Eight players qualified yesterday for the last 32 round of the 2024 UK Championship. He re are the reports by WST on the two sessions that were played yesterday

Afternoon session

MAGUIRE WINS EPIC DECIDER TO REACH YORK

Stephen Maguire won a 59-minute deciding frame which he described as the toughest of his career to beat Elliot Slessor 6-5 and reach the final stages of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship. 

Maguire, who lifted the trophy in York 20 years ago, survived a marathon challenge in the final qualifying round in Leicester to get his name in the hat for the last 32 draw, which will take place on Thursday afternoon live during our Judgement Day production. 

The Glaswegian led Slessor 4-2 with top breaks of 134 and 85, then his opponent fought back with 78, 61 and 69 to lead 5-4. Maguire levelled with a 71 to set up a decider which developed into a tense tactical battle. It came down to the colours and Maguire capitalised on a safety error from Slessor to convert excellent pots on green, brown, blue and pink for victory.

“That was the toughest frame I was ever played,” said 43-year-old Maguire, who won the last of his six ranking titles in 2020. “If I had lost that frame I don’t know what I would have done – maybe given up. I was over the edge mentally.” Maguire also revealed that he is now working with former Scottish pro Chris Small and has regained his enthusiasm for practice.

Stuart Bingham was the first man to book his place in York as he beat Jimmy Robertson 6-0 with a top break of 79. Bingham is a former World and Masters champion but has never been beyond the semi-finals in York and needs the title to complete the Triple Crown set.

“I scored well before the interval, I feel I am going in the right direction with my game,” said Bingham, a semi-finalist at the Crucible last season. “It’s great to be going to York to feel the atmosphere. Just to get through these qualifiers is a feat because the players are so good.“

Jackson Page, a quarter-finalist at the recent International Championship, kept his momentum going as he reached the last 32 of this event for the first time thanks to a 6-2 victory over Hossein Vafaei, his top break 93. “I have had some results recently and I am feeling good at the table,” said Welsh 23-year-old Page. “I love playing in front of a crowd on the main table so I will enjoy York.” 

Crucible runner-up Jak Jones scored heavily in a 6-3 win over Fan Zhengyi, compiling runs of 64, 74, 59, 135, 72 and 101. Jones broke into the top 16 at the end of last season with his run to the world final, but has had a patchy start to the new campaign and dropped down to 17th. The Welshman will relish the chance to compete on the main stage again.

Evening session

LISOWSKI ENDS BAI RUN

Bai Yulu was denied a place in the final stages of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship as her historic run in the qualifying rounds ended with a 6-1 defeat to Jack Lisowski.

In winning three matches to reach the last 48, China’s 21-year-old Bai became the first woman to get that far in a Triple Crown tournament, though her dream of reaching the televised phase in York came to an end. Lisowski goes through to the last 32 and will be in the draw on Thursday afternoon.

Bai, the World and UK Champion on the women’s tour, knocked out Farakh Ajaib, Jamie Jones and Scott Donaldson to get this far, making 15 breaks over 50 in that trio of wins. She was outplayed by world number 21 Lisowski, but has shown enough potential to raise excitement about her results and performances in upcoming tournaments. She will be back in action at the Shoot Out in Leicester on December 5th.

Lisowski took the first frame with a break of 79, then Bai had a chance to snatch the second from 69-0 down but missed the final blue. That proved a key moment as Lisowski went 2-0 up, and soon runs of 64 and 77 made it 4-0. Bai at least showed her break-building quality with a run of 59 to take frame five, before Lisowski fired runs of 85 and 66 to complete the scoreline.

Bai said: “I had a chance to take the second frame but I felt a bit nervous. I felt relaxed before the match, but once I was out there I felt tension. I have gained a lot of experience of these occasions this week, it gives me more confidence. I can see some weaknesses in my game which I will work on. I need to get more good results in order to influence more girls to play snooker.“

Lisowski added: “Bai had an incredible run and that storyline was in the back of my head so I had to keep my concentration tonight. If she had potted the blue and gone 1-1 it could have been different. My game is patchy, good and bad, but I am enjoying the game.“

China’s Wu Yize, runner-up in the English Open, booked his place in York with a 6-3 win over David Lilley, top scoring with 82, 61 and 51. Ryan Day saw off Sanderson Lam 6-2 with a top break of 82, joining fellow Welshmen Jak Jones and Jackson Page who made it through earlier in the day. 

Barry Hawkins battled to a 6-3 defeat of Wang Yuchen with top runs of 64, 111, 55 and 69. “It’s tough coming here to qualify but it feels great when you get through,” said Hawkins, whose best run in York came three years ago when he reached the semi-finals. “York is one of the best venues we play at and the atmosphere is always special, hopefully it will bring the best out of me.“

That’s a seriously dangerous set of qualifiers! The seeds who come cold in the last 32 in York will face a daunting task playing this lot. The less experienced player of the lot is Wu Yize, who is only just 21 years old but has already reached a ranking final this season… I expect some “upsets” at the start of next week in York.