PTC Grand Finals 2012 (Day 2) - Jones kicks Higgins out

Jamie Jones comes back for victory

Along with the second day of cue action that's taking place in Ireland's Galway, snooker got to see its face on the telly, as EuroSport has started to cover the event. 

A perfect opportunity for the youngster Jamie Jones to prove he means serious business and beat the current world champion John Higgins in the deciding frame after being lead 3-1.

China's Ding Junhui started his "Irish journey" with a 4-2 obtained in front of the PTC 3 champion Ben Woollaston, Big Bear Stephen Lee continued his great run by knocking down Michael Holt 4-1, the "Thunder from Down Under", though not at his best, managed to electrocute Jack Lisowski 4-1, while  Joe Perry made another victim on the green baize in the person of Scotland’s Graeme Dott, defeated by 4-2.

Higgins still stuggling to find some form

He has that killer instinct that the Welsh Dragons often promote in daily life and he's a proud member of the Pink Army. His name is Jamie Jones and he's responsible for sending home the 2011 world champion John Higgins.

The cue battle had a pretty nervy start, which was only normal considering that Higgins needed to impose him game, while Jones had one of his not-so-often apparitions in front of a large crowd.

First two frames were shared, Higgins taking the first and Jamie winning the second with a top break of 78, but soon after that it was a one-way-Scottish-affair.

Ding Junhui fighting

Higgins used a great series of 123 and 67 to put himself just one away from victory at 3-1. But the Welshman didn't give up and put pressure on his opponent forcing the decider with runs of 65, 30 and 20. The 7^th frame was also going Jones's way, a break of 65 points securing the Welshman a place in the next round where he's facing a player with a similar name ... Andrew Higginson.

After winning the Welsh Open on February 19, Ding Junhui had to perform in his home country during the Haikou World Open. And things didn’t go very well, the "Chinese Sensation" experiencing an early exit right from the first round. 

Woollaston was overshadowed by the Chinese player

So it was about time to see the lad regaining some form and get back on track. He had to face the PTC 3 champion Ben Woollaston, but for Ding it didn't seem to matter. He flew at 3-0 by firing in breaks of 123 and 105, to what his green baize rival replayed with runs of 22, 24, 35 and 23.

Minutes later the Chinese player was crossing the finish line with a great 98 that was seeing the scoreboard freezing at 4-2. Tomorrow, Ding is meeting with an old buddy of his, the man he beat in the Welsh Open final, Mark Selby. Will he Leicester man take revenge, or will Ding repeat the history?

After Woollaston's defeat another PTC champion was going to "retire" from the tournament, Michael Holt being hammered 4-1 by a fearless Stephen Lee.

Not at his best, but a win is a win for Robbo

"The Bulldog" of snooker applied the same "scoreline treatment" yesterday on Martin Gould, today being helped by breaks like 54, 67 and 58 to reaffirm his intentions of going for the big prize.

Neil Robertson met the 20-year-old lad Jack Lisowski in the forth match of the day and although the Aussie was far from his best he did manage to win the battle of cues and book himself a place in the quarter-finals after using breaks of 43, 43, 32, 30 and 53.

If last night Joe Perry was sending home the Irishman Fergal O'Brien, tonight was the turn of a Scottish player, also known under the name of Graeme Dott.

"The Genlteman" of snooker makes another victim

Perry was the first to break the ice taking advantage of Dott missing a red to the middle and scoring his fist 50 consecutive points of the match, but the Scottish player responded with a wonderful set of breaks (52 and 79) to draw level.

84 points later, the Pink Army soldier was back in front, but Dotty didn't lose his grip and fought like a genuine terrier to catch up with his opponent at 2-2.

The pattern was re-installed when Perry won the next frame with a top break of 67, with the only difference that Dott wasn't able to level the match this time, the Englishman using runs of 46 and 20 for a 4-2 victory.

Below you can find Day 2 list of results:

12pm
3 Ben Woollaston 2-4 Ding Junhui
2 John Higgins 3-4 Jamie Jones
12 Michael Holt 1-4 Stephen Lee
7.30pm
13 Neil Robertson 4-1 Jack Lisowski
14 Graeme Dott 2-4 Joe Perry
Tomorrow, the action continues with:

11am
15 Stephen Maguire v. Mark Davis
11 Mark Selby v. Ding Junhui
9 Judd Trump v. Xiao Guodong
6pm
10 Andrew Higginson v. Jamie Jones
16 Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Ricky Walden
*all hours are Ireland time

TV coverage: