The 2021 Q-School Event 2 got underway yesterday and here is the WST report about the day’s outcome:
Rebecca Kenna won a match at Q School for the first time, making a superb break of 92 in the deciding frame to beat John Pritchett 4-3.
Women’s world number four Kenna is through to the second round of event two in Sheffield and will meet Phil O’Kane on Friday. She will need another five wins to earn a two-year tour card.
This is Kenna’s second visit to Q School as she first played in the event in 2019, and the 32-year-old from Yorkshire now has an impressive win under her belt.
From 2-1 down, Kenna won a scrappy fourth frame, then made runs of 26 and 38 to lead 3-2. Pritchett made it 3-3 but Kenna finished in style by taking the decider in one visit.
Former world number eight Dean Reynolds lost 4-0 to David Donovan.
David Lilley let slip a 3-0 lead against Callum Lloyd but eventually got the better of a scrappy decider to win 4-3.
Germany’s promising Umut Dikme scored a 4-2 win over James Silverwood, knocking in breaks of 62 and 77
Belgium’s 18-year-old Julien Leclerqc, who knocked Soheil Vahedi out of the Betfred World Championship qualifiers in April, scored a 4-0 win over Evan Munro.
Event two runs until Monday.
Rebecca Kenna actually made a 92 in that decider. It’s good to see WST reporting about the only female player in the draw.
That said, the reason(s) if any that guide WST when it comes to what they decide to report on totally elude me.
Why on earth report on Dean Reynolds? Dean suffered severe health issues in recent years, including a stroke, and he’s now a disability player. Yes, he does have a lot of merit to continue to play, but he stands no chance whatsoever in this competition, and putting a heavy 4-0 first round defeat into the spotlight does him no favour. This time there was no reporting on Tony Knowles who, unsurprisingly, lost to Kishan Hirani, who was a professsional for two seasons in 2018/19/20.
Julien Leclercq (Belgium) gets a mention as does Utmut Dikme (Germany), which pleases me, but why ignore Niel Vincent? The young Frenchman reached round 4 in Event 1. He’s been doing very well so far, he’s one to watch here for everyone interested in the development of the sport in mainland Europe.
The 14 years old Stan Moody also won his first match. He is the EPSB nominee and WST wrote a feature about him last month. Now that he’s got a win there isn’t a word about it?
The first round continues today and will be played to a finish. the second round will start this evening.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Actually, Kenna missed the last red in her 92 – it could have been 127, which would have been even more notable. Only Ross Muir’s 95 was higher, although yesterday did feature the unseeded players.
I think the information coming out of Sheffield is quite limited, hence the inconsistent focus in the reporting. I have no problem with Tony Knowles and Dean Reynolds, provided neither of them actually qualifies (I’m not worried!). What is more disconcerting is so many people saying things like: ‘it would be wonderful if Tony Knowles were to get back on tour’. No it wouldn’t. What I hope is that the older players take the opportunuty to chat to the younger hopefuls, and pass on advice.
It seems that several of the players who missed QS1 due to travel complications have now arrived and are competing. It’s a bit much to expect them to do well, but the experience may be beneficial.
I heard that two Polish lads had tested positive to covid-19 ahead of event 1 but should be OK for the next two.