It was mixed feelings in Day 3 of the World Open as one of the world’s best fingers at snooker bent the knee. A large fraction of the audience would have seen it as an upset save for the fact that it was against a former world champion.

Shaun Murphy took to the table to take on a fellow world champion Graeme Dott. It was a fine game, one of the headliners of the day. Two players who have previously topped the world in two different timelines were ready to fight for a one-way pass to the last-16. It was more than a duel for a last-16 ticket, and pride was also at stake.

Shawn Murphy started the game on the front foot, securing the first frame against Graeme Dott. With a break of 84 in the first frame, Shawn Murphy looked to make it a routine win over his lowest-ranked opponent.

However, Murphy was gutted by a determined Dott who was unwilling to leave anything to chance. Murphy’s break of 84 was the best he could muster throughout the match as he lost the second, third, and fifth frames without scoring. In fact, he was so woeful he could manage only seven in the fourth frame.

It was a bad day for Murphy, and his fans as most other big names found their way into the next round. On the flip side, Graeme Dott would take the win for all it’s worth. The former world champion had this to say about his encounter with Murphy, “It’s good to get the hard one out the way, for an easy one tomorrow.”

Elsewhere, Jack Lisowski also booked his ticket to the bigs. Jack pipped Xiao Guodong by a 5-1 scoreline to seal his spot in th4 event’s last-16. The former, who was arguably the best-looking player on the night, produced breaks of 74 and 75 to lead his opponent 3-1 by the mid-session interval.

In the second round, Joe Perry saw out his opponent in Stuart Carrington by a 5-3 scoreline, the same scoreline Mark Allen used to secure his place in the event’s next round.

Graeme Dott is given 30.00 odds to emerge as the outright winner of the World Open, while Jack Liswoski is set at 16.75.

Written by: Roland Arum