World number 61 Stan Moody scored a shock 5-3 win over China’s legendary 15-time ranking event winner Ding Junhui at the Wuhan Open.
The hugely talented 18-year-old Englishman first qualified for the tour in 2023 when he won the WSF Junior Championship. Since then he’s impressed and is now starting to establish himself among snooker’s professional ranks.
This afternoon’s encounter was a new experience for Moody, who was facing Ding for the first time in his career. An expectant crowd in Wuhan packed the stands to see their hero in action and Ding obliged them with a superb 117 to take the opener.
However, from that point onwards it was Moody who took control. Breaks of 64, 65, 53 and 131 helped him to five of the next seven frames and a famous victory. Next up Moody plays Zhou Yuelong.
Moody said: “As the match went on I got better and better. I knew I needed to get over the line, but I felt very nervous. I’m very happy with the win.
“It was a fantastic experience. I knew what it would be like, with the crowd clapping every shot. When he got flukes they were cheering. I tried to enjoy it, view myself as the underdog and take the pressure off. I really enjoyed it.
“I lost a frame for him to get back to 4-3. I just tried to think about how much pressure he had with hundreds of millions of people wanting him to win. I tried my best to keep my head straight.”
John Higgins admitted he’s struggling for motivation in the early stages of this season, after he scored his first final stages win of the campaign with a 5-1 defeat of Welshman Dylan Emery.
Four-time World Champion Higgins suffered early exits at the Shanghai Masters, against Xiao Guodong, and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, against Elliot Slessor. However, Higgins crafted contributions of 79, 50, 54 and 80 en route to today’s victory and will now play Yuan Sijun.
The Scot turned 50 this year and celebrated during the summer break by going on a special holiday to Dallas where he visited the set of the famous US soap opera, which he chose as his specialist subject in Celebrity Mastermind. Since returning he’s found the urge to practise difficult to come by, despite adding his 32nd and 33rd career ranking titles to his tally last season.
“I think after the big high of my birthday and going to Dallas, I’m struggling for the motivation. I think I might take a month off and see where I am after this. I don’t know if I should have came out here,” admitted Higgins.
“It was an incredible trip. Denise booked out the iconic ranch and we stayed the night there. You remember all the times watching it with the family. It was surreal. We did the JFK tour as well. I never thought Lee Harvey Oswald done it, but he did! I’m sure of that now after seeing all of the pictures. It was two massive things in my life that I was really interested in and I got to see it all this summer. It was brilliant and I can’t match that for Denise’s 50th! She pulled out all the stops so I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Ireland’s Aaron Hill scored a magnificent 5-2 win over world number two Kyren Wilson. The Cork cueman has enjoyed competing in Wuhan, having reached his maiden ranking quarter-final here in 2023.
Hill said: “I’m delighted. I played well and brought it to him from the start. That is what you have to do. He is probably the best player in the world at the moment, so I knew I had to play my best snooker to win and I did that.
“My coach Fergal O’Brien says to me that when I step on the plane I have to remember where I’m going and what I’m going there for. I worked hard to get here and have these opportunities like playing Kyren Wilson. It was a great occasion for me and a great opportunity.”
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh hammered home the sixth maximum break of his career in a 5-1 defeat of Pang Junxu. The Thai afterwards stated he was confident of making one pre match, having composed two 147s on the practice tables in Wuhan.
World number one Judd Trump was a 5-1 victor against Liu Hongyu, while Masters champion Shaun Murphy whitewashed former Welsh Open winner Jordan Brown 5-0. Next up they play Jack Lisowski and Gary Wilson respectively.
