Yesterday saw the conclusion of the 2021 English Open qualifiers.

These are the reports by WST on the last two days:

Day 5

Day Denied By Battling Lu

Lu Ning came from 2-0 down to beat Ryan Day 4-3 and reach the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Day won the BetVictor Shoot Out in Milton Keynes last season, but he won’t be at the same venue when the BetVictor English Open world ranking event runs from November 1-7.

China’s Lu, a semi-finalist at the UK Championship last season, won three frames in a row with top breaks of 70 and 61 to go 3-2 ahead. Day took frame six and had first chance in the decider, but made only 28, and Lu took it with runs of 57 and 14.

Hossein Vafaei scored a 4-1 victory over Kurt Maflin while Martin Gould eased to a 4-0 success over Andrew Higginson.

Oliver Lines maintained his fine start to the season as he beat Zhang Anda 4-0 with top runs of 66, 59 and 71. Tian Pengfei top scored with 60 in a 4-0 defeat of Barry Pinches while Joe O’Connor saw off Pang Junxu 4-1 with a high break of 81.

Lu Ning will always battle hard up to the last ball. He proved it again in this match.

Kurt Maflin looked very rusty out there.

Day 6

Wednesday 22 Sep 2021 07:08PM

Stephen Hendry won his opening match in a ranking event for the third consecutive occasion as he beat Michael White 4-1 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Hendry will face Chris Wakelin in the last 64 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes in November.

Seven-time World Champion Hendry made his comeback earlier this year and has since scored wins over Jimmy White at the World Championship, Wakelin at the British Open and now two-time ranking event winner Michael White.

After taking a scrappy opening frame on the colours, 52-year-old Hendry compiled an excellent run of 60 to go 2-0 ahead. White pulled one back with a break of 95, but Hendry made a 46 in taking frame four and then got the better of a scrappy fifth to secure the result.

Fellow veteran Jimmy White was no match for Zhao Xintong as the Chinese ace ran out a 4-1 winner with breaks of 61, 73, 57, 74 and 57. Ken Doherty also misses out on the final stages as he lost 4-1 to Sunny Akani.

Iulian’s Boiko saw his 16th birthday celebrations dampened by a 4-0 defeat against Fergal O’Brien. England’s 17-year-old Jamie Wilson scored one of the best results of his pro career so far, beating Robert Milkins 4-0 with a top break of 62.

 

Stephen Hendry improved as the match went on. He looked vulnerable in the early frames, but Michael White couldn’t take advantage. What happened to Micheal White is hard to understand and very sad. One thing I noticed about Hendry though is that whilst playing thin on the right side of a ball (as seen on our screen) he missed it completely and that happened more than once. That’s a bit worrying as it might be a sign that his eyesight isn’t what it was. That said he knocked in quite a few good long ones.

Poor Iulian Boiko looked truly unhappy facing Fergal. The latter was his good old Ferginator self, and made it extremely hard for his young opponent. In frame three Iulian seemed to have a chance and battled really hard. The frame went to a re-spotted black (78-78) and … went the way of Fergal eventually. Tough school!

The 4-0 win by Jamie Wilson over Robert Milkins will do the young lad’s confidence a lot of good. It has to be said however that Milkins was particularly poor: he had plenty of occasions but kept missing seemingly easy balls.

As much as I like Kendo, I was happy to see Sunny get a good win. He needs it!

Here is the report by WST:

Un-Nooh Blitz Secures English Open Spot

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh produced a stunning display to whitewash Jamie O’Neill 4-0 and clinch a place in the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Un-Nooh, who is renowned as one of the fastest players on the circuit, wasted little time this afternoon. He averaged just 14.5 seconds per shot and required only 38 minutes to get over the line.

Thailand’s Un-Nooh was also in supreme break building form, firing in runs of 123, 82, 139 and 105 to secure the win. The final stages take place in Milton Keynes from November 1^st to 7^th.

