session sent Marco Fu, John Higgins and Mark Williams into the last 32, and Ding Junhui was in front of Gao Yang as I filed. All times below are GMT.
GANDIA: TWO BAGELS IN THE MEN'S LAST 16
Two players went through without dropping a rack. Mieszko Fortunski beat fellow Pole Mateusz Sniegocki 11–0, and Francisco Sánchez Ruiz did the same to Gabriel Aspholm. Sniegocki had knocked David Alcaide out in the last 32 only hours earlier. Sánchez Ruiz got into the last 16 on a forfeit, and the home crowd will now be hoping he can go all the way.
Oliver Szolnoki had climbed off the floor to beat Roman Hybler 11–10 earlier in the day, but his run ended against Fabio Rizzi, who won 11–8. Wojciech Szewczyk got past Wiktor Zielinski 11–9.
Men's last 16 results (race to 11, per the EPBF draw):
- Wojciech Szewczyk 11–9 Wiktor Zielinski
- Iker Andoni Echeverria 11–7 Ramazan Dincer
- Mieszko Fortunski 11–0 Mateusz Sniegocki
- Felix Vogel 11–8 Yannick Pongers
- Luca Menn 11–4 Kristián Mrva
- Francisco Sánchez Ruiz 11–0 Gabriel Aspholm
- Mika van Berkel 11–9 Eric Mattern
- Fabio Rizzi 11–8 Oliver Szolnoki
Men's quarter-finals (09:00):
- Wojciech Szewczyk v Iker Andoni Echeverria
- Mieszko Fortunski v Felix Vogel
- Luca Menn v Francisco Sánchez Ruiz
- Mika van Berkel v Fabio Rizzi
WOMEN: FILLER v KAPLAN FOR A SEMI-FINAL PLACE
Pia Filler, fresh from her $100,000 win in Doha, beat Jolien Schuurman 9–1 in the last 16. She now plays Ina Kaplan, who beat Oktawia Brodecka 9–4. Oliwia Zalewska lost to Filler on Saturday morning, came back through the one-loss side and then beat Silvia López Fibla 9–4, so the Pole is still in it. The match of the round was Jiang Teng's 9–8 win over Sandra Baumgartner. Ana Gradišnik beat Marion Jude 9–4.
Women's last 16 results (race to 9):
- Pia Filler 9–1 Jolien Schuurman
- Ina Kaplan 9–4 Oktawia Brodecka
- Oliwia Zalewska 9–4 Silvia López Fibla
- Daria Siranchuk 9–4 Li Yongxi
- Maria-Teresa Ropero 9–6 Miriam Steiner
- Linnéa Hjalmarström 9–6 Monika Zabek
- Ana Gradišnik 9–4 Marion Jude
- Jiang Teng 9–8 Sandra Baumgartner
Women's quarter-finals (09:00):
- Pia Filler v Ina Kaplan
- Oliwia Zalewska v Daria Siranchuk
- Maria-Teresa Ropero v Linnéa Hjalmarström
- Ana Gradišnik v Jiang Teng
In both events the semi-finals are at 12:00 and 15:00 and the finals at 19:00, per the EPBF schedule. The EPBF event pages have not posted a prize-money breakdown yet.
NANJING: FU BEATS BINGHAM, HIGGINS AND WILLIAMS THROUGH
Seven matches finished in the 01:30 session at the International Championship. Marco Fu beat Stuart Bingham 6–4. Fu is ranked 70th and now plays Julien Leclercq, who beat Ashley Carty 6–1, for a place in the last 16. John Higgins beat Lyu Haotian 6–3 and Mark Williams saw off Ishpreet Singh Chadha 6–2. Chang Bingyu beat Ross Muir 6–2 and made his 100th career century in the seventh frame, per snooker.org. Zhang Anda beat Huang Jiahao 6–3, and Oliver Lines beat Dylan Emery 6–4 to set up a meeting with Ben Woollaston.
Sunday morning results (last 64, best of 11):
- Marco Fu 6–4 Stuart Bingham
- John Higgins 6–3 Lyu Haotian
- Mark Williams 6–2 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
- Chang Bingyu 6–2 Ross Muir
- Zhang Anda 6–3 Huang Jiahao
- Oliver Lines 6–4 Dylan Emery
- Julien Leclercq 6–1 Ashley Carty
In play as I write (06:00 session, live scores at about 07:50):
- Ding Junhui 3–1 Gao Yang
- Stephen Maguire 3–0 Jackson Page
- Judd Trump 2–1 Fan Zhengyi
- Liam Highfield 2–2 Kyren Wilson
- Aaron Hill 3–0 Anton Kazakov
- Joe O'Connor 0–4 Yuan Sijun
The winner of Ding v Gao plays Zhang Anda. With his ranking under pressure, Ding needs every win he can get this week.
Today's 11:30 session: defending champion Wu Yize plays Robbie Williams and world number two Zhao Xintong faces David Lilley. Also on: Chris Wakelin v Long Zehuang, Pang Junxu v Mina Awad, Xu Si v Gary Wilson, Stan Moody v Sam Craigie and Daniel Wells v amateur Duane Jones.
The last 32 starts at 01:30 on Monday. The headline tie is Hossein Vafaei v Mark Selby, after Vafaei's 6–0 whitewash of Carrington and Selby's 6–2 win over Jimmy White. Neil Robertson plays teenager Wang Xinbo, who knocked out Jak Jones, in the same round.
ELSEWHERE
- PBA Team League (Korea): Round 4 has started in Goyang and runs to 8 November. On day one, Hana Card beat Welcome Savings Bank 4–1, SY beat Harim 4–0 and Woori Financial Capital edged NH Nonghyup Card 4–3. Huons beat Breakers 4–1 and Crown Haitai beat High1 Resort 4–2.
- IBSF World Snooker Championships, Indore: the event runs from 12 to 21 November at the Yeshwant Club. Men's qualifying starts on the 13th, the main men's draw and the women's event start on the 17th, and both finals are on the 21st, per the IBSF. No draw has been published yet. The men's main event has 48 players: 32 pre-qualified plus 16 qualifiers.
- US regional pool: Donna Bulanadi went unbeaten to win Stop 6 of The West Coast Women's Tour at Diamond Billiards in Modesto, beating Piper Iwan 5–3 in the final. She is the first player to win two stops this season, per AZBilliards. The last stop is in Sacramento on 14 November.
Where to watch
- Gandia Spanish Open: Pro Billiard TV on YouTube, the EPBF's official streaming channel, showing Tables 1 to 3. Live scores and draws on the EPBF website.
- International Championship, Nanjing: TNT Sports, Eurosport and HBO Max in the UK and Europe, WST Play elsewhere, and Huya in China. Live scores on snooker.org and the WST match centre.
- PBA Team League: the PBA's own channels in Korea. Results on the PBA Team League site.
Coming up
- Today, 09:00: Gandia men's and women's quarter-finals
- Today, 11:30: Nanjing last 64 concludes, with Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong in action
- Today, 12:00 and 15:00: Gandia semi-finals
- Today, 19:00: Gandia men's and women's finals
- Monday, 01:30: Nanjing last 32 begins, including Vafaei v Selby
- Through 8 November: PBA Team League Round 4, Goyang
- 12–21 November: IBSF World Snooker Championships, Indore
I will be back at midday with the Gandia quarter-finals and the rest of this morning's Nanjing session.
Reggie Rutherford
Feature image: “Pool Table Corner Pocket (British Style)” by Stuart Kerr, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0.
