First man through to the final round of the UK Championship qualifiers tonight is Adrian Gunnell who in doing so has maintained his 100% record in the qualifiers this season. Click below to read who has joined him.
Note that the provisional rankings have again been updated to include today’s results.
Atthasit Mahitthi has played well this week but found today one match too far as he lost out to world number 42 Adrian Gunnell. Atthasit actually won the opening frame of the contest but breaks of 61, 52 and 58 saw a rampant Gunnell take the next seven to leave himself needing just two more in the evening. To his credit Atthasit fought well from 8-1 down to take the next two but there was no way back and Adrian duly completed a 9-3 win in the 12th frame.
Having endured a tough end to 2008/9 in which he did not win a match after defeat to Steve Davis during this tournament last year, Adrian has enjoyed more success so far this year and now faces 2003 UK champion Matthew Stevens for a spot in Telford.
There was also success for Leicester’s Tom Ford who recovered from a slow start to defeat friend of PSB Stuart Pettman by a 9-5 scoreline. In fact the two resumed tonight level at 4-4 but it was almost one-way traffic as Tom won five of the six frames to book his place in the last 48. There he will meet Barry Hawkins in a match that could be very close if Tom plays to his full potential.
Also through to the next round is Mark Davis who edged past Malta’s Tony Drago with a 9-7 win tonight. Resuming at 4-4 from the morning, all was to play for and Tony was well in contention to make it to the last 48 of a ranking event for the first time since his return to the main tour this season. Mark though is a player on the rise, indeed his results over the last couple of years have lifted him into the top 32 provisionally, and he ultimately proved too strong for Malta’s finest.
Next up for Mark will be another tough tie against Judd Trump, a man who after two defeats so far this season is in desperate need of a win in this event. It could be tricky for him however as he is currently several miles away competing in the Premier League in East Anglia. If Judd wins his semi-final tonight to qualify for tomorrow’s final, he faces a race against time to get over to Prestatyn for his clash with Davis on Monday and might not be mentally in the right frame of mind for the match…
Whilst Matt Selt could not maintain his 100% record at Prestatyn yesterday, three-time UK Championship finalist Ken Doherty has kept his run going with another win, this time over the in-form Mark Joyce. Early on the match looked as if it might be over in no time as Ken raced to a 6-2 lead at the interval, but Mark came out fighting this evening and took the first three frames to narrow the gap to just one frame. Ken was not rattled however and eventually took a 9-6 victory to book a mouthwatering clash with Jamie Cope on Monday.
Finally a quick word on Michael White who has come back from behind to defeat Jamie Burnett in a deciding frame. Another excellent win for the Welsh youngster, this sets up another intriguing clash with Liang Wenbo as he bids to reach his first venue…
Results