The third round of qualifiers at the 2024 Snooker UK Championship concluded yesterday1 and you will find all the results on snooker.org.
Here are the reports by WST:
LISOWSKI BEATS THOR TO REACH JUDGEMENT DAY
Jack Lisowski came through a tough challenge in his first qualifying match at the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship, beating Rory Thor 6-4 to reach the final round.
Lisowski reached the semi-finals of this event two years ago but has since dropped out of the world’s top 16 so must negotiate the qualifiers in Leicester this week. He will play Scott Donaldson or Bai Yulu on Wednesday, with the winner to go through to York for the final stages which start on Saturday.
After sharing the first two frames, Thor made a break of 124 to lead 2-1, then Lisowski hit back with 61 and 70 to edge 3-2 ahead. The next two were shared, then Thor made a superb 65 clearance to snatch frame eight from 52 points behind, levelling at 4-4. The Malaysian had chances in the ninth and led 41-0 when he ran out of position, allowing Lisowski to clear with 76 to regain the lead. That proved the turning point as world number 21 Lisowski finished with a 123.
“Every game is tough and it was close tonight,” said Lisowski. “At 4-4 it was in the balance but I felt great at the end, and in a way it’s good to be tested because you learn more that way. I’m relieved to get through because the first round is always a bit nervy. If I practise hard and apply myself on the day, I’ve always got a chance. I have been in Dubai recently but I have been working hard there.”
Stephen Maguire became the third player to make 100 centuries in the UK Championship, joining Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry, with a 119 during a 6-3 defeat of Artemijs Zizins. Crucible runner-up Jak Jones enjoyed a 6-2 win over Ian Burns, while Stuart Bingham ended the run of amateur Oliver Sykes with a 6-3 success.
Bingham, whose top break was 129, said: “There have been times this season where I have felt I am playing well enough to win a tournament. I’m not quite the player I was in 2015, there are a few yips in there and my arm gets tight sometimes. But I have played some very good matches this season. I haven’t qualified for York for a couple of years so I would love to get there this time.”
China’s Fan Zhengyi came from 2-0 down to beat Florian Nuessle 6-2, firing breaks of 104 and 133, while Jackson Page won a Welsh derby against Jamie Clarke 6-4.
BRILLIANT BAI KEEPS HISTORIC RUN GOING
Bai Yulu extended her sensational run in the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship qualifiers as she came from 5-3 down to beat Scott Donaldson 6-5 to set up a Judgement Day clash with Jack Lisowski.
In beating Farakh Ajaib and Jamie Jones earlier in the week, China’s 21-year-old Bai had already become the first woman to win back-to-back matches in a ranking event since 1999, and she has now made it three in a row with a superb victory over world number 44 Donaldson. Bai, the World and UK Champion on the women’s tour, will face Lisowski on Wednesday evening with the winner to go through to the final stages in York.
Having made 15 breaks over 50 in her three matches so far, she hopes to continue her prolific scoring and become the first woman to reach the last 32 of this event. She compiled runs of 55, 51, 52 and 53 on Tuesday morning but fell 5-3 behind against Donaldson when the match was pulled off. They returned late in the evening and Bai rose to the challenge by taking the last three frames with breaks of 54, 51 and 66.
“I was very nervous and I didn’t think I would win, but I did well,” said Bai, who is competing on the pro tour for the first time this season. “I don’t want to think too much about the next match, I have already done well to win three matches. I have learned a lot.“
Neil Robertson also came through a tense decider to beat Oliver Lines 6-5, narrowly avoiding defeat which would have seen him miss out on the final stages of both this tournament and the Masters. Three-time UK Champion Robertson is on the fringes of the world’s top 16 so may need a deep run in York to secure a Masters spot. He will now face another former UK Champion, Matthew Stevens, on Thursday night.
Robertson led 4-2, having made breaks of 52, 102, 77 and 74, but Lines got the better of a close seventh frame then made 83 and 100 to lead 5-4. A match-winning chance went begging for Lines in frame ten as he ran out of position on the last red leading 50-38, and Robertson later enjoyed a slice of luck as he fluked a snooker on the last red then cleared for 5-5. Lines led 44-0 in the decider when he missed a tricky mid-range red, and Robertson replied with 41, then got the better of a safety exchange on the last red and added the points he needed.
“I was dead and buried at 5-4,” admitted Robertson. “I played great apart from the seventh frame, then Oliver took control and he had chances to win. I made a really good break in the last frame to get back into it. I know there’s a lot on the line, my Masters spot is at stake so every game in this event is a double whammy, despite the fact that I have had a great season. My game is there, in a way it was good to have to dig deep tonight in a match where things were not going my way.”
Zhao Xintong continued to show signs of the game which made him UK Champion in 2021 as he thrashed Noppon Saengkham 6-2 with a top break of 127. In his three matches so far this week, China’s Zhao has compiled three centuries and 11 more breaks over 50. He will now meet Ricky Walden, who saw off Antoni Kowalski 6-2.
Julien Leclercq has struggled for results this season and lies 109th in the one-year rankings, but is looking to make amends this week and beat Dominic Dale 6-2 with a top break of 102. “I’m very happy and I feel I am playing really well,” said Belgium’s Leclerq. “I would love to get to York, I have never seen the venue. It’s all about experience for me and trying to improve on the tactical side.“
Zhou Yuelong came from 3-0 down to beat Marco Fu 6-3 with top breaks of 134 and 141, while Lei Peifan came from 4-2 down to beat Tom Ford 6-5, making a 107 in the decider.
