British Open 2024: Neil Robertson sweeps past Chris Totten, Iulian Boiko stuns Si Jiahui to reach third round
Updated 24/09/2024 at 16:56 GMT+1
Neil Robertson is looking in fine fettle on the baize at the moment. After winning the English Open on Sunday – holding off Wu Yize in a thrilling final – the Australian began his charge at the British Open with a 4-1 hammering of Scotland's Chris Totten. Robertson fashioned a century break and compiled over 400 points as he booked himself into the next round in truly commanding fashion.
‘I got one’ - Robertson jokes with crowd after fluking red against Wu in English Open final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Former world champion Neil Robertson put in a commanding performance to sweep past Chris Totten 4-1 on Tuesday and reach the third round of the British Open.
Fresh from winning the English Open, Robertson started in emphatic fashion as he rolled in breaks of 100 and 99 with Totten unable to even pot a ball during the Australian's onslaught.
However, when he did get onto the table, Totten showed what he was capable of as he responded with his own big break, this time 79, to halve the deficit.
The fourth frame was the first that saw both players potting a ball. Initially it seemed that Totten might be able to pounce, but he couldn't make any real headway and Robertson cleaned up with yet another sizeable break of 86.
The fifth and final frame proved no better for Totten as he watched Robertson rack up 118 points, featuring a break of 53, to seal victory in style.
Robertson emphatically outscored his opponent by over 300 points, with his pot success rate up at 85%.
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Elsewhere in the morning session, there was a real shock in the early rounds as Ukrainian amateur Iulian Boiko defeated world No. 13 Si Jiahui 4-1 in pretty comfortable fashion.
Si recently made it to the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabia Masters, but he had no answer to the impressive 19-year-old.
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Robertson completes classy 138 total clearance to take 7-1 lead over Wu in English Open final
Video credit: TNT Sports
The turning point came in the third frame where, despite making a break of 63, his highest of the match, Si found himself falling 2-1 behind. That gave Boiko a lead he would not give up.
There was another shock as former world champion Graeme Dott dispatched Zhou Yuelong 4-1, making breaks of 53 and 66 along the way.
Marco Fu overcame Ma Hailong 4-2 and Yuan Sijun beat Robbie Williams 4-2 with Sijun making two century breaks of 131 and 105 on his way.
Allen Puts table concerns behind him
Former World No. 1 Mark Allen has also advanced to the next round after a dominant 4-1 victory over Aaron Hill.
The Pistol was back in action just 24 hours after slamming the conditions in Cheltenham, stating that the table should be "burned" after failing to notch a 50+ break in narrowly beating Gary Wilson yesterday.
However, he found things much more to his liking this afternoon, hitting the ground running with a century break in the opening frame.
A visit of 56 proved enough to get over the line as he doubled his lead in the next, before Hill managed a break of 50 himself in the third, but it still was not enough to get on the board.
The fourth frame was another tight affair, and it originally looked like Allen would sweep into the next round with a whitewash when he moved into a commanding lead, only for Hill to hit back with a break of 36.
That made it 3-1, but that was as good as it got for the 22-year-old, as the Pistol closed out the match with a superb 101 to secure a 4-1 success.
There was also an impressive victory for Stan Moody, who achieved a remarkable 4-0 win over Michael Holt, hitting breaks of 62, 63 and 51 in the process.
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