Day two from the UK qualifiers, though after my marathon day yesterday I didn’t feel particularly up to driving over again straight away. Click below to read how today has unfolded so far…
Morning Session
The final six remaining matches of the first round got underway this morning, the first eight frames being played before they resume for a possible nine more tonight.
The first of three players from the fear east involved today was Jin Long who will be able to repeat his good run at the Masters qualifiers last week where he lost out to eventual winner Judd Trump in the quarter-finals. Today he was up against Simon Bedford who has himself had an excellent start to the season with his last 32 run in the Grand Prix.
Going 2-0 up early on, Bedford got off the the better start but Long looked to get himself level before the mid-session interval by taking the third and going close in the next. Both making 40 breaks though, Simon managed to snatch it and go into the break 3-1 up. The next four frames were shared and they resume at 7pm at 5-3 to Bedford.
India’s Aditya Mehta also finished the session 5-3 down, but having fallen 5-0 behind early on, I imagine that he will be much happier with his lot than Long. His opponent Kuldesh Johal though played some excellent stuff though and made a half-century in each of the frames he won, so Mehta will be hoping that he isn’t in similar form tonight.
Thai star Atthasit Mahitthi had a better start to the day though, ending the session with a 5-3 lead and making a century in the eighth and final frame of the session. As an aside the highest break of the day so far came from Chris McBreen who made a 137 in his match against Lee Spick which currently stands at 4-4.
Simon Bedford 5-3 Jin Long 78(52)-14, 72(40)-25, 16-69(51), 59(40)-57(40), 90-52, 2-61(39), 43(43)-85(53), 64-19
Patrick Wallace 5-3 Stephen Craigie 13-69, 6-65(40), 54-39, 69-12, 114(78)-21, 115(101)-1, 31-84, 81(41)-9
Lee Spick 4-4 Chris McBreen 79(68)-0, 126(114)-7, 0-137(137), 0-71(71), 131(52,79)-0, 32-66, 25-80(38), 64-5
Matt Selt 5-3 Andy Lee 42-55, 65-21, 106(71)-9, 24-58, 62(40)-47(47), 28-63(47), 98(61)-8, 66-10
Kuldesh Johal 5-3 Aditya Mehta 66(65)-18, 71(57)-44(36), 80(65)-11, 87(52)-1, 68(53)-21, 7-77(36,33), 56-63, 14-113(47,57)
Lewis Roberts 3-5 Atthasit Mahitthi 63(48)-15, 46-74, 9-118(45,68), 24-114(65,49), 73(45)-42(42), 64(39)-65(37), 69-44(33), 20-113(113)
Afternoon Session
There were four matches scheduled for today but only three took place as Declan Hughes withdrew due to illness. Those of you who read my blog entry yesterday probably won’t be too surprised at this as he had something of a nightmare day, falling 7-1 down and losing his wallet to go with it! Presumably he found some money from somewhere and went out for a drink or two…
In the matches that did take place though, the struggling Michael Georgiou could not record his first win of the season as he lost all four frames today to lose 9-3 to Leeds’ Peter Lines. He looked really short on confidence yesterday and looks like he is almost certain to return to the PIOS next season.
One player who did manage to mount a comeback though was Liu Chuang who resuming at 5-3 down, won six of today’s seven frames to defeat James McBain 9-6. After his heroics at the World Championship last season, this season has been a disappointment so far, but perhaps this can give him the confidence he needs to go on. I do feel a bit sorry for James though, he seemed like a good guy yesterday.
Finally Supoj Saenla completed a 9-7 win against Welshman Andrew Pagett in what was a close match from the start. Resuming 5-3 today though he managed to maintain the gap and eventually book a tie with Martin Gould in the next round.
Rodney Goggins 7-1 Declan Hughes 115(115)-0, 56-79(45), 99(47,37)-0, 63-48, 48-11, 86(87)-0, 50-10, 86(70)-0 *Match conceded due to illness
James McBain 6-9 Liu Chuang 63(33)-22, 91(91)-40(40), 73(72)-5, 43-58, 11-64(47), 89(62)-0, 50-60, 50-34, 15-61(47), 0-72(61), 114(46,68)-6, 0-74(74), 34-84(37), 42-71(55)
Supoj Saenla 9-7 Andrew Pagett 39-71, 23-63(45), 58-49(38), 79(46)-7, 82(56)-50, 1-83(57), 69(35)-41, 83(49)-64(51), 23-66, 39-83(58), 28-72(72), 64(40)-44, 117(45,72)-6, 83(44)-33, 42-59(47). 66(54)-24
Peter Lines 9-3 Michael Georgiou 60-20, 58-14, 46-61, 81(38)-11, 63-43(33), 58-24, 4-81(52), 41-70(36), 66-26, 61(45)-54(50), 65-6, 104(92)-0
Evening Session
Tonight saw the six matches from this morning come to a conclusion and several players convert morning leads into comfortable victories. These included Kuldesh Johal, Matt Selt and Northern Ireland pro Patrick Wallace who had a particularly good win over youngster Stephen Craigie.
Also going through was Lee Spick who from 5-4 down, powered on to an eventual 9-6 win over Chris McBreen in what was a good match that saw consecutive centuries this morning. He wil now play Andrew Norman in the next round.
Closer however were the remaining two ties, the first being a dramatic clash between Atthasit Mahitthi and Lewis Roberts which went all the way to a deciding frame. Resuming at 5-3 down, Lewis immediately showed that he was not going to give up with breaks of 85 and 65 to level in no time and although Atthasit won the next, another frame-winning break of 82 from Lewis sent them into the interval at 6-6.
From there they continued to trade frames, Lewis leading twice at 7-6 and 8-7, but in the end it was Atthasit who showed his class and continued his good season with a dramatic 9-8 win to earn a tie with young Davy Morris tomorrow.
Finally, finishing well after 11pm was the match between Jin Long and the conqueror of Mark Williams at the Grand Prix earlier this season, Simon Bedford. Completing a very good comeback from 5-3 down at the start of the session, Jin managed to take the 19th and deciding frame to seal a 9-8 win and a match with Rod Lawler.