Day Three from Sheffield as the action hots up and it has been arguably the most interesting day so far as at the time of writing there have already been five matches to go the distance with four still to finish. Click below for all of the day’s results…
Welsh Open Qualifiers 2011 – Day Three Results:
Fergal O`Brien 0-4 Jack Lisowski
Mike Dunn 3-4 Dave Harold
Robert Milkins 1-4 Jimmy White
Anthony Hamilton 4-3 David Morris
Barry Pinches 2-4 Andy Hicks
Dominic Dale 4-1 Liu Chuang
Mark Joyce 3-4 Rod Lawler
Steve Davis 3-4 Joe Jogia
Joe Swail 4-1 Jamie Jones
Rory McLeod 4-3 Alfie Burden
Tony Drago 4-2 Matthew Selt
Alan McManus 2-4 Ian McCulloch
Peter Lines 2-4 Paul Davison
Michael Holt 4-2 Xiao Guodong
Jamie Burnett 4-0 Jimmy Robertson
Nigel Bond 4-1 Noppon Saengkham
Click here to see how that affects the draw.
Arguably the most fascinating match of the day was one of the first to finish as young Jack Lisowski whitewashed former Masters finalist Fergal O’Brien to reach the last 48 this morning.
It could however have been very different as in the first frame Fergal actually led by 37 with just one red left before Jack got the required snooker and cleared with 35 to snatch a 1-0 lead. Again in the second Fergal had his chance, leading 61-44 before missing an awkward green to let Jack back to the table to clear.
From here though it was one-way traffic, breaks of 101 and 96 wrapping up the match for Lisowski and setting up an eye-catching tie with the man voted as the most improved player of 2010 by this site, Martin Gould, who of course defeated Stephen Hendry at Newport a couple of seasons ago to raise a few eyebrows.
Also moving through without too much trouble were Jimmy White, Dominic Dale and Jamie Burnett, the Whirlwind impressing in particular against Robert Milkins with breaks of 103 and 107 either firing him to a 3-1 lead before modest contributions of 29 and 16 helped him over the line in frame five. Jimmy will next meet Welshman Ryan Day at the last 48 stage in a match that will be held over to Newport and be staged next Monday.
By far the longest match of the was that between Andy Hicks and Barry Pinches which stood at 2-2 after three and a half hours before Andy won the next two in an overall time of four hours and twenty minutes! While losing such a tight match must have been a tough one to take itself for Barry, that result combined with Joe Swail’s 4-1 victory against Welshman Jamie Jones sees Joe nudge him out of the top 48 seedings for the World Championship.
Steve Davis was another man to suffer a tough defeat at the hands of Joe Jogia, having at one stage led 3-2. Of the two it was Joe who sprung out of the traps quickly, runs of 111 and 5-4 moving him into a 2-0 lead before Davis hit back to take the next three with a top run of 70. Jogia though was not to be denied, breaks of 56 and 48 enough to give him the last two and a 4-3 victory. While Joe will now meet Marcus Campbell tomorrow for a place in Newport, Steve’s gradual descent down the rankings continues and for the first time he will have to win two matches if he is to make it back to the Crucible once again.