Day three has already seen a few shocks, click below the latest scores and there will be reports to follow throughout the day…
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Morning
Jimmy White gained revenge over Rory McLeod for that UK Championship defeat as he ran out a 5-2 winner to move into the final qualifying round of the Welsh Open.
Early on it looked like being a close tussle as all of the frames were close and they found themselves level at 2-2 at the interval, but it was Jimmy who powered on and eventually finished off the match with a break of 67 in the seventh frame. This is a great run for the former world number two and for the second time this season he will come up against another former world number two, Ken Doherty in tomorrow’s final qualifying round. If he can play as well as he did when he battered Ken 5-1 back in September during the Shanghai qualifiers then he will surely stand every chance of winning again.
The shock of the morning however saw Norwich’s Barry Pinches pull off a fantastic result to defeat 19-year-old Judd Trump 5-3 to move into the next round.
Judd, who had not previously lost a first round match this season in six attempts started well with a break of 89, but Barry immediately hit back with an 82 of his own and showed that he was playing well himself. Having traded the next few frames Judd again levelled the match with a run of 87, but Barry soon restored his lead with a magnificent 136, the highest break of the week so far. Though frame eight did not see another big break, it was Pinches who again took it to seal a great result for him.
Aside from a strong run to the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Championship last November it has been a difficult season so far for Barry, but this run will do his chances of a return to the top 48 the world of good. Down at 65 on the one-year list it will also be a boost for him the following season as he seeks to maintain his professional status. Next up for him tomorrow will be another tough tie with Stoke’s Jamie Cope.
For Judd though this is a very disappointing result and perhaps a fatal one as far as his hopes of moving into the top 16 for next season are concerned. While good runs in Beijing and the World Championship would certainly give him a chance still, those around him are likely to gain points in this tournament as well and perhaps give him just too much to do.
One of the most impressive comebacks of the day came from Redcar’s Mike Dunn who recovered from 4-2 down to defeat Rob Milkins 5-4 to book a tie with Ian McCulloch.
It has been a pretty good season so far for Mike and this continues here in the Welsh event as he looks to consolidate his position inside the top 48. But for a couple of first round exits in the Grand Prix and the UK Championship (events carrying more ranking points than any others played so far), it could have been even better, but now I’m sure he will just be concentrating on beating McCulloch tomorrow, a player who has struggled for form recently.
Jimmy Michie 3-5 Paul Davies 28-85(60), 0-73(43), 8-64, 65-55, 78(52)-0, 21-64, 63-9, 54-78(50)
Dave Gilbert 5-3 David Roe 8-64, 71-64, 67(55)-29, 47-74(58), 100(76)-9, 61-72, 60-34, 67-46
Michael Holt 5-2 Stephen Craigie 87(87)-6, 36-68, 87-0, 83-59, 66-50, 55-62, 71-15
Alan McManus 4-5 Stuart Pettman 45-66, 119(119)-1, 69-49, 6-92, 44-76, 71-33, 79(79)-24, 50-62, 0-132(132)
Judd Trump 3-5 Barry Pinches 89(89)-3, 7-82(82), 57(40)-22, 14-72(68), 48-69, 101(87)-17, 1-136(136), 25-60
Rory McLeod 2-5 Jimmy White 56-59(46), 102(88)-4, 31-67(42), 50-22, 56-67(56), 28-61(45), 0-101(67)
Mike Dunn 5-4 Rob Milkins 113(52,49)-25, 26-68, 26-70, 7-94(75), 65-50(49), 12-65(46), 70(70)-1, 80(60)-46, 71-0
Gerard Greene 5-1 Joe Delaney 71(45)-32, 78(43)-0, 0-91(91), 62-1, 111(111)-15, 70(70)-51(51)
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Afternoon
First man through this evening was Scotland’s Jamie Burnett who produced a stunning performance to see off Walsall’s Mark Joyce without dropping a single frame. The only disappointment for Jamie will have been the fact that after starting the match with two centuries, he came agonisingly close to completing a maximum break in the third frame. Unfortunately though he he missed the final red to a middle-pocket when hampered by the pink and had to settle for a third straight century break.
Still, though the last two frames were far scrappier affairs he managed to take both and complete a very good win. Following Liang Wenbo’s similarly brilliant win at Pontin’s earlier on in the season it just shows again how much of a shame it is that these matches are not streamed online somewhere.
Next up for Burnett is a tough match with Stephen Lee, but if he can play like this then he will take some stopping…
Speaking of Liang Wenbo, he also raced to a good victory today as he ended the run of his compatriot Li Hang with a 5-1 win. Indeed it was Hang who took the opener but it did not do him much good as Liang responded with the next five, highlighted by breaks of 122 and a 108 in frame six to finish the match off.
