Sunday 9 April 2017

Reanne Evans stars in round one of World qualifiers

Reanne Evans was the star in the first round of qualifying for the World Championship qualifiers at Ponds Forge, as she overcame Robin Hull 10-8 to move to within two matches of the Crucible.

Evans was certainly not fancied by the bookies going into the match with Finland's Hull being priced as short as 1/100 to win the match initially. Despite a century break and a 91 in the opening session, Hull only took a 5-4 lead into the final session as the multiple women's world champion kept the match close in the early stages. The massive moment of the match came in frame 16, as Hull looked highly likely to win the frame and take a 9-7 lead after Evans left a free ball upon fouling the final red, but a relatively easy miss on the pink left the door open for Evans who came through to level at 8-8. From there, Hull had his chances but the pressure seemed to get too much and Evans ran out a 10-8 winner.

Evans will now play Lee Walker as he ended Matthew Stevens hopes of qualifying for the Crucible. The former world finalist came back well from 2-7 behind to level at 7-7 with Walker, but it was the lower ranked Welshman who held on for a 10-8 victory.

Already a few of the guys between 17 and 32, who would only have to play one game to qualify under the old format, have been sent packing. Ricky Walden was one of these who has dropped outside the top 16 following a run of poor results that may have been the fault of severe back problems he has been suffering. Walden fell 10-7 to Hammad Miah, who came back from 5-0 down by winning 10 of the last 12 frames in the match. Elsewhere, Robert Milkins suffered a 10-6 defeat to Alexander Ursenbacher.

Mark Williams survived a scare as he saw off Zhao Xintong in the end 10-7, having been 5-7 adrift at one stage before winning the final five frames. Stephen Maguire also had to dig in, winning the final two frames in his 10-7 victory, having been 6-1 ahead at one stage in the first session.

In the race for tour survival Jimmy White has dropped off of the tour now following a 10-7 loss to Jack Lisowski, and Jamie Cope will have to go to Q School after losing nine of the last ten frames against Eden Sharav from 4-1 up to lose 10-5. Peter Lines has given himself a good chance of regaining a tour place via the one season list. The world seniors champion beat Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in a deciding frame in round one.

There has also been a maximum break at Ponds Forge as Gary Wilson completed a 147 in the first session of what became a tense match against Josh Boileau. Boileau fought back and forced a decider against Wilson who needed to win the match to save his place in the top 64, making a break of 102 in that deciding frame to get over the line.

Ian Burns will now have to go to Q School if he is to stay on tour after a 10-7 loss to Ian Preece threw him into trouble, victories followed for the players around him and have seen him drop to below 64 on the provisional end of season list, with no chance of getting a tour card via the one year list unless one of the eight players currently holding one was to get back into the top 64.

Dechawat Poomjaeng, Joe Swail and Ken Doherty kept their survival hopes alive but they still need to qualify for the Crucible if they are to have any chance of retaining their place on the circuit by either the one or two year list. Martin O'Donnell is in the same boat after a dramatic 10-9 win against promising young Jackson Page.

Last 144 results: 

