First man through to the third round today is Tony Drago as the action continues to unfold in Sheffield. Click below to find out how he did it and who else is set to join him…
Afternoon Session
But first, onto the afternoon session and fan favourite Jimmy White who began his campaign in style by roaring to a 7-1 lead over Adam Wicheard. Having missed the event last year in order to appear on ITV1’s I’m a Celebrity show in Australia I imagine that Jimmy will be keener than ever to qualify for the venue stages in Telford and earn yet another clash with Stephen Hendry. There is a long way to go yet before that happens but so far so good…
Another match that saw a somewhat one-sided afternoon session today was that between Ireland’s David Morris and young Welsh prospect Michael White who on his third spell on the main tour now appears to be set to climb up the rankings. Leading 6-2 overnight he looks good to progress here although there remains work to do. Defeat would be damaging for Morris however as having not performed well during the PTC events, he needs to remain inside the top 64 in order to retain his main tour status for next season.
The other two matches however were somewhat closer as Simon Bedford, fresh from recovering a 7-4 deficit to defeat James McBain 9-8 late last night, held Bjorn Haneveer to a 4-4 overnight scoreline. The other match however was somewhat slower as Patrick Wallace and Anthony McGill took nearly four hours to reach their mid-session interval before eventually being hauled off at 3-3. Could be a long one tomorrow, Wallace probably favourite due to his experience but McGill has defeated stronger players than the Northern Irishman already this season…
Anthony McGill 2-2 Patrick Wallace
Bjorn Haneveer 4-4 Simon Bedford
Michael White 6-2 David Morris
Jimmy White 7-1 Adam Wicheard
Morning/Evening
The match between Tony Drago and young starlet Liam Highfield looked to be an intriguing one on paper but as it would turn out, Tony was to take a comfortable 9-4 victory to maintain his flawless first match record in the main events since his return to the tour in 2009. Next up for him will be Tom Ford, an altogether tougher test I would predict.
Also through to the third round stage are Rod Lawler, a comfortable 9-3 victor against Ben Woollaston, and PTC star Jamie Jones who followed up his previous victory against Dermot McGlichey with a victory against Joe Jogia to continue his rise up the rankings. Having struggled during his previous spells on the main tour, something seems to have clicked this season for Jamie and it would be good to see him make it all the way to Telford.
Fourth man through is Liu Chuang, a winner against the experienced but low on form Jimmy Michie tonight as he continues his bid to qualify for another venue after his run to the Crucible a couple of years ago. Next up will be Scot Alan McManus, a tougher task but another winnable one. For Jimmy though, this result means that he will now fall out of the top 64 at the next seedings revision and be forced to begin his next two qualifying campaigns from the first round.
The final two matches currently ongoing are between Matt Couch and Paul Davies, and Peter Lines and Andrew Pagett, both currently locked at 7-7. Having led 3-1 this morning Paul Davies made the stronger start to his match but the first session was to finish 4-4 after a good response from Couch. My favourite would be Matt here but perhaps Paul has been lifted by his victory against Patrick Einsle on Tuesday.
Peter Lines meanwhile will be feeling better than he did this morning as he at one point trailed his Welsh opponent 4-0 before coming back to level. Would have to back Lines now I suspect.
EDIT: Both Matt and Peter avoided the power of my jinx to come through to win 9-8!
