The biggest surprise yesterday was Mark Allen’s defeat at the hands of Andres Petrov. Andres though has shown clear signs of improvement – massive improvement – in recent weeks. This match was decided on the last black. It was a serious pressure situation and he passed the test. I’m always happy when a young player from mainland Europe does well. It’s so much more difficult for them than it is for the UK and Irish players. Most of them live as expats, away from their families. Most of them have no compatriot around them. It’s a lonely life. If they struggle financially, they can’t even taken a second job as their “work” visa is only for snooker. Of course, the Chinese and Thai players face an even bigger “cultural gap” but they are a group, they have at least some other players around them, sharing the same cultural background and speaking the same language. It wasn’t always that way though and Ding will never get enough credit for what he achieved as a “pioneer”.
Here are the reports by WST:
Morning and afternoon sessions
Brown – I’m Here To Win The Title
Local ace Jordan Brown scored one of his best career wins with a 4-1 victory over Neil Robertson in front of his home crowd in the second round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.
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Antrim’s Brown delighted his friends and family at the Waterfront Hall with a superb performance to knock out former World Champion Robertson, and the confident 36-year-old believes he can kick on from today’s result and go all the way to the Alex Higgins Trophy. The world number 44 has had success in the Home Nations Series before, winning the BetVictor Welsh Open in 2021.
Defeat for Robertson means that he is yet to reach the last 32 of a ranking event this season, and he must now win either the International Championship or the UK Championship if he is to continue his streak of lifting a trophy in every calendar year since 2006.
Brown made a break of 94 to take the opening frame, and he dominated the next two for a 3-0 advantage. Robertson pulled one back with a 125 but that proved too little, too late as his opponent sealed the result in frame five with a 51.
“Beating an all-time great in Neil in front of my home crowd – it doesn’t get better than that,” said the player nicknamed the Antrim Ferrari, who now plays either Jamie Clarke or Yuan Sijun in the last 32. “I absolutely loved it out there, it was an amazing feeling. It’s right up there with my best wins, even if Neil has not been in his best form. I just concentrated on myself and I felt I was in control for most of the match. I got a bit nervy towards the end, but when I got another chance I finished it off.
“It would mean everything to have a long run here, not just for me but for my family and friends. I’m here to win the tournament, that’s the bottom line. It’s not big-headed because I know what I’m capable of. I’d like to dedicate this victory today to Joe Bingham, he was my coach and he passed away five years ago today. This one’s for him.”
Hossein Vafaei impressed in a 4-1 win over Mark Joyce, compiling breaks of 74, 72 and 112. A good run this week could cement Vafaei’s top 16 place with the cut off point for the MrQ UK Championship coming soon.
“There is room to improve, hopefully I can play better in the next round,” said the Prince of Persia. “I do care about being in the top 16, but I try not to think about rankings. If I’m good enough then I’ll be there. Whatever happens, I will accept it.”
Jack Lisowski recovered from the loss of the first frame to beat Jackson Page 4-1 with breaks of 68, 57 and 138. BetVictor European Masters champion Barry Hawkins beat Elliot Slessor by the same scoreline, firing runs of 64, 123 and 108.
Ireland’s Aaron Hill enjoyed his best career run at the recent Wuhan Open when he reached the quarter-finals, and he has kept his momentum going this week, beating Fan Zhengyi 4-1 with a top break of 80.
Late afternoon and evening sessions
Breakthrough For Boy Wonder
Stan Moody reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time by beating Rod Lawler 4-1 in the second round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
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The highly-rated 17-year-old is playing his first season on the pro tour and initially struggled to find his feet, failing to win a match in his first six ranking events. But he got off the mark with a fine 4-2 victory over Zhou Yuelong to qualify for Belfast, and the WSF Junior Champion doubled his tally of wins by outplaying experienced Lawler at the Waterfront Hall.
Moody made a break of 102 to take the opening frame, then came from 57-0 down to snatch the second with a 66 clearance. Lawler pulled one back, but Moody took each of the next two on the colours to earn a tie with Gary Wilson.
“It was nerve-racking, to say the least,” admitted the Yorkshireman. “I started off well, then from 2-0 it was downhill and I was fighting to get over the line. I sometimes get annoyed with myself during matches, I was struggling with that at the start of this season. I was letting myself down and my team around me. Everyone was putting in hard work, and I was doing everything right but then not keeping my head during matches. So I’m trying to do it for them now. I had to try to stay calm today and it worked.
“I have more confidence and belief now that I have won a couple of matches, especially beating a player as good as Zhou to qualify. I know I can do it now. I will just keep playing my game and I know if I do that I can beat anyone.”
Mark Allen’s hopes of winning the title for a third consecutive year ended as he lost a late night battle against Estonia’s top player Andres Petrov by a 4-3 scoreline. From 3-1 down, Antrim’s Allen fought back to 3-3, setting up a dramatic decider. Petrov had first chance and made 48 before missing the green to a baulk corner, then Allen looked set to clear until he rattled the final blue in the jaws of a top pocket. World number 96 Petrov sunk blue, pink and black to cross the line at 1.45am.
“It’s the best win of my career, by far,” said Petrov. “I was really lucky in the end. When I was over the last black, I was thinking ‘this is for my daughter and I will pot it.’ I hope my wife back in Estonia was sleeping and not watching because she has to wake up soon. I am so happy to get through, I can’t describe what it means to me. I know I was playing the local favourite here, but I also knew there was a group of people in Estonia watching me and cheering me on, and that helped.”
Shaun Murphy edged out Marco Fu 4-3 in an extraordinary finish as the former World Champion looked certain to lose the decider. Murphy earlier made breaks of 122, 80 and 117 to lead 3-1 before Fu recovered to 3-3. In the last frame, Fu led by 27 points with just the colours left, and the balls in awkward positions. Murphy battled on, got the snooker he needed, and eventually potted a cracking long green to set up a winning clearance.
“I was fully prepared to accept I had lost. I have got no idea why I am standing here,” World number seven Murphy told Eurosport. “I missed chances to win 4-1 and 4-2, then the last frame was horrible and we both lost our technique. But before that I made two centuries and played some good snooker.”
Murphy was asked about an incident in the sixth frame when, in with a chance to win 4-2, he called a foul on himself for a push-shot when potting the penultimate red. He said: “I don’t think the referee saw it, you couldn’t tell that I had fouled, but I knew. We pride ourselves in our game on honesty and it cost me that frame.”
Matthew Selt made breaks of 79, 57, 60 and 67 as he beat Dean Young 4-3 while Gary Wilson saw off Lukas Kleckers 4-01 with top runs of 107, 96 and 86.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 