Mark Williams 10-7 Zhao Xintong
Liam Highfield 10-2 Andres Petrov
Stuart Carrington 10-2 Alex Borg
Andrew Higginson 10-8 Michael Goergiou
Tom Ford 10-2 Jamie Bodle
Chris Wakelin 10-5 Elliot Slessor
Matt Selt 10-4 David John
Hossein Vafei 10-1 Hatem Yassen
Reanne Evans 10-8 Robin Hull
Lee Walker 10-8 Matthew Stevens
Noppon Saengkham 10-5 Jak Jones
Anthony Hamilton 10-5 Craig Steadman
Li Hang 10-9 Fraser Patrick
Mike Dunn 10-6 Andy Hicks
Nigel Bond 10-1 Ng On Yee
Stephen Maguire 10-7 Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn
Mark King 10-4 Paul Davison
Fang Xiongman 10-7 Zhang Anda
Xiao Guodong 10-2 Tyler Rees
Sam Baird 10-2 Ross Vallance
Ben Woollaston 10-4 Chris Totten
Ken Doherty 10-4 Jason Weston
Zhou Yuelong 10-5 Christopher Keogan
Ian Preece 10-7 Ian Burns
Alfie Burden 10-6 Adam Duffy
Jamie Jones 10-0 Jamie Barrett
Dechawat Poomjaeng 10-7 Chen Zhe
Graeme Dott 10-3 Allan Taylor
Tian Pengfei 10-4 Zhang Yong
Fergal O'Brien 10-6 Gerard Greene
Rhys Clark 10-1 Wayne Townsend
David Gilbert W/O Patrick Wallace
Joe Perry 10-3 Zack Richardson
Akani Songsermsawad 10-5 Mei Xi Wen
Mark Joyce 10-3 Jordan Brown
David Grace 10-6 Thor Chuan Leong
Luca Brecel 10-4 Sean O'Sullivan
Joe Swail 10-8 Sanderson Lam
Dominic Dale 10-2 Boonyarit Kaettikun
Daniel Wells 10-7 Adam Stefanow
Gary Wilson 10-9 Josh Boileau
Peter Lines 10-9 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ross Muir 10-7 Gareth Allen
Michael White 10-3 Aditya Mehta
Rory McLeod 10-7 Darryl Hill
Sydney Wilson 10-6 Kurt Maflin
Martin O'Donnell 10-9 Jackson Page
Hammad Miah 10-7 Ricky Walden
Michael Holt 10-2 Hamza Akbar
Eden Sharav 10-5 Jamie Cope
Peter Ebdon 10-3 Michael Wild
Jack Lisowski 10-7 Jimmy White
Alan McManus 10-1 Kurt Dunham
Rod Lawler 10-5 Xu Si
Jimmy Robertson 10-8 Cao Yupeng
Oliver Lines 10-6 Duane Jones
Yan Bingtao 10-8 Sam Craigie
Mark Davis 10-3 Mitchell Mann
Scott Donaldson 10-2 Wang Yuchen
Alexander Ursenbacher 10-6 Robert Milkins
Robbie Williams 10-1 James Cahill
Yu De Lu 10-0 Itaro Santos
John Astley 10-7 Igor Figueiredo
Martin Gould 10-2 James Wattana

Last 80 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Mark Williams
Vs Liam Highfield
Stuart Carrington Vs Andrew Higginson
Tom Ford Vs Chris Wakelin
Matt Selt Vs Hossein Vafei 
Lee Walker Vs Reanne Evans
Anthony Hamilton Vs Noppon Saengkham
Mike Dunn Vs Li Hang
Stephen Maguire Vs Nigel Bond
Mark King Vs Fang Xiongman
Xiao Guodong Vs Sam Baird
Ben Woollaston Vs Ken Doherty
Zhou Yuelong Vs Ian Preece
Jamie Jones Vs Alfie Burden
Graeme Dott Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Fergal O'Brien Vs Tian Pengfei
David Gilbert Vs Rhys Clark
Joe Perry Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Mark Joyce Vs David Grace 
Luca Brecel Vs Joe Swail
Dominic Dale Vs Daniel Wells
Gary Wilson Vs Peter Lines
Michael White Vs Ross Muir
Rory McLeod Vs Sydney Wilson
Martin O'Donnell Vs Hammad Miah
Michael Holt Vs Eden Sharav
Peter Ebdon Vs Jack Lisowski
Alan McManus Vs Rod Lawler
Jimmy Robertson Vs Oliver Lines
Mark Davis Vs Yan Bingtao
Scott Donaldson Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Yu De Lu Vs Robbie Williams
Martin Gould Vs John Astley


Plenty of action coming up in the next couple of days then from Ponds Forge before we get to the final round on Tuesday and Wednesday which should be very exciting with Crucible places to play for as well as the tour survival battle which will still be in the front of many players minds.

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