Today saw the start of the action at Prestatyn as the qualifying matches for the season’s penultimate ranking event the China Open got underway. Amongst other results David Gray recorded an excellent victory to progress while Mark Boyle showed that rumours of his demise were far off the mark…
Click here to see the full day’s results at Global Snooker.
Former top 16 player David Gray has struggled during the last few seasons but today he turned back the clock with an emphatic 5-0 victory over China’s Li Hang this evening. While he was able to win every frame it was the second which was undoubtedly the highlight as he compiled an excellent break of 134 and never really looked back. Down in 91st place in the provisional rankings heading into this event and not much higher on the one-year list, David’s chances of retaining a main tour place remain slim but if he can qualify for the last 32 of this event as he did last year then he will be right back into contention. Next up for him is a clash with Barry Pinches.
While that match was a rather one-sided affair, there were several others that went the distance in what was a day of close matches at Pontin’s. The first involved Welsh starlet Michael White who held off the comeback of Atthasit Mahitthi to sneak through in a deciding frame. Without making any significant breaks Michael was able to move into a 3-0 lead but Atthasit was not to be overawed and was able to level the match at 3-3 to set up an exciting finish. The next two frames were shared as White could seemingly not shake off that Thai challenge, but thanks to a break of 51 in the decider it was White who eventually prevailed and keep his hopes of reaching a first venue stage alive.
There was to be disappointment for two Thai players as Noppadol Sangnil lost a nine-frame thriller to Chinese player Mei Xiwen while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh was defeated by Bjorn Haneveer. Things were looking good for Sangnil as he led 4-2 but breaks of 48, 52 and 92 from Mei in the last three frames were enough to turn the match around and see him through to a tie with Robert Milkins. Thepchaiya meanwhile could not convert a 4-3 lead into a result as Belgian number one Bjorn Haneveer recovered to win his fifth match of the season.
The final 5-4 match (unless Couch v Hogan goes the distance, currently 3-3), saw Jimmy Robertson defeat Stephen Rowlings for the third time this season. It is hard not to feel sorry for Rowlings as he also lost out 5-2 to Jimmy in the Shanghai qualifiers and 9-8 during the UK Championship qualifiers but it is Robertson who progresses and will now meet Jin Long in the next round.
The fairytale season goes on for Tony Drago as he easily saw off the threat of Lee Page to secure a 5-2 victory and a second round tie to savour with old foe John Parrott. Matt Selt too was also able to keep his good season on track with a 5-2 victory over Mark Boyle who despite previous reports suggesting that he had resigned from the tour is seemingly going to give it another go.
Craig Steadman however was to lose a high quality clash with Sam Baird in which both players recorded century breaks 5-3.
