Q School 2011: Event One, Day Four Round-up

It might be the weekend but there is no stopping the snooker as the results continue to come in thick and fast from the Q School. Highlights today include wins for Kyren Wilson and Alex Davies with David Gilbert, Robin Hull and Mike Hallett in action later on this evening…

Morning Session round-up

Nick Jennings 4-1 Vinnie Calabrese
Jak Jones 3-4 Kyren Wilson
David Portman 1-4 Zhang Anda
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-2 Joel Walker
Mitchell Travis 2-4 David Grace
Robbie Williams 2-4 Sydney Wilson

Both professionals during the 2010/11 season, Kyren Wilson and Jak Jones met this morning in what would prove to be an absorbing encounter at the Academy in Sheffield. Of the two Kyren will have been favoured to progress having enjoyed much the better season last term but it was the 17-year-old Jones who started the stronger, taking the first three frames of the match this morning.

As fellow player Ben Harrison told me on Twitter however, Kyren could not be written off having come back from 3-0 down to defeat him 5-3 during one of the Q School Preparation Series events earlier this year and Kyren duly set about making a comeback today, winning three in a row himself to force the match into a decider.

It was at that point when perhaps strangely the match was pulled off to allow the 1pm matches to begin, though whether this materially affected the outcome of the match I am not so sure. Either way it was Kyren who took the decider on their resumption to complete an excellent comeback and secure a third round tie with Nick Jennings who saw off Australian Vinnie Calabrese in the same session.

Also winners this morning were Zhang Anda and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, two talented players recently on the professional circuit who will now meet in an intriguing third round clash. This morning Thepchaiya edged out Joel Walker 4-2 despite losing a dramatic fourth frame on the black while Zhang had too much for David Portman.

It was also a good morning for Leeds amateur David Grace who continued his bid to reclaim a place on the tour for the first time since 2008/9 with a 4-2 victory against Mitchell Travis.

Afternoon Session round-up

Mei Xi Wen 4-2 Kishran Hirani
Ross Jones 1-4 Jamie O’Neill
David Morris 3-4 Alex Davies
Tian Pengfei 4-1 Lee Page
John Astley 4-1 Sharam Changezi
Michael Leslie 1-4 Adam Wicheard

Information is strangely thin on the ground as far as the 1pm matches are concerned but the majority of the matches appear to have gone to form with former professionals such as Adam Wicheard, Mei Xiwen and Jamie O’Neill winning through to the third round.

A slightly surprising loser however was Ireland’s David Morris who having been a professional for the past few seasons was one of the favourites on paper to come through this third section. Alex Davies however had other ideas and edged a decider to book his place in the third round.

4pm Session

Bash Maqsood 2-4 Fraser Patrick
Christopher Norbury 4-1 Robert Valiant
Jamie Walker 4-1 Liam Monk
James Loft 0-4 Allan Taylor
Antony Parsons 4-3 Bobby Cruickshanks
Gary Wilson 4-0 Justin Astley

Chris Norbury and Gary Wilson continued their bids to reclaim main tour spots this afternoon with comprehensive victories over Robert Valiant and Justin Astley respectively.

Also winning comfortably was the Albino Assassin Allan Taylor who having received a first round walkover got his first taste of Q School action today with a 4-0 victory against James Loft.

Evening Session

Brijesh Damani 3-4 Craig Steadman
Robin Hull 4-1 Craig Barber
Sean O’Sullivan 0-4 Mike Hallett
Dean Venables 0-4 Reanne Evans
James Welsh 1-4 David Gilbert
Martin O’Donnell 4-0 Jeff Cundy

This evening saw impressive wins for both the veteran Mike Hallett and seven-times world ladies champion Reanne Evans as they each won 4-0 against Sean O’Sullivan and Dean Venables respectively. They will now meet in an eye-catching round three tie that is hard to predict without having seen how they have scored this evening.

Elsewhere it was another good night for David Gilbert as he by all accounts scored heavily en route to a 4-1 victory against James Welsh to book himself a third round match with Martin O’Donnell who defeated Jeff Cundy 4-0 in another match this evening.

There was also another encouraging win for Finland’s Robin Hull who ended the run of Craig Barber with a 4-1 win.