Today saw the start of the final snooker event of 2012 as the Haikou World Open qualifiers got underway in Sheffield. Click below for a summary of the key scores and stories from the opening round…
Following Anthony McGill’s run to the final of the recent ET5 event in Ravenscraig, it was another excellent day for the Scots today as both Scott Donaldson and Michael Leslie made it through to the second qualifying round of the 2013 Haikou World Open.
In what was a tight match throughout against India’s Aditya Mehta, containing just two half-century breaks, it was Mehta who hit the front at 4-3, but having taken the eighth frame by just four points, he then clinched the decider to set up a clash with McGill tomorrow morning.
For Leslie meanwhile, having fallen 2-0 behind early in the match, he rebounded to win five of the next six frames with a top break of 50 against Michael Wasley to join his fellow Scots in the second round.
Elsewhere, there were fine wins for Sean O’Sullivan and Martin O’Donnell, Sean coming back from 4-1 down to defeat Paul Davison with breaks of 134 (a career best), 76, 69 and 53. O’Donnell meanwhile survived two centuries from opponent Kurt Maflin to join him, building on his recent qualification for the German Masters, as well as his ET5 quarter-final run at the weekend.
There were also wins for amateurs Duane Jones and Justin Astley, against Li Yan and Craig Steadman respectively, while Mohamed Khairy made his long awaited first appearance of the season in losing 5-1 to Thailand’s Dechawat Poomjaeng.
In the evening session, there was success for another Thai player in Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon, while Sam Baird, Zhang Anda and Simon Bedford were also winners.
The action continues tomorrow…