Yuan Sijun sees off teenager Stan Moody at Northern Ireland Open

Staff Writer27 October 2023

Yuan SiJun

China’s Yuan Sijun booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open after ending teenager Stan Moody's fairytale run.

Yuan Sijun triumphed 4-2 over Moody to set up a next round match with Chris Wakelin.

Moody only turned 17 last month but three victories had raised hopes of the Halifax prospect becoming the youngest ever ranking event semi-finalist, beating the record set by Paul Hunter at the 1996 Welsh Open.

Wakelin was a 4-2 winner over former world champion Shaun Murphy.

Barry Hawkins, Jack Lisowski and Ricky Walden also eased in to the quarter-finals with respective victories over Robbie Williams, Aaron Hill and Zihao Xing.