Well it’s the penultimate day of the Bahrain Championship qualifiers and already there are some surprising results coming through…
Mahitthi first into fourth round…
Continuing the excellent form he has shown so far this season, Thai player Atthasit Mahitthi recorded his second whitewash of the week as he thrashed former top 16 player David Gray 5-0 this morning. Having lost his previous two encounters with Gray, he will be pleased to have beaten him this time and is now into the last 48 for the first time this season. Atthasit now faces the great Steve Davis tomorrow for the chance to appear in the final stages in Bahrain next month.
Lines takes another scalp
Following his impressive victory against Jimmy White yesterday, Leeds’ Peter Lines defeated another former ranking event as B&H Masters winner to move into the final qualifying round. This time it was Alan McManus on the receiving end losing 5-1 as he failed to build on the strong fomr he showed earlier on in the season in Northern Ireland. Lines will now play Stuart Bingham for the chance to meet Matthew Stevens in Bahrain.
Michie moves on
Another veteran to win was Jimmy Michie who defeated Stuart Pettman 5-2 earlier on to move into the next round. His best ranking event performance may have been a semi-final appearance over six years ago, but Jimmy is playing some of the most consistent snooker of his career at the moment. Tomorrow will be tough though as he faces the Shanghai Master, Ricky Walden for the chance to play Stephen Hendry out in Bahrain.
Parrott wins generation game
John might be 24 years older than the talented Daniel Wells, but he still knows how to play the game as he showed this morning by defeating the youngster 5-3. In need of a few good results to make up for missing the Shanghai Masters earlier this season, this will do him no harm and he now faces the former Shanghai winner Dominic Dale for a place in the final stages.