Young starlet Kyren Wilson continued to prove his credentials as he defeated world number ten Joe Perry at the Crucible. In the tie of the round, Wilson prevailed in a final-frame decider to book a last 16 tie with Mark Allen.
The second round also got underway last evening, with Ali Carter building a 5-3 lead over Alan McManus in the race to 13.
Nothing to choose between the pair
It was clear from the opening session that this was going to be a tight encounter between two players separated by just nine ranking positions. Wilson held a 5-4 lead going into Thursday's evening action, but Perry soon evened the scores with a 72 break.
Wilson came back strong to produce a 129 break in frame eleven, just one point off his match high 130 in the third frame, as he regained the lead. The pair then exchanged a frame apiece, before Perry found his form with two half centuries to win frame fourteen and fifteen as Wilson failed to score.
Joe Perry now found himself 8-7 ahead and within touching distance of the second round before Wilson matched Perry with two frames and two half century breaks of his own to go 9-8 ahead. Wilson's sixteenth frame success was one of the comebacks of the tournament, after he had looked almost certain to lose the crucial frame at one point. Perry edged frame eighteen after nearly an hour of tactical fencing to take the match to a decider, where Wilson scraped a 77-35 victory to progress to the second round. He will face now face Northern Irishman, Mark Allen on Sunday and Monday in round two.
Carter continues to rumble along
Ali Carter continued to prove his quality, as he took a slender 5-3 advantage over Alan McManus at the start of their second round encounter. The pair shared two close opening frames, before Carter delivered a 103 break to edge 2-1 ahead.
The Englishman made clear distance between himself and McManus in frame four, before the Scotsman struck back with two frames of his own to tie the match oncemore. Yet the session was to belong to Carter, as breaks of 71 and 65 gave him a 5-3 advantage. The duo will resume on Friday afternoon.
The full second round draw reads as follows:
Ali Carter 5-3 Alan McManus
Ricky Walden (9) v John Higgins (8)
Judd Trump (5) v Ding Junhui
Mark Williams (13) v Michael Holt
Anthony McGill 3-5 Marco Fu (12)
Barry Hawkins (11) v Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
Mark Allen (7) v Kyren Wilson
Sam Baird v Mark Selby (2)