Today marks not only the start of the weekend, but the second day of the Masters qualifiers up in Sheffield at the EIS. Click below for updates…
Morning Matches:
Two of this season’s form players were in action today as Judd Trump and Dave Harold began their quest for a spot in next year’s Masters tournament. Neither wasted much time as Judd need just 52 minutes to see off Matthew Couch in an excellent performance highlighted by a break of 129 in the final frame, while Dave completed a 4-1 win against Supoj Saenla soon after. These two will now meet each other next in what should be a great last 32 match.
Another man through to the next round is tour débutante David Grace after he received a bye against an absent Stuart Pettman. His reward is a very tough match with Stoke’s Jamie Cope who must be one of the favourites to win this event and make his Masters début.
The final match to finish was the one between Li Hang and Martin Gould which went one way and then the other. With the 18-year-old Hang performing well to lead 3-2, Martin showed his greater experience and knocked in breaks of 80 and a 42 in the decider to steal it 4-3. It is a shame for Hang but he has had some good results already this season and hopefully he will get back on track next week in the UK qualifiers. Gould meanwhile awaits the winner of this afternoon’s match between Andrew Norman and Jamie Jones.
Judd Trump 4-0 Matthew Couch 93(86)-0, 71(70)-24, 73(44)-13, 129(129)-1
Dave Harold 4-1 Supoj Saenla 61(43)-27, 96(96)-0, 49(48)-67, 91(59)-38(38), 75(74)-1
David Grace w/o Stuart Pettman
Martin Gould 4-3 Li Hang 32-62, 91(85)-14, 2-63, 74(39,34)-62(34), 41-68(56), 80(80)-1, 85(42)-19
Afternoon Matches:
1984 Masters champion and London hero Jimmy crashed out of the qualifying tournament at the first hurdle today as Andy Hicks recorded a good 4-2 win. Andy looked good from the start, taking the opener before snatching the second with a crucial clearance of 64. Though White just about kept in touch, there was no way back for him and he will have to rely on being wildcarded in if he is to be involved next January. Hicks though will be delighted and now goes on to play the winner of the match between David Gray and Matt Selt in the last 32.
And after the most dramatic match of the tournament so far, the winner is David Gray who recovered from 3-0 down to beat Matt Selt 4-3. Selt came out of the blocks in fine form with a 109 and a 68 to leave an out of form Gray looking dead and buried, but David found some form from somewhere to force a final frame. Just when it looked like it couldn’t get any more tense, after a long frame, the scores were level on 59-59 which meant that the match would be decided on a re-spotted black. In the end it was the more experienced Gray who prevailed and secured would could turn out to be a hugely important win, if it can give him the confidence to turn his ranking season around as well.
The first of this afternoon’s matches to finish meanwhile was that between Andrew Norman and Jamie Jones, as the 28-year-old Norman defeated his young Welsh opponent 4-1. Jones took the first frame but after that it was one way traffic and Norman will now play Martin Gould in the next round.
Much slower however was the clash between Jin Long and Rod Lawler which eventually went the way of the 27-year-old from China as he fought back from 2-1 down. Next up for him is a clash with the out of form veteran Nigel Bond.
Andy Hicks 4-2 Jimmy White 118(38,74)-0, 71(64c)-54(53), 45(44)-74(38), 78(66)-28, 43-77(63), 62(41)-9
David Gray 4-3 Matt Selt 9-114(109), 9-64, 32-69(68), 82(59)-24, 85(63)-18, 85(84)-0, 66(33)-59(rsb)
Andrew Norman 4-1 Jamie Jones 44-70(38), 68-21, 64(40)-34, 91(37,31)-4, 113(81)-4
Rod Lawler 3-4 Jin Long 67-61, 71(67)-46(46), 41-56, 66(66)-67(58c), 42-70, 102(43)-6, 34-57
Evening Matches:
The final three round one matches were completed tonight and saw Robert Milkins, Dave Gilbert and Atthasit Mahitthi book their places in the last 32.
Milkins, a surprise quarter-finalist last week in Bahrain, continued his good run with a strong 4-1 win over Andy Lee tonight, the best break being a 70 in frame three. Next up for him is a match with today’s comeback king David Gray.
After his horrific (for him at least), 5-4 defeat from 4-0 up against Milkins last week, it was another cruel finish for the Hitman Michael Holt tonight as he lost again in a decider, this time to Thailand’s Atthasit Mahitthi. It is no disgrace to lose to Atthasit as he has already recorded some very impressive results this year but after a good start to the season before now, Holt will have to be very careful that he doesn’t let it slip away following these defeats. Mahitthi though will now progress to the next round where he will come up against 1991 event winner Ken Doherty.
The final match of the day saw Dave Gilbert avoid a banana skin in the form of the promising Newcastle youngster Stephen Craigie. Leading 3-, an 88 from Craigie made it interesting but Gilbert was not to be denied and now goes on to play Ian McCulloch next.