Ireland got their World Cup campaign back on track with a 5-0 victory over UAE on the second day in China.
Ken Doherty and Fergal O’Brien lost their opening match 4-1 after a delay in the arrival of their equipment resulted in them being forced to compete with borrowed cues.
The comprehensive win on Tuesday means they are just a point behind Thailand, who overcame Germany in a tight tussle 3-2, and level on six points with China B.
The young Chinese outfit, combining for a remarkable age of just 32, narrowly lost out to England, who remain in a precarious fifth place position in Group D.
However, with only three points separating the top five there is still plenty of snooker to be played before the two quarter-final places are determined.
By contrast, the situation is much more different in Group C, with Northern Ireland and Wales supporting their initial 5-0 wins with 4-1 drubbings yesterday over Qatar and Poland respectively.
This puts them level at the top of the table, four points clear of Australia, who struggled to an unexpected 3-2 loss to Pakistan.
In Group B, Belgium rose to the top of the league with a 5-0 whitewash over Malaysia, with Hong Kong, Scotland and Brazil well placed behind them.
Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo and Itaro Santos scored an impressed 3-2 success over the Scottish duo of John Higgins and Stephen Maguire – one of the pre-tournament favourites.
Malta, meanwhile, are the only team left in the tournament who are yet to concede a frame after a second successive 5-0 triumph in Group A.
China A and India are hot on their heels, though, boosted by 5-0 scorelines of their own against Singapore and Austria.
With three rounds of matches in each group still to be played, a lot can and probably will change over the coming days in Wuxi.
