Neil Robertson was stunned by Rory Thor at the British Open late on Wednesday night as the upsets keep on coming in Cheltenham.
The Malaysian cueist, who beat Mark Williams in the opening round, edged the Thunder from Down Under 4-3 to set-up a fourth round meeting with John Higgins or Graeme Dott.
Robertson won the English Open on Sunday night in Brentwood and looked to be keeping up his challenge for more silverware this week as he went 3-1 up in the race to four.
However, the 36-year-old world number 81 reeled off three frames on the spin to claim the huge win as the clock ticked past midnight.
It was a very unusual game as Thor made four half-centuries, but three of them came in the three frames he lost.
The Malaysian has been the conqueror of two top 16 players, with eight already beaten in Cheltenham before Robertson’s loss and Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrawing before the tournament began.
Zhang Anda was also stunned on Wednesday, beaten 4-3 by 18-year-old Stan Moody, who considered the victory over the world number 12 his best yet as a professional.
‘It’s my best win on tour,’ said Moody. ‘My all round game is getting better, I am working on my safety game. My debut season was very difficult, but this season I have changed a lot of things both on and off the table and hopefully I’ll get the results. I’ll just play the balls tomorrow and have some fun.’
Moody had already picked up impressive wins over Joe O’Connor and Michael Holt to reach this stage and meets either Oliver Lines or Sunny Akani in the last 16.
Shaun Murphy was another top player to be beaten on Wednesday, although his defeat was less of a shock as it came at the hands of four-time world champion John Higgins.
The Wizard of Wishaw dropped out of the top 16 after the English Open for the first time in 29 years but could make a very swift return to the elite group with a good run this week.
On the 4-2 win over the Magician, Higgins said: ‘It’s a massive scalp for me. The last couple of times against Shaun, he has outplayed me. It’s important for me to beat one of the top guys, and I’m pleased with the way I closed the match out. My new cue seems to have given me a new lease of life.
‘The players in the top 16 deserve to be in there because they are winning tournaments, and I have not done that. It gives me something to aim for, to get back in there in time for the Masters. I’ve played there for 30 consecutive years and I wouldn’t want that run to end.’
Murphy said in a social media post: ‘That was pretty disappointing, no one likes losing. I don’t think losing to John Higgins is a disgrace, I don’t think anyone can be upset with losing to John Higgins on any day, I suppose I can take that.
‘But it just took me too long to work out how to spin the cue ball on that table today, with the humidity and playing conditions, it took me too long to adapt to that. By the time I did I was 3-1 behind and in trouble. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t give John Higgins a three-frame start, certainly in a best of seven.’
British Open draw
Thursday 26 September
Third Round
1pm
John Higgins vs Graeme Dott
Mark Davis vs Judd Trump
Ricky Walden vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Oliver Lines vs Sunny Akani
Following
Marco Fu vs Kyren Wilson
Ben Mertens vs Mark Allen
Liam Davies vs Luca Brecel
David Grace vs Chris Wakelin
Fourth Round
7pm
Rory Thor vs John Higgins or Graeme Dott
Lyu Haotian vs David Gilbert
Stan Moody vs Oliver Lines or Sunny Akani
Judd Trump or Mark Davis v Stephen Maguire
Followed by
Mark Allen or Ben Mertens vs David Grace or Chris Wakelin
Luca Brecel or Liam Davies vs Jak Jones
Kyren Wilson or Marco Fu vs Elliot Slessor
Mark Selby vs Ricky Walden or Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
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