This is the latest good result for Liang who continues his 100% record from first round matches this season which has seen him move up into the provisional top 32 for the first time. Next up for him will be local hero Dominic Dale, though the match will be held over to the venue rather than take place at Pontin’s tomorrow.
Like Li Hang, another youngster to see a good run come to an end today was local lad Daniel Wells who was beaten 5-2 by Leicester’s Tom Ford.
Although Ford moved into a 4-0 lead early on, the match was closer than it looked, particularly in the first two frames before Tom really got going. Though Wells took frames five and six to give himself half a chance, Ford knocked in a break of 95 in frame seven to secure his passage into the next round and a tie with Steve Davis. Of course these two met in qualifying for the Grand Prix earlier season and Tom will be hoping to gain his revenge for the 5-4 defeat he suffered on that occasion.
Martin Gould continued his recent strong form with a 5-3 win over former world champion John Parrott tonight. After four frames it looked like going either way as the scoreline was locked at 2-2, but Martin really turned on the style and completed another good win with a break of 128, his best in two years.
Next up is a clash with Nigel Bond for the right to face Stephen Hendry in front of the TV cameras out in Newport. Until recently this might have looked like an easy tie for Martin given that Nigel has struggled to win this season, but his win in the China Open last month may just have given him a bit of a lift at the right time…
While one Welsh hope dropped out today in the form of Daniel Wells, Ian Preece kept his hopes of qualification alive by completing a terrific comeback against 2007 finalist Andrew Higginson this evening. Having led early on, it looked like Ian had let it slip as Higginson moved into a 4-2 lead but without making any big breaks, Ian kept going and eventually managed to turn things around.
This is another really good win for the former IBSF champion and is a further boost to his hopes of staying on the main tour for another season. Standing between him and a match against Stephen Maguire at the TV venue now is a clash with Stuart Bingham tomorrow which on paper could just turn out to be a close one.
Andrew Higginson 4-5 Ian Preece 94-0, 22-107(83), 21-64, 58-24, 75-59, 69(69)-17, 65-70, 19-84, 29-73
Adrian Gunnell 2-5 Andy Hicks 87-10, 30-71, 48-75, 1-65(51), 6-94(64), 68(68)-13, 19-61
Marcus Campbell 5-2 Aditya Mehta 69-59(59), 60-33, 73-57, 16-85, 18-68(68), 67(57)-4, 65-30
John Parrott 3-5 Martin Gould 66-24, 0-67, 25-64, 56-52, 8-77(68), 71-39, 40-73, 0-128(128)
Liang Wenbo 5-1 Li Hang 7-122(69), 0-136(122), 78(52)-54, 77(56)-2, 65-39, 108(108)-0
Jamie Burnett 5-0 Mark Joyce 114(110)-0, 131(131tc)-0, 112(112missed max)-0, 55-43, 52-44
Ricky Walden 5-3 David Morris 71-25, 24-60, 63-67, 77-0, 93(86)-0, 40-75, 67-15, 55-19
Tom Ford 5-2 Daniel Wells 66-60, 74-38, 70(50)-0, 64(64)-2, 28-68, 30-68, 95(95)-20
Jimmy Michie 3-5 Paul Davies 28-85(60), 0-73(43), 8-64, 65-55, 78(52)-0, 21-64, 63-9, 54-78(50)
Dave Gilbert 5-3 David Roe 8-64, 71-64, 67(55)-29, 47-74(58), 100(76)-9, 61-72, 60-34, 67-46
Michael Holt 5-2 Stephen Craigie 87(87)-6, 36-68, 87-0, 83-59, 66-50, 55-62, 71-15
Alan McManus 4-5 Stuart Pettman 45-66, 119(119)-1, 69-49, 6-92, 44-76, 71-33, 79(79)-24, 50-62, 0-132(132)
Judd Trump 3-5 Barry Pinches 89(89)-3, 7-82(82), 57(40)-22, 14-72(68), 48-69, 101(87)-17, 1-136(136), 25-60
Rory McLeod 2-5 Jimmy White 56-59(46), 102(88)-4, 31-67(42), 50-22, 56-67(56), 28-61(45), 0-101(67)
Mike Dunn 5-4 Rob Milkins 113(52,49)-25, 26-68, 26-70, 7-94(75), 65-50(49), 12-65(46), 70(70)-1, 80(60)-46, 71-0
Gerard Greene 5-1 Joe Delaney 71(45)-32, 78(43)-0, 0-91(91), 62-1, 111(111)-15, 70(70)-51(51)