The 2025 Saudi Arabia Masters – Day 3

This is WST report on day 3 in Jeddah:

Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Three: Vafaei Back On Track

Hossein Vafaei won his first match of the season, beating Julien Leclercq 4-1 at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, and hopes that a long term neck injury is on the mend.

…

Vafaei did not have to play in the Wuhan Open or British Open qualifiers as he was drawn into the final stages, and decided not to enter the Championship League, so tonight’s tie in Jeddah was his first outing since the Halo World Championship in April. And the Iranian, snooker’s best ever player from the Middle East, top scored with 135 as he set up a fourth round fixture with Martin O’Donnell.

“It was my first match so I didn’t expect to play well,” said Vafaei. “I need to improve my game bit by bit. But I am happy with the result because it was an important match for me with a lot of ranking points. I have been practising a lot, I always try my hardest. My situation as a player is never easy, for example it’s difficult sometimes to get visas. I have to accept it and if something good comes out, it will be a dream come true.“

The 30-year-old has been suffering from a spinal problem, which causes discomfort in his neck, shoulder and left arm, for seven months but recently the pain has reduced. He added: “I haven’t played in a tournament so I have been able to rest and it is much better. After this event I am going back to Iran to see my doctor. He has already seen it once and he saw the problem with one of my discs. I have had physiotherapy and I am doing exercises to help but it needs time to heal.”

China’s Chang Bingyu beat Daniel Wells 4-3 in an extraordinary match to set up a tie with David Gilbert. Chang took the first three frames and had a 64-0 advantage in frame four before Wells cleared with 73. Welshman Wells then recovered to 3-3, making a 131 in frame six, and he was 63-0 up in the decider, only for Chang to fight back and snatch victory with a brown to black clearance.

Championship League winner Stephen Maguire continued his strong start to the season with a 4-3 win over Allan Taylor. From 3-2 down, Maguire made a 101 in frame six then dominated the decider.

Ukraine’s 19-year-old Iulian Boiko continued his fine run as he beat Jackson Page 4-2, while Louis Heathcote top scored with 114 in a 4-0 whitewash of Lei Peifan. Wu Yize finished with a 105 as he beat Ashley Hugill 4-1, while Ben Woollaston enjoyed a 4-1 success over Chatchapong Nasa.

Someone made a147 yesterday. Guess who? Yes, Theppy of course! Here is the report by WST, featuring that 147 and more matches results and reporting:

Un-Nooh Fires 147 In Jeddah

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made the fifth 147 of his career in his opening match at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Jeddah, earning a potential £50,000 bonus.

Un-Nooh becomes the 15th player in snooker history to reach the milestone of five official maximum breaks. The Thai cueman, one of the fastest players on the tour, potted 15 reds with blacks and cleared the colours in the second frame of his match with Jordan Brown, taking a 2-0 lead. The world number 46 went on to win 4-0, making further breaks of 68, 95 and 74, setting up a meeting with Jak Jones in the last 48 on Monday.

He will bank £50,000 if the break is not equalled at this event. Un-Nooh is also now just one more maximum away from a £147,000 bonus, which will go to any player making two 147s across this season’s four majors. It’s the 220th maximum in snooker history and third of the season.

“It feels amazing, it’s so difficult to make a 147 especially with the big prize money, there is a lot of pressure,” said Un-Nooh, who made his first 147 in 2016. “I previously missed the final black (twice during the 2015/16 season) so that was in my head but I told myself ‘go for it’ and it was quite an easy black this time. If I have a chance of another 147 now I will go for it, that’s my style.“

Jack Lisowski put a dent in Reanne Evans’ tremendous start to the season, winning 4-0 to earn a tie with Ben Woollaston or Chatchapong Nasa. Evans has enjoyed her best ever start to a season, winning qualifying matches for the Wuhan Open and British Open then notching two more wins this week to reach round three. But she was no match for world number 26 Lisowski who fired breaks of 81 and 88.

Lisowski said: “It’s early in the season so all the players are still finding their feet. But it’s big ranking points here and a big chance for everyone.”

Long Zehuang top scored with 131 as he won a Chinese derby with Xu Si 4-0 while Steven Hallworth continued his fine run as he came from 2-0 and 3-1 down to beat Jimmy Robertson 4-3, making breaks of 112 and 103 then stealing the decider with a yellow-to-black clearance.

In another dramatic finish, Oliver Lines beat Matthew Selt 4-3 to secure a tie with Noppon Saengkham. A safety battle on the final pink ended when Selt went in-off, allowing Lines to pot pink and black for victory. Stuart Bingham ended the run of 14-year-old Michal Szubarczyk with a 4-1 success, while 18-year-old Stan Moody had a 142 in a 4-2 success against Ryan Day.

Aaron Hill edged out Robert Milkins 4-3 with a top run of 120. “I feel a bit for Rob because that match could have gone either way and I know he’s in a sticky situation in the rankings. But you go out there with a job to do and I had a good clearance in the end to win,” said Ireland’s Hill, who will now meet Gary Wilson, a 4-3 winner over Gao Yang. “My game has improved over the last couple of years as I have gained experience.“

Here, above, is Theppy’s latest 147 shared by WST on YouTube. It won’t be the last…

I haven’t much to add. Both Belgian boys were beaten yesterday: Julien Leclercq fell to Hossein Vafaei as reported by WST, and Ben Mertens was beaten 4-1 by Elliot Slessor despite winning the first frame with a 109, the highest break of that match. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching this… especially the Slessor v Mertens match¹.

One man who certainly also deserves a mention is Steven Hallworth, who, so far, has been able to juggle two jobs successfully … he’s been “performing” well both at the table and in the commentary box.

As always, you will find all the detailed results on snooker.org.