Day three at the EISS as the second qualifying round gets underway. Click below to check on today’s scores…
Morning Session
Fresh from his dramatic 9-8 win over David Grace on Monday night, Jimmy White looks to be in for another close match as he ended the morning level at 4-4 with Ian Preece. It was Ian who made the stronger start and he led 3-1 and the interval, which soon became 4-2 as he made a break of 118 to guarantee that he would go into the evening at least level.
Jimmy though managed to dig in and with the help of a century of his own, took the last two to make it 4-4. Hopefully from Ian’s point of view he won’t dwell on the fact that he probably should have come out of the session with some sort of lead and he can push Jimmy when they resume at 7pm tonight.
Another close match was that between former world number 12 David Gray and young Welshman Jamie Jones who came back brilliantly to defeat Robert Stephen on Monday. Having seen Gray move 4-2 ahead in a competitive match though, Jones again fought back to leave them level going into tonight.
The most bizarre incident of the morning came in the match between Joe Delaney and Li Hang when at 3-1 to Joe at the interval, Li was late back for the resumption of play and so docked a frame to leave him 4-1 behind. Having seen Joe take the next with breaks of 68 and 62 though, Hang responded well by taking the final two frames of the session and giving himself a chance tonight.
The other good performances of the morning came from Paul Davison and Matt Couch who are both 5-3 up against higher ranked opponents after the morning session. The biggest lead though is the 6-2 advantage that Mark Davis holds over Scott MacKenzie as from 2-1 down, he took the final five frames of the session to really put himself in a commanding position. If he sees it through, he will meet Shanghai Masters winner Ricky Walden in the third round.
Ian Preece 4-4 Jimmy White 84(41)-36(36), 43-92(46), 66-61(44), 95(87)-0, 38-70(52), 121(118)-1, 0-134(134), 53(49)-71(40)
Mark Davis 6-2 Scott MacKenzie 4-84(61), 77(38,37)-1, 37-65, 74(46)-26, 102(64)-23, 75(38,36)-0, 126(66)-8, 68(68)-59(59)
David Gray 4-4 Jamie Jones 56-57(49), 87(87)-1, 67(54)-78, 74(44)-2, 69(45)-18, 56-20, 5-64, 44-69(47)
Robert Milkins 3-5 Paul Davison 31-63, 4-123(79), 67(53)-7, 0-106(106), 61-19, 11-65(42), 40-50, 56(56)-47(46)
Joe Delaney 5-3 Li Hang 53-17, 69-50(49), 13-74, 65-59, 1-0(Hang late docked frame), 130(68,62)-0, 25-69(40), 0-97(97)
Barry Pinches 3-5 Matt Couch 72(71)-1, 29-73(63), 92(88)-0, 21-56(46), 5075(75), 104(104)-4, 0-133(105), 24-67(40)
Afternoon Session
A competitive afternoon session saw another four matches get underway, the standout performance coming from Andy Hicks who raced into a 6-2 lead over Patrick Wallace. It looked like being a close match early on but from 2-2, the former world semi-finalist made a string of 50+ breaks to take the remaining four frames and a healthy lead into tomorrow.
Jin Long meanwhile followed up his narrow win yesterday over Simon Bedford with another good session today to move 5-3 ahead of Rod Lawler. It was Rod who made the better start goind 2-0 up, but Jin levelled it at the interval and then won three of the remaining four frames to give himself an overnight lead.
The closest two matches of the afternoon though were between Lee Spick and Andrew Norman who ended up level at 4-4, and Liu Song and Matt Selt who couldn’t fit in all eight of their scheduled frames, Song leading 4-3 when they were called off.
Rod Lawler 3-5 Jin Long 67(44)-25, 67-52(52), 1-90(90), 63-66, 1-79(65), 63(63)-53(47), 10-129(104), 17-57
Andy Hicks 6-2 Patrick Wallace 85-20, 87(87)-14, 6-70, 32-72(58), 73(55)-35, 73(56)-35, 71(64)-25, 79(79)-53(53), 75(68)-0
Andrew Norman 4-4 Lee Spick 70-49(44), 49-62(55), 37-57, 67-32, 71(47)-54(54), 59-16, 47-60, 58(49)-64(64)
Liu Song 4-3 Matt Selt 28-70(40), 78-16, 54-46, 36-74, 63-55, 64-34, 59-71(43)
Evening Session:
First man into the third round was Mark Davis who wasted little time in completing a 9-2 win over Scott MacKenzie this evening. Resuming at 6-2 up, he raced through the last three frames with break of 65 and finally 111 to seal an emphatic win. He will now play Ricky Walden in the next round, a match that is bound to be a much tougher affair for the world number 58.
Soon to join him was Jamie Jones who resuming at 4-4 with David Gray, won all of the five frames played tonight to cruise into the next round. Lying 85th in the provisional rankings before this tournament, his two wins this week will send him right up the list and put him right into contention to maintain his place on the tour for another year. Next up for him here will be a match with Scot Alan McManus in the next round.
The fightback of the day however came from Robert Milkins who upon resuming tonight at 5-3 down, managed to win six frames in a row to win the match 9-5! Crucially taking the first frame of the night by just a single point, he then made breaks of 101, 48, 58 and 104 on his way to a very impressive win. Next up is the latest Mr Maximum, Marcus Campbell.
For the second time in three days though, the real drama came from the ever-popular Jimmy White who again put his fans through the wringer before winning in a deciding frame. It had been a close match all day as both traded frames and neither opened up a lead of more than two frames, but in the end in was White who hung on and earned a clash with Rory McLeod in a couple of days. A timely boost for his ranking, he will be starting to believe that a return to the top 48 is very much a possibility…