Snooker News

Mark Williams Progresses in Six Red Worlds

Mark Williams and Mark King were among the first men to qualify for the last 16 of the Six Red World Championship as the round-robin phase continued in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Mark Williams
Williams won three of his ranking titles in Thailand.

Home hopeful Noppon Saengkham is also through after winning both of his opening two fixtures.

Saengkham heads Group A with two wins from two, with defending champion Ding Junhui set to face Tom Ford in a winner-takes-all contest on Wednesday.

Williams and King also advanced with a game to spare after inflicting successive defeats on James Wattana and Soheil Vahedi in Group F.

It’s all to play for in the other groups as the players scramble for a spot in the knockout stages.

Group C is the most evenly poised looking on paper with each of the four competitors with one win and one loss each from their first couple of bouts.

Kyren Wilson will meet former champion Ricky Walden while 2015 winner Thepchaiya Un-Nooh battles amateur Kristjan Helgason in the final ties of the round.

In Group B, Passakorn Suwannat secured a 5-2 victory over Ryan Day that puts the outcome there in doubt.

Day and Anthony McGill had been expected to move beyond the group but the pair now clash in their final league encounter, which could eliminate one of them depending on various permutations.

Indeed, there is a lot to consider in the majority of the groups, with frame difference bound to play a role if two or more players finish with the same number of points.

The situation is similar in Group E, where Stephen Maguire has a 100% success record so far but faces Stuart Bingham in his last match and could still be dislodged from the qualifying positions if he suffers a heavy loss and Akani Songsermsawad overcomes Kamal Chawla.

Michael Holt and Marco Fu top Group D and H respectively, and their superior frame difference means it’s unlikely that they’ll be dislodged from the top two positions.

Meanwhile, Graeme Dott’s 5-1 and 5-0 results so far in Group G have guaranteed his last 16 berth regardless of his final meeting against Martin Gould.

By the end of day’s play on Wednesday, the last 16 players will be known and the straight fight for the £80,500 winner’s cheque will properly commence.

Click here to view the draw.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.