Today saw the start of the 2012 Welsh Open qualifiers and it was a good day for Chinese duo Cao Yupeng and Yu Delu who were among the round one winners. Click below for more…
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While the majority of players around him do not enter the fray until tomorrow, Yu Delu was the biggest mover on day one of the Welsh Open qualifiers as he climbed four places to 66th position in the latest projected seedings, thanks to a 4-0 win against Luca Brecel.
Belgium’s Brecel has shown flashes of his potential recently with victories in the PTC events, but Yu has along with countryman Li Yan, made a real impression during his debut season and remains in the hunt for a top 64 place heading into the World Championship. Next up for him tomorrow will be a match-up with Scotland’s Anthony McGill.
Also through is fellow Chinese player Cao Yupeng who was a surprisingly comfortable 4-0 winner against countryman Tian Pengfei this morning. His first match-win of the year (admittedly in only his second outing), Cao now progresses to a clash with Adrian Gunnell tomorrow.
Elsewhere, struggling Welshman Daniel Wells recorded just his second victory of the season as he edged out Leeds’ David Grace in a decider, while Sam Baird recorded an impressive 4-1 victory against Passakorn Suwannawat with a top break of 141.
Another of the highest breaks of the day of 138 came from Grimsby’s Stuart Carrington, however it was not enough to overcome heavy-scoring Norwegian Kurt Maflin, who himself hit a 135 on his way to a narrow 4-3 victory. Another decider was edged by Irishman David Morris against Paul Davison, while Adam Wicheard recorded a 4-1 win against Welshman Andrew Pagett.
There were mixed fortunes for India’s leading two professionals meanwhile as Lucky Vatnani completed an impressive 4-2 victory against Sam Craigie, but Aditya Mehta fell to a 4-0 defeat to On Q’s Andrew Norman.