Shanghai Masters 2011 - Day 1 (wild card round)

OMG! No more wild cards left!!!???

The first day of the 2011 Shanghai Masters edition brought together some of snooker's heavy names and the wild cards. What happened it's simple: for each player that competed without going through the qualifying stages was denied the right to play further in the competition. That's how determined our boys are!


Both of OnQ Promotions' lads, Dominic Dale and Robert Milkins defeated their opponents. With a break of 109 and a 5-0 scoreline, Robert performed a whitewash on China's Tang Jun, while Dominic, although having to fight a bit more, managed to come back from being lead 2-0 and win 5-3 over Cao Xinlong. They may be pink and fluffy inside, but they are merciless with anyone that dares to play against them.


The Asian clash between the Thai James Wattana and the Chinese Jin Long ended with James' 5-1 victory, while the Ireland's Fergal O'Brien applied the same treatment on Iranian Hossein Vataei. Jack Lisowski didn't seem to have any problems in dealing with the usual wild card Rouzi Maimaiti whom he beat 5-2 and Michael Holt beat Cai Jianzhong 5-3.


Snooker's guardians, the "007 Agent" Nigel Bond and "The Sheriff of Pottingham", Antony Hamilton have done their job in defending what's theirs (aka. the victory). While Nigel can be made responsible for Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon’s early exit (an exit that has the 5-2 scoreline written all over), Hamilton crashed Li Hang 5-0 and hit the highest break of the tournament so far (123) in the process.


Here are the wild card round results:


07:30 (UK time)


12:45 (UK time)


But the real fun begins tomorrow morning with round's one battles of cues. And YES we have EuroSport coverage for most of them ;-)


07:30 (UK time)


12:45 (UK time)


TV coverage:


You can also follow the matches on www.sportlemon.tv
Enjoy snooker!