Iulian Boiko
Iulian Boiko scored the best win of his career so far as he beat Ding Junhui 4-1 to reach the last 16 of the British Open in Cheltenham.
Ukraine’s gifted Boiko is into the random draw for the last 16, with that round to take place on Thursday evening. It’s his deepest run in a ranking event, other than an appearance in the semi-finals of the Shoot Out last season.
“It’s by far my best win. To beat a legend of the game like Ding, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Boiko, who scored breaks of 67, 51 and 55 during a fine performance at the Centaur Arena.
“I found something in practice a month ago. I started playing really well and scoring heavier, which is really important in today’s game. I have been working on the tactical side for a couple of years, but now it’s time to work on my scoring. My position wasn’t great today, but I potted everything to keep the breaks going. There are still things I can improve, but maybe I can play even better.
“I love this venue. The atmosphere is great, it’s nice to play in front of the fans in a big arena, and it feels different to the qualifiers. It’s really inspiring, especially to play with someone like Mark Selby on the next table. If I can beat Ding, then I can beat anyone if I play well.”
Local favourite Jack Lisowski scored his second consecutive 4-3 win as he thrilled his fans with a fabulous fight-back from 3-1 down against Ishpreet Singh Chadha, storming through the last three frames with breaks of 91, 120 and 112.
Mark Selby played all 14 of a possible 14 frames in his two matches today but came through with two 4-3 victories. The China Open champion edged out Lei Peifan 4-3 in the morning session, making a break of 72 in the deciding frame, then in the evening he knocked out Jackson Page with a top break of 113.
Selby has now won his last 18 best-of-seven frame matches in this event, nine of those by a 4-3 scoreline.
Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu saw his winning sequence ended by a 4-1 defeat against Jak Jones, who fired breaks of 111 and 72. Latvia’s Artemijs Zizins reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time as he saw off He Guoqiang 4-1.
Earlier in the day, defending champion Shaun Murphy was beaten 4-2 by David Gilbert, who knocked in breaks of 117, 78, 65 and 87. He now meets Liam Davies in the last 32 on Thursday afternoon. Judd Trump saw off Ricky Walden 4-2 with a top run of 96 and now faces Elliot Slessor.
John Higgins edged out Noppon Saengkham 4-3 to earn a tie with Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon. World number one Zhao Xintong saw off Daniel Wells 4-2 – his next opponent is Michael Holt.