World number 22 Ali Carter eased through with a 4-1 defeat of China’s Fan Zhengyi.

The Captain has enjoyed a strong start to the season, having made the final group of the BetVictor Championship League, reached the last 16 of the British Open and also qualified for the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.

He continued that run of form this afternoon, securing his win in just one hour and 17 minutes, making breaks of 91 and 76 along the way.

Peter Devlin scored an impressive 4-3 defeat of former UK and Masters Champion Matthew Stevens, while Jamie Clarke sealed his place in the final stages with a 4-2 defeat of Zak Surety.

Not a word about the two last matches on the day? Hum…

Un-Nooh didn’t waste time indeed: he finished the job just 5 minutes after the Devlin v Stevens match had concluded and this is a match that had started in the previous session…

Regarding that Stevens v Devlin match, I’m not sure where to start. Stevens looked good in patches. He won the first two frames easily with fluent big breaks. Peter didn’t give up and started grinding his way back. It was not pretty. There were loads of mistakes on both sides. But Peter stuck in there. I wasn’t impressed by his snooker but I was impressed by his resilience. In frame 6, he missed a red with the rest that was effectively “match ball”. OK, he still needed a colour, but that looked like a formality. Peter’s expression after that miss was one of despair, mixed with disbelief and anger at himself. Matthew cleared to win by one point and it wasn’t an easy clearance by any means. After that, I expected Matthew to win the match: he had the momentum and his oppenent looked a bit ragged. The way Peter regrouped and fought to win deserves high praise.

The Carrigton v Miah match was a very close, hard fought one.

This is WST report about what happened yesterday on the baize:

Sunday 19 Sep 2021 08:53PM

Chris Wakelin trailed Michael Holt three times in the qualifying round of the BetVictor English Open, but eventually won 4-3 thanks to a century break in the deciding frame.

Wakelin was 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 down but each time fought back to square the tie, then his superb 106 in the last frame booked his place in the final stages in Milton Keynes, which will run from November 1-7.

Ricky Walden made a 126, the highest break of the tournament so far, in a 4-0 thrashing of Michael Judge. Liang Wenbo, who won this title in 2016, won’t be at the televised phase this time as he lost 4-2 to Rory McLeod.

Former World Champion Graeme Dott beat Farak Ajaib 4-2 with a top break of 86, while Mark Davis top scored with 95 in a 4-1 defeat of Lukas Kleckers. Cypriot Michael Georgiou scored an impressive 4-1 win over Elliot Slessor.

 

It was a good win for Chris Wakelin indeed. Chris has really struggled over the last years but now seems to be in a good place. I’m also pleased to see Ricky Walden playing well again after being plagued by back and neck pain for years.

Liang Wenbo, on the other hand, seems to have lost his way completely.

The match between Dotty and Farakh Ajaib was an entertaining affair. It was attacking snooker from start to finish and played at a good pace too. Really, this match is one to watch by all those who are stuck with the “Graeme Dott is slow and boring” line. They probably never watched Graeme except, maybe, in the last session of the 2006 World Final, a tense session played by two exhausted men until ungodly hours.Also, Ajaib showed huge ability but if wants to make the most of it, he will need to learn that – sometimes – a safety is the best option.

Michael Georgiou played well. This is actually the best I’ve seen him play for a long time. Maybe not having the pressure of the ranking system is helping him to produce his best.

This is WST report on Day 2 at the 2021 English Open Qualifiers:

Super Soheil Stuns Perry

Iran’s Soheil Vahedi scored one of his best career wins as he beat Joe Perry 4-2 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Former World Amateur Champion Vahedi dropped off the pro tour at the end of last season and is back among the amateur ranks, but will gain entry to main tour events this term having finished sixth on the Q School ranking list.

And the 32-year-old took advantage today with a fine display against world number 21 Perry. Breaks of 72 and 68 helped give Vahedi a 2-1 lead. Perry won frame four, only for his opponent to take the next two with 54 and 63. Vahedi goes through to the final stages of the world ranking event, which will run from November 1-7 in Milton Keynes.

