The line-up for the final stages of the Indian Open is complete after conclusion of the final day's qualifiers yesterday. Once again there were plenty of close contests and tight tussles, including for some of the top players.
Mark Allen had a big battle on his hands against Thor Chuan Leong. After taking 2-0 and 3-1 leads the Northern Irishman was pegged back to a decider by the Malaysian. It looked like a battle for Allen who did not find top scoring gear until a superb 88 got him over the line for a 4-3 victory. For the top players playing in these qualifiers it is not setting down a marker that is important, but simply getting the job done and Allen was able to do that here in the end.
Kyren Wilson though was not able to get the job done as he fell 4-2 to Boonyarit Kaettikun. The Thai held his own despite going 1-0 and 2-1 behind, making a couple of nice breaks in the match, and generally showing more form than he has done for much of his time on tour. Having been short of wins and playing his first match of the season, none of this came into the equation as he kept his cool against the World Games gold medallist.
There were much easier paths for Stephen Maguire who won 4-0 against Hu Hao, while John Higgins got through 4-1 against David John, though it seemed from the other side of the arena that David will be left frustrated by missed opportunities to make that one closer. Luca Brecel was given very little challenge in a comfortable 4-0 win over Christopher Keogan, and Brecel can now enjoy a rest as his European Masters qualifier is held over to the venue in Belgium.
One of the matches that I focused on yesterday was that of Robert Milkins against Yuan Sijun. This was a cracking tie that started in cracking fashion with Yuan coming straight out of the blocks with a superb break of 84 and generally seeming comfortable and confident amongst the balls at this early stage of the match. He had his chances at doubling that lead but looked less assured when it came to safety play, which is obviously something that can be said for a lot of young players. Milkins then hit the front with a good 66 and when amongst the balls he looked very fluent and dangerous as always.
There was perhaps a little rust in his game which festered in frame four when Yuan came back to steal a black ball frame, after being left two or three opportunities at the black before knocking it in from mid-range. After an earlier 58, Milkins will have been fuming when frame five then went to a re-spotted black, especially after missing on 58 when he was in to clinch the frame in one visit. Yuan showed a little of that safety inexperience on the black though as he tried to double the black up the table and onto the side cushion but instead caught it horribly and left it close to the corner, gifting Milkins the frame. That was the blow that knocked the wind from the teenager's sails as Milkins soon cleaned up a 4-2 victory. Yuan will continue to improve though and learn from his experiences and he has remained competitive in all three matches he has played on tour so far, and he will not be far away in the European Masters qualifier with Allan Taylor I would imagine.
From what I saw of Liam Highfield and Matthew Bolton, Bolton may take some time to acclimatise to the conditions at the top level as he did not really trouble Highfield in a 4-0 defeat. Equally it was a poor day at the office for Lee Walker who was well beaten 4-1 by Niu Zhuang. Walker had mulitple chances in most of the frames throughout the match but missed too many even against a new tour professional like Niu Zhuang. Niu did pretty well making a nice break in the opener to show that he was not going to be rolled over and then potting some big pressure balls in a couple of the later frames, including a marvellous yellow in the final frame.
Then there was Gary Wilson's victory over Lukas Kleckers, where Wilson found his feet at the back end of the game after a start that was a little scrappy in the opening couple of frames. Wilson's 114 in frame four was one of the highlights of the day from start to finish, getting in from a very confidently played long red, rolling it in for the black, especially as he had missed a few similar to that in the early stages. The only disappointment was that he missed on the colours when a high break was possible. The final frame did not look pretty with reds being pushed up the table, but the break that eventually clinched it for Wilson was assured and for Kleckers, he simply could not get going all day really and did not make enough when his chances came.
Cao Yupeng looked good for the most part in a 4-2 win over Mark Joyce. Cao has had a lean couple of years by all accounts, but it looks like he could be back in business this year and will perhaps begin climbing back up the rankings as he attempts to keep his tour card.
In the evening, Mike Dunn was very impressive against Jamie Clarke. He looked to be striking the ball very solidly and he pounced on every single mistake that Clarke made, to really pile the pressure on his opponent any time that he did get a chance. A lovely century break was added to by an 80 and a decent 65 in the final frame as well to clinch the match in quick time. If he keeps this form up, the match-up with Soheil Vahedi tomorrow afternoon is going to be a cracker, especially since Soheil saw to Martin Gould 4-1 on Tuesday.
In the matches of father and son, Oliver and Peter Lines, that were on adjoining tables in the evening it was a tale of two defeats. Oliver was playing Ian Preece and he never looked to settle in the match. Preece had beaten the younger Lines in the English Open last year and he repeated the dosage here as Oliver missed too many opportunities to remain competitive. Preece took his opportunities when they came along, making a couple of nice 50+ breaks and controlling the contest from start to finish. Oliver will have to up his game for this afternoon's match with Scott Donaldson, while Ian Preece will look to carry on strong against Sanderson Lam, with Preece already beating Ricky Walden in style this season, and running Thepchaiya Un-Nooh close in the Riga Masters qualifier.
As for Peter, he again had his chances against Michael Holt who seemed to be struggling. There was a lot of gesticulation from Holt after his mistakes to confirm the point that he did not ever really get comfortable in this match, though it was Lines who was left giving himself a talking to and pulling the faces as he let a 2-1 lead slip to a 4-2 loss. There were mistakes aplenty from both players, but when the crunch time came, Holt was up to the pressure producing the only notable contribution of the match in the final frame to secure the win.
So, onto the European Masters the players go with plenty of names in action over the next two days of qualifying so keep your eyes peeled for some more live blogs and round-ups in the next couple of days.
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