Sanderson Lam made a superb break of 114 in the deciding frame to edge out Yuan Sijun 6-5. Yorkshireman Lam is just one win away of qualifying for his home tournament and will now face Ryan Day, who came from 3-0 down to beat Louis Heathcote 6-3. David Lilley enjoyed a surprise 6-3 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, compiling breaks of 59, 61, 61, 111 and 76. Barry Hawkins eased to a 6-1 win over Alfie Burden, while Wu Yize fired breaks of 137 and 130 in a 6-2 win over Ashley Carty.
Bai Yulu is undoubtedly the story of these qualifiers so far. She started the season slowly and some were already writing her off but this slow start was to be expected. It isn’t that easy for anyone to move to the other side of the world, to adapt to a different social environment, a different mentality, different food and climate, away from family and friends. It’s probably even more difficult for a young woman in an essentially masculine sport and environment. She is actually doing very well.
The other story is Zhao Xintong. It’s obvious that he is working extremely hard to try to re-qualify for the main tour and has a good chance to succeed. I find the level of hostility he gets from some corners very unfair. According to the findings of the independent commission, Zhao did not fix any match. He was punished for not reporting on (intended) match fixing plans he was aware of. Yet, his ban was long enough to force him to have to re-qualify. Same as Jamie Jones actually. Zhao is trying his very best and that should be recognised.
You compare that with the John Higgins case, John who was caught on camera, promising to fix matches and suggesting that he could bring more players into the “scheme”, Higgins who was heard discussing how that money could be “hidden” using his properties in Spain … and you wonder. One “excuse” coming from those who defended him was that those were “exhibition” matches. I’m not sure that was the case because Pat Mooney had been tasked to develop the game in Eastern Europe by organising the PTCs in that area, and he was a member of the board. As such Mooney’s punishment and exclusion from the sport was totally justified. Higgins got a very heafty fine but not one he couldn’t pay. He got a few months ban, with a large part of it served during a period of the year where there was no WST tournament on. He didn’t miss any of the majors. Yes, Higgins was set up … but that doesn’t make any difference because he didn’t know that it was a set-up. And yet… Higgins was generally welcomed back on tour.
For the record here is the Guardian columnist reaction to Higgins “punishment”
Why Higgins was cleared after News of the World entrapment
The man who led the investigation into the News of the World’s entrapment of John Higgins has explained why the snooker player was cleared of fixing matches.
David Douglas, the former Met Police chief superintendent, spoke about the case to freelance sports journalist Nick Harris, and his lengthy report can be found on his sportingintelligence website.
What emerges – as I suspected from the outset – is that he was an innocent who was lured into an indiscretion by a conniving partner, Pat Mooney, who candidly admitted his culpability to the inquiry.
Though Mooney was unaware that “the businessmen” with whom he was negotiating a sponsorship deal were undercover NoW journalists, he was aware that one of their requirements was that Higgins deliberately lose certain frames of snooker.
Higgins was kept in the dark until he entered a room in Kiev, where he was covertly filmed agreeing to throw the frames in what Douglas called “apparently damning video” footage. Douglas said: “You realise John was going in as a rabbit in the headlights.”
That was the central reason that two serious charges against Higgins by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association about fixing matches and corruption were dropped.
Instead, the WPBSA tribunal banned Higgins for six months and fined him £75,000 on the lesser charges of talking about betting and failing to report an approach about illicit gambling.
A News of the World executive responded to the tribunal’s decision by saying: “We were amused by the portrayal of disgraced snooker champion John Higgins as an innocent ‘rabbit in the headlights’ during our investigation.
“As our video footage shows, it was Higgins himself who suggested laundering the €300,000 bribe he expected to receive through a Spanish property he owned. He even proposed a vodka toast to seal the deal. Some rabbit.“
Roy Greenslade
The green bold highlight at the end of the above article is my doing. The truth is probably that this was bad enough as it was – a (future) member of the board involved in organising match fixing – without putting emphasis on the fact that the reigning World Champion was involved as well. I know that Higgins had lost earlier at the Crucible, but as long as the World Championship was still underway, he was still the reigning World Champion.
The truth is probably that Mooney and Higgins who had tried to organise the “European Series” and had lost a lot money in that endeavour, were “vulnerable”. The European Series was an excellent idea at a time when the official calendar was very “meagre” but it hadn’t worked out as well as expected and they had lost money on it. The players who had taken part had not been paid in full yet. They needed money, badly, and the unscrupulous NOWT became aware of it … Who tipped them has never been elucidated or, if it has, it’s never been made public.
I know it was a different time. I know that before Hearn, cases of match fixing that were reported, were largely ignored by the gouverning body, and that, therefore, most players weren’t bothered to report them should they become aware of one. I know that some “figures” in the game, like Steve Davis f.i., have since downplayed what happened on that night … but I was there in the media room, I remember it vividly: the shock, the horror, the fear that snooker might lose its sponsors … and Steve Davis in tears. I remember Graeme Dott’s disbelief and shock when he was made aware of the situation right after winning his semi-final late in the evening. He immediately distanced himself from Mooney and surely it didn’t put him in the best conditions for the Final starting on the next day.
I know all that … and maybe indeed forgiving and welcoming Higgins back was the right thing to do but then, the same should apply to Zhao whose mistakes were comparatively largely unconsequential for the future of the sport.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 