PTC6 (Warsaw Classic) Day 1 - Masters Line-up is Determined

Day 1 of PTC6 in Poland kicked off today but today we mainly focus on the confirmation of 16 Masters spots in January!

Masters Dream comes true for Gould

Martin Gould will make his first appearance in The Masters next January as he ranks number 16 in the coming cut-off point. The 30-year-old makes his world rankings getting into the top 16 for the first time in his career despite his unexpected defeat to Liu Chuang 3-4 in the first round today - Mark Davis who was a few points behind failed to win three matches today in order to overcome Gould for ranking number 16 for the first time.

The Masters will move to Alexandra Palace

Number 16 means that The Pinner Potter will be automatically seeded in December's UK Championship, Germany Masters in February and indeed the Masters. "I would love to play at the Masters because I've always considered it one of the biggest tournaments, and it's my home event as I live in London. It's for the elite players and it's all about prestige. I've watched it from a distance for a long time so to play in it would be fantastic."

Lee will return to top 16

World Number 14 Stephen Lee and Number 15 Matthew Stevens  will make their return to the Masters this year. As you know Lee and Stevens are great players who topped in the world rankings in the past before dropping out of top 16 in 2008 and 2007 respectively. I am pleased to see both of them returning to the elite top 16. Lee was the runner-up of the Masters in 2008 and even Stevens won the title in 2000. Big congratulations for their effort!


The fans' favourites Ronnie O'Sullivan who has secured his Masters spot as well as Judd Trump will appear in Alexandra Palace in January. However, seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry will be out of the Masters since 1987/1988 season. 


Back to the actions of the boys in Poland: Impressive Chinese player Chen Zhe won the decider against Rory McLeod coming from 0-3 down, the defeat costs McLeod out of top 32. Chen's run is ended by Mark King in the last 32. Judd Trump safely landed in the last 16 on Sunday after winning the serious challenge from China's Tian Pengfei in the second round. 




Steve Davis who played with a new cue accidentally (his cue went missing on the flight) still managed to enter the last 16. Jack Lisowski will return on Sunday to battle for a quarter-finals spot after winning his TV match against Stuart Bingham in the second round. Stephen Lee, Liang Wenbo, Matthew Selt, Liu Chuang are the ones among who continue their journey in Poland on Sunday.

Results of PTC6 (Warsaw Classic), Day 1 Friday September 30

Round 1

9.30am

2. Mark Joyce 3-4 Tian Pengfei
3. Ryan Day 1-4 Alfie Burden
4. Andrew Pagett 4-1 Vladyslav Vyshnevsky
5. Matthew Selt 4-2 Allan Taylor
6. Marcus Campbell 4-3 Krzysztof Wrobel
7. Tom Ford 4-0 Ryan Causton
8. Kurt Maflin 3-4 Marco Fu
13. Tony Drago 4-0 Grzegorz Biernadski
14. Sam Craigie 2-4 Matthew Couch
15. Simon Bedford 4-0 Piotr Murat 

11am

16. Martin Gould 3-4 Liu Chuang
17. Barry Hawkins 4-0 Sean O'Sullivan
19. Andy Hicks 2-4 Mitchell Travis
20. Alan McManus 4-2 Rod Lawler
21. David Grace 4-0 Krzysztof Kubicki
22. Rory McLeod 3-4 Chen Zhe

11.30am

18. Steve Davis 4-2 Jaroslaw Kowalski
23. Dave Harold 4-2 Ashley Wright
24. Mark King 4-3 Barry Pinches
25. Jack Lisowski 4-2 Kyren Wilson

12.30pm

41. Stephen Lee 4-0 Phan Quoc Binh
42. Andrew Higginson 4-0 Karol Szuba-Jablonski
43. Sam Baird 3-4 Ian Burns
44. Dominic Dale 2-4 Stephen Craigie

1pm

1. Judd Trump 4-0 Rafal Gorecki
27. Yu Delu 2-4 David Singh
28. Gary Wilson w/o Robin Hull
29. David Morris v Liang Wenbo w/o

2pm

26. Stuart Bingham 4-0 Tomasz Skalski
30. Michael White 4-0 Alex Taubman
31. Mark Davis 4-3 Gareth Allen
32. Nigel Bond 4-1 Maciej Relich

Round 2

3.30pm

65. Judd Trump 4-3 Tian Pengfei
66. Alfie Burden 4-3 Andrew Pagett
67. Matthew Selt 4-3 Marcus Campbell
68. Tom Ford 2-4 Marco Fu
71. Tony Drago 4-1 Matt Couch
72. Simon Bedford 3-4 Liu Chuang
73. Barry Hawkins 3-4 Steve Davis
74. Mitchell Travis 3-4 Alan McManus
75. David Grace 1-4 Chen Zhe
76. Dave Harold 1-4 Mark King

5pm

77. Jack Lisowski 4-3 Stuart Bingham
78. David Singh 4-3 Gary Wilson
79. Liang Wenbo 4-3 Michael White
80. Mark Davis 3-4 Nigel Bond
85. Stephen Lee 4-1 Andrew Higginson
86. Ian Burns 2-4 Stephen Craigie

Round 3

7.30pm

97. Judd Trump 4-1 Alfie Burden
98. Matthew Selt 4-2 Marco Fu
100. Tony Drago 1-4 Liu Chuang
101. Steve Davis 4-2 Alan McManus
102. Chen Zhe 3-4 Mark King
103. Jack Lisowski 4-0 David Singh
104. Liang Wenbo 4-1 Nigel Bond
107. Stephen Lee 4-1 Stephen Craigie