Sam Craigie (photo courtesy of Janie Watkins)
This year’s IBSF World Under-21 Championship will be contested between young Sam Craigie and former professional Li Hang tomorrow as both came through tough semi-finals against some talented opposition…
Having shown his credentials with a number of solid performances during the 2008/9 season to stay on the tour, Chinese starlet Li Hang was unfortunate to lose his tour card last time around, thanks in part to a mix up with his visa which left him unable to participate in the Shanghai Masters.
Now however he has a chance to bounce back onto the professional circuit almost immediately thanks to his victory over another promising young former professional, Ireland’s Vinnie Muldon who you might remember ran Jimmy White close a couple of seasons ago at the World Championship qualifiers.
There he will play 16-year-old Sam Craigie who saw off the challenge of his brother Stephen during a dramatic semi-final to win 7-6. Having reached the semi-finals of a PIOS event last season, as well as winning the English U-16 Championship during 2009, Sam would appear destined for good things and will be looking to follow the example of recent PTC finalist Jack Lisowski during the coming years.
The view the latest livescores from Tuesday’s final, please click here while you can also view the knock-out draw in full here.