China’s Cao Yupeng maintained his excellent start to the season as he thrashed Mitchell Mann 4-0. Breaks of 52, 60 and 125 helped Cao to an emphatic victory.

Ashley Carty scored a 4-2 win over Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown, while Chang Bingyu top scored with 111 in a 4-1 defeat of Dominic Dale.

Xu Si came from 2-1 down to beat Jamie Jones 4-2 with a top run of 67, while Gary Wilson rounded off a 4-2 win over Craig Steadman with a break of 101.

The action continues on Sunday with Liang Wenbo, Ricky Walden and Graeme Dott among the players on the baize.

I’m very happy for Soheil who had a miserable few months on the baize. Hopefully he can build on that win and get back on the main tour come May.

Three of the four Chinese players in action won their match, the exception being Bai Langning who had been called in “last minute” to replace Zhang Jiankang.

I will be supporting Michael Georgiou today … 😉

Snooker was back yesterday with the 2021 English Open qualiers. Eurosport player and Matchroom.live both showed all the matches, which is great.

There were two withdrawals:

Friday 17 Sep 2021 03:09PM

Zhou Yuelong and Zhang Jiankang have been withdrawn from BetVictor English Open qualifying due to being close contacts of a Covid-19 case.

Both players are to be replaced in the draw by the next available players in the Q School Order of Merit. Ross Muir will replace Zhou to face Dean Young this afternoon at 4pm.

Zhang’s replacement to face Jak Jones tomorrow at 1pm remains TBC and will be named as soon as possible.

Bai Langning is replacing Zhang.

This is WST report on the action:

Hallworth Fightback Floors Craigie

World number 70 Steven Hallworth claimed the last three frames to secure a dramatic 4-3 win over Sam Craigie and earn his place in the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Victory for Hallworth books a spot at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes next month for the final stages. Qualifying for the event is taking place over the next few days in Barnsley.

Hallworth fired in the highest break of the match, a run of 83, on his way to setting up the decider. He then held his nerve to secure a 37-minute final frame and seal his progression.

Jimmy Robertson eased to an impressive 4-0 win over China’s Yuan Sijun. Bexhill’s Robertson was in fine break building form throughout the tie, composing runs of 53, 56 and 108.

World number 24 Tom Ford eased through with a 4-0 whitewash win against Sean Maddocks. Leicester’s Ford made breaks of 61,106 on his way to victory.

Alexander Ursenbacher sealed his place in Milton Keynes with a 4-2 defeat of former English Amateur champion Ben Hancorn. Swiss number one Ursenbacher compiled a break of 111 in the opening frame and added further breaks of 57 and 54.

Chinese teenager Wu Yize held off an Ashley Hugill fightback to progress 4-3, while his compatriot Xiao Guodong defeated Alfie Burden 4-2.

Oh my! That picture of Steven there is not quite up-to-date …

Yuan Sijun looked both out-of-sorts and quite dispirited out there. His game has disintegrated over the last couple of seasons and it’s sad to see really. Jimmy Robertson played well, but he didn’t have much opposition.

The match between Wu Yize and Ashley Hugill was an interesting one. It was hard fought, quality, and quite tactical. Wu showed maturity beyond his years; he’s only 17 and matched Ashley in the safety department. He seemed to have lost his way a bit after a bad miss in frame 5, but eventually managed to win the deciding frame. That last frame was a long one. You could clearly feel the tension and both players made unexpected mistakes. At one point Ashley Hugill took several minutes pondering over a shot. He was warned – quite firmly – by Olivier Marteel after playing it. I’m not sure what Olivier said but Ashley looked distraught. On a lighter note … I quite like Wu’s mullet. Somehow reminded me of Hendry in the early 90th.

Tom Ford won easily without playing particularly well.