Michael Holt 4-2 Elliot Slessor - A fine finish there for Holt. He pots the penultimate red from distance but with green and brown tied up near each other he couldn't complete the clearance but did leave Slessor partly snookered. His swerve went wrong and left the green on and Holt did rest. An impressive display in the tactical frames is what has gotten Holt through there. Three scrappy frames all going to him rendering Slessor's two centuries in the middle of the match meaningless.
Slessor was given a half chance by Holt after he wobbled a red from range. Slessor didn't take advantage or even take the lead though missing early, a miss that resulted in a violent swipe of the cue. Holt only made 1 from his chances missing a risky brown which in turn gave Slessor another opening. Going around the table from the pink though he knocks the yellow straight in but has not left anything on for Holt. A tense end to this frame is coming up.
Holt is able to make 21 before a cannon goes wrong leaving a red over the corner but only an incredibly difficult pink to go for. He misses the pink but in the process snookers Slessor on the waiting red behind the green. Slessor though plays a decent return leaving Holt attempting to swerve and pot the red, failing to do so on two occasions, but he doesn't leave Slessor a pot either.
Frame 6 - After a long safety battle that's pushed a lot of reds safe on the bottom cushion and the black on to the side cushion, Slessor gave himself a chance but only made eight before missing a tough pink in the middle. That's left Holt in but it will be difficult to build a big lead here where the balls are.
Frame Holt - Slessor gave himself another chance but missed a double with three reds left. It didn't look like there was too much damage but Holt made a nice cut, finished on the green and cleared the last three reds including a nice one along the cushion. He leads the match again. 3-2 Holt.
Slessor does not make too many before missing along the cushion and opening a couple of reds for Holt. The Nottingham man pots two reds with blacks but can't get anywhere near any of the safe reds from the second red, has a giggle to himself and plays safe.
Holt breaks down early in the contribution after failing to get in and out of baulk as intended from the blue. A few reds are being knocked towards the back cushion as well, but a long pot attempt from Holt soon shifts a few of them. Then Slessor knocks in a nice cut back red to give himself an opening. So many safe reds will make it almost impossible to win the frame at this visit.
Frame 5 - Slessor has won the safety battle at the start of frame five here and this again looks like a good scoring chance, but he's missed a thin pink with the rest and opened it up to Holt.
Frame Holt - In the end Holt only needed one of the four reds lying on the bottom cushion and he got it. Slessor plays on but needs four snookers and misses the black so quickly concedes. Timely break of 57 for Holt there to level up this match after the two tons of Slessor. Great contest this. 2-2
Frame 4 - Chances on either side to start frame four but a good pot to middle gets Holt in with a fantastic chance. Has to build a big lead. Few reds on the bottom cushion could cause trouble later but will only need 1 or 2 of them.
Frame Slessor - When I said it could be a similar outcome to frame two I meant every word. Slessor looks in sublime form now and follows up the brilliant 115 with an even better clearance of 129. 2-1 Slessor.
Frame 3 - A good long red from Holt had him in first but then on a black with the rest it looked like he had the line, but left it short of the pocket. That's let Slessor straight back in fresh from his ton and there could well be a similar dosage here.
Frame Slessor - Losing the long opener hasn't done Slessor any harm. When his chance came in the second he was certainly up to it. A magnificent century of 115 levels things up here on table 8. 1-1
Frame 2 - Took a while for the first chance to come in this second frame, but after a missed long range effort from Holt, Slessor has a good opportunity here. Plenty of reds open and he looks comfortable so far, making me think this will be a frame winning effort.
Frame Holt - 30 seconds short of the 50 minute mark and Holt has the first frame in the bag. A great snooker on the final red cost Slessor a stack of points, and eventually an in off after missing the red in the middle from Slessor, Holt pots the red to leave Slessor needing snookers. He played on for a while but it never looked too likely. 1-0 Holt.
After the decider with Jimmy White and Yan Bingtao I'm a bit late on this one between former Riga Masters finalist Michael Holt and Northern Ireland Open semi finalist Elliott Slessor. Should be a close contest and I join them still in the opener with Slessor in a horrific snooker on the final red. Looks like a frame winning snooker for Holt.
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