Chinese snooker player Yuan Sijun. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese teenager Yuan Sijun pulled off a stunning performance in the first round of the 2016 World Snooker China Open, sweeping world no. 13 Martin Gould of England, 5-0, to advance in the second round of the said competitions.
The 15-year-old Sijun defeated another Englishman, Andrew Higginson in the Wild Card round, 5-3, to move on to the first round versus the 34-year-old Gould, who had recently won the 2016 German Masters.
Yuan's victory over his much more experienced opponent is highly impressive noting that he did it without giving up a single frame and completing a 102-point break in the third frame in the process.
"I guess I was luckier today and he was not, I don't know exactly how I won by 5-0," said Yuan after the match as he seemed quite startled by his own performance, as per Xinhuanet. "I know my next opponent will be Graeme Dott, the 2006 World Championship winner."
"I won't give myself too much pressure," he added.
His second round opponent, the 38-year-old Dott, was the 2007 China Open winner and runner-up during the 2004 and 2010 World Championships aside from being the 2006 World Champion. He is currently ranked no. 23 in the world.
"I felt good in general and my opponent left chances for me, so I managed to make some decent breaks," Yuan said, as reported by The Guardian. "My coach told me that I needed to work on clearing the colors and long potting and I think it worked."
"My parents are not with me here because their presence would have made me nervous, which has happened before. Two wins in a row is a breakthrough for me," he also said.
In other results, reigning World Snooker Champion Stuart Bingham of England turned back his compatriot Sam Baird, 5-3, in the first round to face another Englishman, Ian Burns, in the last 32 competitions.
The world no. 2 achieved a 143-point break in the fourth frame against Baird, finishing the rack with an incredible 153 points.
The 31-year-old Burns swept countryman Peter Ebdon, 5-0, in his first round match.
Former world no. 1 Judd Trump was given a walkover in his match against Stuart Carrington and will face Jimmy Robertson in the second round.
