Players Tour Championship Event 8 (2011) - Day 2

Ronnie's out!

The second day of the PTC 8, also known as the Alex Higgins International Trophy, brought with it a few surprises, like the fact that the PTC 1 and PTC 7 (aka. the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy) champion, Ronnie O'Sullivan was eliminated soon after starting the race, losing 4-1 to the Chinese player Xiao Guodong.

But on a brighter note, Martin Gould and Mark Allen seemed to have found some good form, while Gerard Greene managed to get a place into the Last 16 for the first time since the beginning of this year's PTCs.

The current world champion, the Scot John Higgins, managed to get a spot in the next round by beating Ian Burns 4-1, Nigel Bond 4-2 but also Ashley Wright by the same scoreline, while the 2010 world champion Neil Robertson followed him next after recording a 4-1 in front of Gary Wilson and Tony Drago and a perfect 4-0 against Joe Jogia.

Believe it or not but Mark Allen got a place in the Last 16 round for the first time since the season kicked off, which is strange since we all know what a great player he is. With wins of 4-0 over Paul Davison and Mike Dunn and 4-1 over David Gilbert, the North-Ireland's player secured his future in the tournament.

Mark Allen reaches the Last 16

Another Pink Army soldier was soon to repeat the performance of reaching the famous Last 16, Gerard Greene winning two tough battles against Sam Craigie and Fergal O'Brien 4-3 and defeating another dangerous opponent in his last match, Xiao Guodong by 4-2.

It was good to see Martin Gould playing at his best, the Englishman using scorelines like 4-1 in the match played against Gareth Allen, 4-2 in front of the "Iceman" Jamie Burnett and ending on an even higher note: a perfect 4-0 against Jamie Jones.
A bit more revived, Ryan Day followed his snooker colleagues into the Last 16 after obtaining victories of 4-2 over John Torpey, 4-1 against Liu Song and 4-0 in front of Mark Joyce, but also after hitting the highest break of the tournament, a beautiful 142 in his second match.

Gouldie back in business

The Thai Dechawat Poomjaeng wrote history last night in Ireland after he successfully managed to get a place into the Last 16 round for the first time ever. He came very close to reach this goal during PTC 1 and 5, but he would always lose the last match. Not last evening!

He started his journey through the balls with a tight 4-3 victory in front of Jordan Brown, continued by hammering the master Stephen  Hendry 4-1, only to end his day by taking down another Scotsman, this time his victim being Stephen Maguire whom he beat 4-2.

Dechawat Poomjaeng writes history

Last match of the day was the one that saw Ben Woollaston getting the last of the Last 16 round spots. The PTC 3 champion defeated Liang Wenbo 4-2, Liam Highfield 4-3 and former 2010 PTC champion, Tom Ford by repeating the last scoreline.

Below you can check Day 2 list of results: