Embassy World Championship 1999: Qualifying (original) (raw)

Results from the qualifying rounds of the1999 Embassy World Championship.

Results and reports provided byJanie Watkins([email protected])
Also posted on alt.sport.snooker

Players are English unless stated

Round 9 (14)

(April 1-2)

Nick Walker 10-6 Jamie Burnett (Scotland) Dominic Dale (Wales) 10-6 Leigh Griffin Fergal O'Brien (Ireland) 10-7 Chris Scanlon Steve James 10-7 Billy Snaddon (Scotland) Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) 10-2 Andy Hicks Matthew Stevens (Wales) 10-6 Jonathan Birch Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 10-4 Graeme Dott (Scotland) Terry Murphy (N.Ireland) 10-9 Michael Judge (Ireland) Paul Hunter 10-5 Euan Henderson (Scotland)
Ian McCulloch 10-9 Gary Wilkinson John Lardner (Scotland) 10-2 Martin Clark Chris Small (Scotland) 10-2 Dave Finbow
Leo Fernandez (Ireland) 10-5 Brian Morgan Joe Perry 10-7 Dave Harold Jimmy White 10-7 Dean Reynolds
Darren Morgan (Wales) 10-9 Nick Pearce

1 April - Fu heads for The Crucible

Leaving Telford tonight were 3 happy Englishmen, two happy Irishmen, two happy Welshmen and a Happy Valley Fu!

In aother blistering display of potting prowess and break building,Marco Fufulfilled the expectations of him, as he progressed to a Crucible debut, defeating ScotGraeme Dott10-4. Dott had opened the match with a total clearance of 141, to set the tone, but after holding a 2-0 lead, it was Fu who turned on the style. He won six successive frames, helped by breaks of 86, 89, 125, 83 and 66. Having broken the back of Dott's resistance, he added further breaks of 52, 73 and 57.

Joining Fu in a Sheffield debut wasNick Walker, who defeated Scotland's Jamie Burnett. The two West Walians,Dominic Daleand Matthew Stevens return to the Crucible, having negotiated their matches without too many alarms. Dale got away to a 4-1 lead, which he did not relinquish. Stevens set himself up a 3-0 lead, but was pegged back to 3-3. He got two frames in front again and then got into his stride with breaks of 75, 56, 114 and 60. Having already reached the final of the UK this season, Matthew is one name the top seeds will be hoping to avoid.

It was harder work for the Irishmen. In a North/South battleTerry Murphywas pushed all the way by Dublin'sMichael Judge, before eventually clinching the match 10-9. Murphy's break of 103 was the highlight of a very close match.Fergal O'Brienswapped frames all day with London'sChris Scanlon, before stretching to a 9-5 lead. But Scanlon fought back to close the gap to 9-7 before O'Brien applied his greater experience to win 10-7.

Kent's Gerard Greenebagged a major scalp, as he obliterated former World Semi Finalist Andy Hicks 10-2.

And returning to the Crucible will beSteve James of Cannock. After several poor seasons, James suddeny found his form at the right time as he beat the obdurate ScotBilly Snaddon 10-7, to return to the scene of his former triumphs. James ran in a break of 109 and a string of 50+ frame winners on his way to victory.

Round 8 (13)

(March 31 - April 1)

Nick Walker 10-8 Rod Lawler
Leigh Griffin 10-5 Mark Davis Chris Scanlon 10-5 Paul Sweeny Steve James 10-5 Craig MacGillivray (Scotland)
Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) 10-8 Alfie Burden Jonathan Birch 10-7 Stephen O'Connor (Ireland) Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 10-4 Robert Milkins
Michael Judge (Ireland) 10-6 Mario Geudens (Belgium) Euan Henderson (Scotland) 10-8 Paul Wykes Ian McCulloch 10-6 Peter Lines John Lardner (Scotland) 10-8 Quinten Hann (Australia)
Dave Finbow 10-8 Drew Henry (Scotland)
Leo Fernandez (Ireland) 10-9 Bradley Jones Joe Perry 10-6 Nigel Gilbert Dean Reynolds 10-5 Joe Johnson
Nick Pearce 10-7 Gary Ponting

31 March - Marco Fujust one match from an historic Crucible debut.

Hong Kong'sMarco Fucontinued his meteoric rise to fame, with a 10-4 win overRobert Milkins. After leading 5-4 at the interval, Fu quickly ran off the 5 frames he required for victory. Fu included breaks of 110, 98 and 93 on his charge for victory. He will now face the Scottish Open finalist Graeme Dottfor a place in the Crucible draw on Saturday.Steve James continued his revival of form and now Scotland'sBilly Snaddonstands between him and a return to Sheffield

The last match tonight to finish was a remarkable battle betweenNick Walkerand Rob Lawler. At the mid session interval Walker led 9-0, but Lawler came out tonight and won 8 frames on the spin, before Walker eventually clinched a 10-8 victory with a break of 51 in the 17th frame. Walker had included breaks of 62, 105, 97, on his way to 9-0, and he added a break of 68 in the 12th frame, only for Lawler to win the frame 69-68 to deny Walker victory for another 5 nerve wracking frames.

1 April

Joe Johnson's challenge was eventaully snuffed out byDean Reynolds, but not without a tremendous struggle. An opening frame of 53 minutes set the tone for the match. With later frames lasting as long as 55 minutes, it was no surprise that the match was halted with the score 9-5 in Reynolds favour. On their return he eventually won a 48 minute frame on the colours to go forward to playJimmy White on Friday.

Round 7 (12)

(29-30 March)

Nick Walker 10-3 Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland) Rod Lawler 10-3 Nick Terry
Mark Davis 10-4 Chris Shade
Leigh Griffin 10-6 Lee Walker (Wales) Paul Sweeny 10-0 Willie Thorne Chris Scanlon 10-7 Shokat Ali (Pakistan) Steve James 10-5 Craig Harrison
Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) 10-8 Tony Chappel (Wales) Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) 10-3 Lee Richardson
Alfie Burden 10-4 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand) Stephen O'Connor (Ireland) 10-5 David Gray Jonathan Birch 10-2 Joe Grech (Malta)
Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 10-1 Jason Ferguson Robert Milkins 10-6 Karl Broughton Michael Judge (Ireland) 10-4 Tony Knowles
Mario Geudens (Belgium) 10-6 Tony Jones Paul Wykes 10-8 Michael Holt
Euan Henderson (Scotland) 10-6 Matthew Couch (Scotland)
Peter Lines 10-8 Troy Shaw
Ian McCulloch 10-9 Barry Pinches John Lardner (Scotland) 10-5 Neal Foulds Quinten Hann (Australia) 10-8 Stuart Bingham Dave Finbow 10-5 Jason Prince (N.Ireland) Drew Henry (Scotland) 10-6 Paul McPhillips (Scotland)
Bradley Jones 10-7 Stephen Maguire (Scotland) Leo Fernandez (Ireland) 10-9 Paul Davies (Wales) Nigel Gilbert 10-9 Joe Swail (N.Ireland) Joe Perry 10-8 Mick Price Dean Reynolds 10-8 John Read
Joe Johnson 10-7 Robin Hull (Finland) Nick Pearce 10-7 Björn Haneveer (Belgium) Gary Ponting 10-5 David Roe

Round 6 (11)

(21 January)

Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 10-0 Gareth Chilcott (Wales) Mario Geudens (Belgium) 10-8 Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) Barry Pinches 10-3 Richard Somauroo (Mauritius) Stuart Bingham 10-4 Shawn Budd (Australia) Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 10-7 Phaitoon Phonbun (Thailand) Robin Hull (Finland) 10-0 Tom Finstad (Canada)

Robin Hull completed a routine 10-0 victory today against Canada'sTom Finstad, but was left rueing a missed black that cost him �7,000. In frame five Hull was on course for a maximum break, having taken 15 reds and blacks and the colour up to the pink, but he missed the black for the magic maximum and not only lost out of the max break prize of �5,000 but was not even in the running for the pre-tv high break prize of �2,000.

That honour is currently held by 17 year old Scot Stephen Maguire. Maguire compiled his 144 in frame nine of his match, to give himself a fighting chance at 6-3 down.

He duly took his chance in tonight's session, fighting through to beatPhaitoon Phonbun 10-7 and progress to Telford. He rounded the match off in style with another century - 122.

Marco Fu completed his 10-0 whitewash of Gareth Chilcott, whileBarry Pinchesand Stuart Bingham both capitalised on their early leads to win 10-3 and 10-4. Pinches closed out his match with runs of 83 and 97.

The Belgium battle of Geudensand Delsemme, locked at 5-4 after the first session, progressed through a series of nailbitingly close frames tonight. Geudens stretched his lead to 6-4 and 7-5, but Delsemme fought back to level at 7-7. But Geudens again opened up a two frame advantage and this time it was decisive as he went on to a 10-8 win.

Today's winners now get a break before travelling to Telford on 29th March to resume their dreams of reaching The Crucible.

Today's matches have concluded the qualifying series at Blackpool. TheNations Cup continues, with Scotland red hot favourites, but the other teams all have mathematical chances of joining them in the final. On Monday 25th January, The Regal Welsh starts in Cardiff, withPaul Hunterdefending his title, The Ladies Regal Welsh dovetails into the same event and the first week in February sees the third Tour Event of the season, where many players still entertain hopes of making the Top 106 on the Ranking List and thus qualifying for next season's main tour.

Awesome snooker at Blackpool! (Jan 20)

Fu and Hull in a hurry - Maguire takes high break - Geudens/Delsemme locked.

Marco Fu has blitzed his way to a 9-0 lead over Port Talbot's Gareth Chilcott at Blackpool today. Fu's remarkable scoring power was emphasised as he compiled breaks of 53, 54, 66 ,94 and 129 on his way to an unassailable lead.

Fu's breaks paled into insignificance when 17 year old Scottish "Amateur"Stephen Maguire took to the table. Maguire is a regular practice partner ofStephen Hendry and already looks set to be the latest Scottish sensation off their "production line". Maguire was struggling at 6-1 down toPhaitoon Phonbun, but he clawed one back one the colours to just keep in touch and then produced the event's highest break - which looks set to take the �5,000 pre televised prize. To clip his deficit to 6-3 Maguire compiled a 144 total clearance, just pippingBarry Pinches effort of 143.

Finland's Robin Hull appears to be in invincible form at the moment, and he blistered his way to a 9-0 lead over Canada'sTom Finstad. Hull ran in breaks of 62, 56, 64, 65, 52 and topped it off with a break of 140.

The remaining matches are producing at a more sedate pace, butBarry Pincheshas pulled out a 6-3 lead overRichard Somauroo, runs of 65, 105 and 54 helping him along the way.

Stuart Bingham holds a similar lead over Australia's Shawn Budd, with a match against another Aussie, Quienten Hann at Telford to aim for.

Meanwhile Mario Geudens andPatrick Delsemme are locked at 5-4 to Geudens. A break of 73 for Geudens in the final frame of the session giving him his narrow lead.

The matches are played to a conclusion tonight - Thursday. The winners will take the "low seeds" place in the draw and progress to the Telford stage of the event.

Already through to represent the Overseas contingent areJoe Grech of Malta and Björn Haneveer of Belgium. Today's matches will guarantee at least two more winners to join them asGeudens tackles Delsemme and Canada's Finstadtakes on Finland's star Robin Hull

Round 5 (10)

(19-20 January)

Nick Walker 10-6 Rory McLeod Nick Terry 10-6 Stuart Pettman Chris Shade 10-2 Wayne Brown Leigh Griffin 10-5 Shailesh Jogia Paul Sweeny 10-6 Mark Bennett (Wales) Chris Scanlon 10-9 Darryn Walker Craig Harrison 10-7 Wayne Jones (Wales) Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) 10-7 Munraj Pal Lee Richardson 10-4 Paul S Davison Alfie Burden 10-4 Barry Hawkins Stephen O'Connor (Ireland) 10-8 John Whitty Joe Grech (Malta) 10-6 Karl Payne Gareth Chilcott (Wales) 10-6 Graham Horne (Scotland) Robert Milkins 10-6 Mark Gray Tony Knowles 10-5 Marcus Campbell Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 10-9 Karl Burrows Michael Holt 10-7 Darren Clarke Matthew Couch (Scotland) 10-9 David McLellan (Scotland) Troy Shaw 10-7 Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) Barry Pinches 10-2 Anthony Davies (Wales) John Lardner (Scotland) 10-4 Damian Massey Stuart Bingham 10-6 Martin Dziewialtowski (Scotland) Dave Finbow 10-3 Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) Paul McPhillips (Scotland) 10-6 Jimmy Michie Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 10-8 Sean Storey Leo Fernandez (Ireland) 10-5 Steve Judd Nigel Gilbert 10-7 Ian Brumby Joe Perry 10-4 Mark Johnston-Allen John Read 10-4 Nick Dyson Robin Hull (Finland) 10-8 Peter McCullagh Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 10-9 Stefan Mazrocis Gary Ponting 10-7 Colm Gilcreest (Ireland)

16 out of 32 seeds fell in Round 4 and Round Five is already taking its toll on the seeded players as 9 out of the first 16 fail to negotiate their first match.

Triumph of the day so far goes to Tony Knowles, who has slipped steadily down the Ranking list recently. He has revived his form and distant hopes of a return to the Crucible with an emphatic 10-5 win of the season's high flyer, Marcus Campbell of Scotland. Knowles opened with 52 to take the first, but soon found himself 3-2 down. From there he hit a vein of five consecutive frames, that took him 7-3 up and broke the back of the match. Knowles is on schedule now to play Michael Judge, currently representing Ireland in The Nations Cup.

Malta's Joe Grech kept alive his hopes of joining his countryman Tony Dragoat The Crucible. Another solid 10-6 win, higlighted by breaks of 120 and, 136 in the winning frame, over Karl Payne takes him through.

Belgium's Patrick Delsemme crept another step closer as well, but only after a titanic struggle against Karl Burrows. Delsemme trailed from the opening frame, falling behind 5-1, 6-2, 7-4, 8-5 and 9-7 before winning the last three frames.

Port Talbot's Gareth Chilcott notched a welcome win for Wales on what had been a miserable day for his peers in The Nations Cup. Runs of 64, 70 and a match winning 80 in the last gave him a deserved victory 10-6 against Scotland's Graham Horne.

Chris Scanlon survived a similarly close shave, but a break of 53 in the decider gave him victory against Darryn Walker.

Alfie Burden had no such problems as he breezed through 10-4 against Barry Hawkins. Runs of 67, 60 and 85 were his major contributions.

Stephen O'Connor representing Ireland in The Nations Cup had to make a quick dash from Newcastle to Blackpool to participate. He achieved a hard fought win over John Whitty, but having secured a 7-3 lead was made to work all the way for his victory. O'Connor returns to Newcastle to represent Ireland again today.

At the end of this round, the six lowest seeded players will have to play the overseas qualifiers, one of whom is Marco Fu, bidding to make a Crucible debut.

Scottish Amateur Stephen Maguire wins again. Helgason, Hull and Haneveer still flying the European flag

Match of the day: Matthew Couch 10-9 David McLellan

A nerve-tingling struggle between England and Scotland. Scunthorpe's Couch took a 3-0 and then 5-2 lead, but he just couldn't shake off the challenge of David McLellan. By the time the scores were locked at 8-8 the players had compiled six 50+ breaks, with the highlight being 101 from McLellan in the sixteenth frame as he fought back to level the match. Couch rallied to go ahead 9-8, but McLellan bounced back again with a run of 102 to level at 9-9. In a 45 minute decider Couch eventually held his nerve to sneak through 66-44. Couch's reward is a tie against another Scot - Euan Henderson at Telford in March.

Stephen Maguire won his 9th consecutive match, during which time he has played 98 frames. A thrilling 10-8 victory against Sean Storeywill now earn Maguire a crack at one of the overseas qualifiers, the last hurdle he will have to cross before qualifying for his third venue of the event. Maguire set out last November alongside his fellow amateurs at Stockport, and if he survives another match at Blackpool, he will have to get his road map out again to find his way to Telford in March.

Robin Hull continued his superb 1999 form, to keep him on schedule to play 1986 World champion Joe Johnson at Telford. Hull may yet have to negotiate the overseas playoff round for the six lowest seeded qualifiers.

Round 4 (9)

(18-19 January)

Rory McLeod 10-7 Barry Mapstone Nick Terry 10-6 Jamie Bodle Chris Shade 10-7 Malcolm Bilclough Shailesh Jogia 10-4 Jason Wallace Paul Sweeny 10-5 Sam Chong (Malaysia) Darryn Walker 10-8 Les Dodd Craig Harrison 10-8 Guo Hua (China) Munraj Pal 10-8 Ian Sargeant (Wales) Paul S Davison 10-6 Ryan Day (Wales) Barry Hawkins 10-3 Micky Roughan John Whitty 10-8 James Reynolds (Wales) Joe Grech (Malta) 10-6 Kirk Stevens (Canada) Gareth Chilcott (Wales) 10-7 Steve Newbury (Wales) Robert Milkins 10-7 Mike Hallett Tony Knowles 10-7 Avtar Sohanpal Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 10-5 Hugh Abernethy Michael Holt 10-7 Matt Wilson David McLellan (Scotland) 10-7 Craig Roper Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) 10-8 Simon Bedford Barry Pinches 10-6 Jason Weston Damian Massey 10-8 Philip Williams (Wales) Stuart Bingham 10-6 Alan Burnett (Scotland) Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) 10-8 Gary Thomson (Scotland) Paul McPhillips (Scotland) 10-9 Geoff Dunn (Scotland) Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 10-9 Mark Fenton (Wales) Leo Fernandez (Ireland) 10-5 Neil Robertson (Australia) Nigel Gilbert 10-9 Eddie Barker Mark Johnston-Allen 10-5 Antony Bolsover Nick Dyson 10-9 Oliver King Robin Hull (Finland) 10-4 Stephen Murphy (Ireland) Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 10-3 Adrian Rosa Colm Gilcreest (Ireland) 10-4 Eddie Manning

A ton only wins one frame

A strange fact emerged from Round Four's matches as there were 10 centurians during the day's play, but with the honourable exception of Robin Hull who crashed in breaks of 123 and 108 during his over, the other nine all lost.

Runs of 100 and 102 couldn't save Jason Weston from going down 10-6 To Barry Pinches.

Llanelli's Philip Williams compiled 104 in his opener, got pulled off at 5-3 up and in the second session was pulled off at 9-8 down and eventually lost 10-8 on the resumption. (Matches are pulled off with frames to play if they cannot be completed before the next session is due to start).

Malaysia's Sam Chong went down fighting to Kent's Paul Sweeny, but his scoring power - 81, 122, 64, and 97 wasn't enough, curiously Sweeny's highest contribution during the match was 57, but it was enough.

China's Guo Hua perished at the same stage, beaten 10-8 by Craig Harrisonand Kirk Stevens won't be gracing the Crucible this year, as the obdurate

Maltese player Joe Grech brought all his experience to bear in a bruising 10-6 win. Stevens compiled a run of 101 to claw back to 6-9 but it only postponed the inevitable.

Two centuries - 117 and 127 - didn't help James Reynolds of Wales, beaten by Liverpool's John Whitty. Swansea's Mark Fenton eventually succumbed to a break of 57 in the decider by Scotland's 17 year old Amateur Stephen Maguire, who has now won 8 matches.

Iceland's Kristian Helgason bagged himself another notable scalp as he beat last year's Crucible debutant Simon Bedford 10-8. Helgason joins Finland'sRobin Hull and Belgium's Patrick Delsemme in the race to get their country's first ever representative to The Crucible, but they have four more matches to play to achieve that target.

Mike Hallett's hopes were ended by Robert Milkins, but Tony Knowles and Mark Johnston-Allenboth negotiated tricky matches to keep their runs going. Knowles came through 10-7 against Avtar Sohanpal and will now face the in-form Marcus Campbell, while Mark Johnston-Allen beat Antony Bolsover10-5

Round 3 (8)

(16-17 January)

Rory McLeod 10-7 Marc Farnsworth Jamie Bodle 10-8 Richard Jones Malcolm Bilclough 10-8 Mike Henson (Germany) Shailesh Jogia 10-6 Bob Chaperon (Canada) Sam Chong (Malaysia) 10-3 Paul Clarke Les Dodd 10-8 John Giles Guo Hua (China) 10-3 Stuart Mann Ian Sargeant (Wales) 10-6 Surinder Gill Ryan Day (Wales) 10-5 Neil Selman Barry Hawkins 10-3 Sean Lanigan John Whitty 10-8 Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus) Kirk Stevens (Canada) 10-8 Gary Lees Gareth Chilcott (Wales) 10-4 Simon Parker Mike Hallett 10-4 Andy Neck Avtar Sohanpal 10-9 Mike Dunn Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 10-6 Darren Hackeson Matt Wilson 10-6 Stuart Reardon Craig Roper 10-5 Mark Miller Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) 10-6 Allister Carter Barry Pinches 10-3 Jeff Cundy Damian Massey 10-6 Grant Conquest Stuart Bingham 10-5 Joe Delaney (Ireland) Gary Thomson (Scotland) 10-7 Dermot McGlinchey (N.Ireland) Geoff Dunn (Scotland) 10-3 Paul Cavney Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 10-6 Adrian Gunnell Neil Robertson (Australia) 10-8 Johl Younger (Australia) Eddie Barker 10-8 Keith E (Singapore) Mark Johnston-Allen 10-6 John Burns Nick Dyson 10-5 Tai Pichit (Thailand) Robin Hull (Finland) 10-2 Brian Rowswell Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 10-5 Steve Harrison Colm Gilcreest (Ireland) 10-4 David McDonnell

Round 3 is now complete and the undoubted highlight so far is the performance of World No. 106, Barry Pinches from Norwich. The record books were torn up as Pinches embarked on an unprecendent bout of breakbuilding - his four century breaks encompassed three total clearances, and the leading break so far challenging for the �2,000 high break prize for the pre-Crucible stages. His victim was Scunthorpe's Jeff Cundy who bowed out 10-3. Pinches is a former English Amateur Champion. He contributed two centuries in the first session and then made 143 and 134 in the first two frames of the session.

Pinches was the only player in scoring mood - Matt Wilson had already set the pace with a superb total clearance of 140, which he might have expected to take the break prize. Consolation for Wilson as he completed a 10-6 win over Stuart Reardon. Mark Miller knocked in 101 but eventually bowed out 10-8 to Bristol's Craig Roper, whose brother Stuart competes on the minor tour.

Another former English Amateur Champion Stuart Bingham safely negotiated his match against Joe Delaney. 117 was the highlight for Bingham who now faces Scotland's fancied young player Alan Burnett.

Another amateur qualifier - Stephen Maguire made it to round four, defeatingAdrian Gunnell 10-6 and celebrating with a break of exactly 100 in the final frame.

The all-Oceanian battle saw Neil Robertson prevail 10-8 against Johl Younger.

Mark Johnston-Allen notched another victory in his bid to return to a higher ranking position. He beat John Burns 10-6 and will now play Antony Bolsover.

Finland's only Snooker Star Robin Hull continued his great streak of form as he cruised past Brian Rowswell 10-2 to set up a match against Stephen Murphy. Hull notched another of the day's ten centuries with a run of 105. Thailand's Tai Pichit couldn't emulate his fellow Far East players as he lost 10-5 to Nick Dyson. However 8 overseas players have survived to round four.

The Old and the New

Kirk Stevens produced his vintage form to defeat Gary Lees of Oldham and progress to Round Four of The World Championship. The score having reached 8-8, Stevens suddenly rolled back the years to compile successive breaks of 106 and 123 to close out the match in style. Stevens will now face the vastly experienced Joe Grech of Malta.

Joining Stevens will be Mike Hallett. Having recovered from 8-0 in his first match, Hallett enjoyed an easier day's work against Exter's Andy Neck, winning 10-4. A break of exactly 100 helped Hallett on his way.

At the other end of the scale, 18 year old Welsh Amateur Champion Ryan Day from Pontycwmmer successfully negotiated his seventh match so far in the event, beating Burslem's Neil Selman 10-5.

Malaysia's hope Sam Chong ran in breaks of 70, 59 and 67 on the way to a 4-0 lead against Paul Clarke. Chong did not let his opponent off the hook as he added runs of 56, 54 and 85 on the way to a convincing 10-3 win.

Germany's representative Mike Henson, bowed out 10-8 to Malcolm Bilclough, the highlight here a 102 from Bilclough.

Rory McLeod also notched a ton with 102, on his way to a 10-7 win over Marc Farnsworth.

China's Guo Hua stormed to a 6-0 lead against Stuart Mann with consecutive breaks of 75, 82, 62, 79, 110 and 94, a further run of 83 saw him through 10-3.

High breaks (rounds 2-3)

Barry Pinches leads the charge for the �2,000 pre-televised high break with his 143 and has notched 6 centuries so far. Kristjan Helgason and Robin Hull both have 3 tons. Stuart Bingham, Adrian Gunnell and Kirk Stevens - 2.

Round 2 (7)

(14-16 January)

Rory McLeod 10-3 Wayne Saidler Marc Farnsworth w/o Li Jian-Bing (China) Richard Jones 10-8 Steve Mifsud (Australia) Jamie Bodle w/o Anan Terananon (Thailand) Malcolm Bilclough 10-5 Mario Cutajar (Malta) Mike Henson (Germany) 10-3 Michael Duffy (N.Ireland) Shailesh Jogia 10-9 Shaun Murphy Bob Chaperon (Canada) 10-4 Pat Horne Sam Chong (Malaysia) 10-2 Garry Baldrey Paul Clarke w/o Saleh Muhammad (Pakistan) Les Dodd 10-8 James McGouran (Scotland) John Giles 10-7 David Craggs Guo Hua (China) 10-3 Shane Haines Stuart Mann 10-8 Alastair Fleming (Scotland) Surinder Gill 10-7 Jason Pegram Ian Sargeant (Wales) 10-8 Norman McLachlan Ryan Day (Wales) w/o Farhan Mirza (Pakistan) Neil Selman w/o Chatchawan Rutphae (Thailand) Sean Lanigan 10-2 Steve Russell Barry Hawkins 10-3 David Coles Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus) 10-7 Richard King John Whitty 10-2 Mark Love Kirk Stevens (Canada) 10-5 Paul Stockwell Gary Lees 10-3 Ryan Michael Gareth Chilcott (Wales) 10-9 Matthew Bray Simon Parker 10-3 Mark Carrington Andy Neck 10-3 Alex Borg (Malta) Mike Hallett 10-9 Kyndon Paddon Avtar Sohanpal 10-5 Mario Wehrmann (Netherlands) Mike Dunn 10-5 Tim English (Wales) Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 10-7 Evan Munro Darren Hackeson 10-7 Ian Hurdman Stuart Reardon 10-4 Philip Seaton Matt Wilson 10-5 Martin O'Neill Craig Roper 10-2 Hitesh Naran (South Africa) Mark Miller 10-2 Scot Kearney Allister Carter 10-3 Steve Meakin Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) 10-5 Robert Donkin Barry Pinches 10-1 Garoid O'Connor Jeff Cundy 10-6 Nick Manning Grant Conquest 10-5 Darren Limburg Damian Massey 10-2 Gary Natale (Canada) Joe Delaney (Ireland) 10-3 Lee Walters Stuart Bingham 10-0 Brian Cox Dermot McGlinchey (N.Ireland) 10-5 Indika Dodangoda (Sri Lanka) Gary Thomson (Scotland) 10-8 Dylan Leary (N.Ireland) Paul Cavney 10-1 Mark Canovan Geoff Dunn (Scotland) 10-5 Joe O'Boye Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 10-1 Leigh Robinson Adrian Gunnell 10-3 James McBain (Scotland) Neil Robertson (Australia) 10-3 Andrew Milliard Johl Younger (Australia) 10-5 Ian Glover Keith E (Singapore) 10-6 Anthony Harris Eddie Barker 10-6 Neal Jones Mark Johnston-Allen 10-9 Darren Swinburn John Burns w/o Hasimu Tuerxun (China) Tai Pichit (Thailand) 10-5 Graham Fisken Nick Dyson 10-2 Ben Reicker (Canada) Brian Rowswell 10-6 Andrew Grieve Robin Hull (Finland) 10-5 Anton Bishop Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 10-8 Steve Prest Steve Harrison 10-5 Wael Talaat (Egypt) David McDonnell 10-2 Colin Donaldson Colm Gilcreest (Ireland) 10-9 Andrew Higginson

Hoodini Hallett

Mike Hallett produced one of the miracle escapes today, when he pulled back from 8-0 and 8-1 overnight, to beat Swindon's Kyndon Paddon 10-9. Hallett ran off 7 consecutive frames to give himself a chance at 8-7 down. Breaks of 67, 77, 68 and 86 set up his recovery. Paddon recovered his composure to go ahead 9-7, but Hallett's vast experience saw him through to a memorable 10-9 victory. Hallett now plays Andy Neck in round 3; Neck inflicted a 10-3 reverse on Alex Borg of Malta.

Kirk Stevens at last negotiated the Toronto blizzards to reach Blackpool and emerged a convincing 10-5 winner over Londoner Paul Stockwell. Stevens showed glimpses of his vintage form with runs of 93, 56 and 73. Gary Lees will be Stevens' third round opponent. Kirk's countryman Bob Chaperon joined him in round three after a resounding 10-4 win over Pat Horne.

Malaysia and China took their hopes a round further as Sam Chong andGuo Hua both recorded emphatic wins.

The ever popular Les Dodd, might yet salvage something from a miserable season as he progressed 10-8 over amateur qualifier James McGouran of Scotland.

Welsh amateur qualifier Tim English of Church Village went down 10-5 to Mike Dunn. Dunn will play Avtar Sohanpal, who inflicted a surprise 10-5 defeat on the experienced Mario Wehrmann. Runs of 72 and 73 in the final two frames helped Sohanpal to the next round. The secnd Welsh amateur qualifier Ryan Day benefited from a walkover againstFarhan Mirza as yet again several overseas players did not show for their matches.

Mehmet Husnu, a maximum man at Plymouth, turned on his scoring power again during a 10-7 win over Richard King. Husnu opened a 2-0 lead with runs of 55 and 69, added 92 in frame six and 102 in frame 8. A brak of 53 secured frame 10 and 60 and 61 blizted frame 12, and he rounded it off with 81 in frame 15. Husnu now plays Liverpool's John Whitty, who also knocked in a century during a comfortable 10-2 win over Mark Love.

There was disappointment for snooker's youngest pro Shaun Murphy as he went down 10-9 to Leicester's Shailesh (Joe) Jogia; he will have to wait another year in his bid to become snooker's youngest World Champion, but still only 16 he had time on his side.

A rare win for Germany as Mike Henson beat Michael Duffy 10-3.

Round 1 (6)

Rory McLeod 6-0 Rogelio Esteiro Marc Farnsworth 6-? Dessie Sheehan
Richard Jones 6-4 Vic Harris Jamie Bodle 6-4 Daniele Zagaroli
Paul Clarke 6-0 Grahame Francis James McGouran (Scotland) 6-1 Julian Mills David Craggs 6-0 Anthony Bridge Norman McLachlan 6-5 Stephen Kershaw Ryan Day (Wales) 6-4 Danny Lathouwers (Belgium) Richard King 6-1 Andreas Ahmed Paul Stockwell 6-0 Ewan Hunter (Scotland) Mark Carrington 6-5 Stephen Ormerod Kyndon Paddon 6-1 Alex Lambie Avtar Sohanpal 6-0 Ali Bassiri Tim English (Wales) 6-5 Lee Johnson Craig Roper 6-2 Andrew Alexandrou Scot Kearney 6-4 David Athorn Robert Donkin 6-1 Del Smith Damian Massey 6-3 Shaun Wilkes Lee Walters 6-4 Joe Meara Brian Cox 6-3 Jack Fitzmaurice Mark Canovan 6-4 Justin Smalley Joe O'Boye 6-3 Mark Tucker (Wales) Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 6-2 Carl Stringer James McBain (Scotland) 6-3 Matthew Street Andrew Milliard 6-2 Andrew Highfield Ian Glover 6-2 Elliott Clark Anthony Harris 6-3 Anthony Massey

Round 5 (amateurs)

Ryan Day (Wales) 5-0 Edward Davies (Wales) Tim English (Wales) 5-1 Luke Fisher Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 5-1 Jason Barton James McBain (Scotland) 5-3 Lee Spick

Round 4 (amateurs)

Edward Davies (Wales) 5-4 Stephen Croft Ryan Day (Wales) 5-4 Gareth Coppack (Wales) Tim English (Wales) 5-4 Kelly Fisher Luke Fisher 5-2 Stuart Mason Jason Barton 5-2 Scott MacKenzie Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 5-2 Jonathan Nelson Lee Spick 5-2 David Gilbert James McBain (Scotland) 5-4 Mark James

Round 3 (amateurs)

Edward Davies (Wales) 5-3 Ashley Walker Stephen Croft 5-4 Steven Bennie Ryan Day (Wales) 5-2 Sunit Vaswani Gareth Coppack (Wales) 5-4 Graham Driver Tim English (Wales) 5-2 Stuart Roper Kelly Fisher 5-1 Ben Fitzgerald Stuart Mason 5-2 Nick Smith Luke Fisher 5-4 Adam Jackson Scott MacKenzie 5-1 Stan Murphy (Ireland) Jason Barton 5-1 Richard Clark Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 5-1 Charles Isbill Jonathan Nelson 5-1 Neil Craycroft Lee Spick 5-2 Jimmy Carney David Gilbert 5-1 James Linehan Mark James 5-1 Brian Salmon James McBain (Scotland) 5-3 Garry Hardiman

Round 2 (amateurs)

Edward Davies (Wales) 5-2 Jason Bates Ashley Walker 5-2 Anthony Crosbie Stephen Croft 5-4 Robert James Steven Bennie 5-? Waheed Khan Sunit Vaswani 5-2 Jonathan Beeko Ryan Day (Wales) 5-0 Matthew Barnes Gareth Coppack (Wales) 5-2 Craig Taylor Graham Driver 5-2 Andrew Esgrove Stuart Roper 5-1 Alexander Ness Tim English (Wales) 5-4 Robert Murphy (Ireland) Ben Fitzgerald 5-3 Michael Wild Kelly Fisher 5-2 Arthur Eldridge Nick Smith 5-0 David Butler Stuart Mason 5-3 Wayne Cooper Luke Fisher 5-1 David Turner Adam Jackson 5-1 Tony Wood Stan Murphy (Ireland) 5-0 Karl McQuillan Scott MacKenzie 5-1 Mohammed Azim Jason Barton 5-1 Darren Griffiths Richard Clark 5-2 Ian Lee Hunter Charles Isbill 5-4 Andrew Norman Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 5-2 Nicholas Heseltine Jonathan Nelson 5-4 Nayef Al-Jawini Neil Craycroft 5-2 Anthony Noble Lee Spick 5-0 Keith Sheldreck Jimmy Carney 5-3 Nicholas Wiles David Gilbert 5-2 Mark Abrahams James Linehan 5-4 Colin Bingham Mark James 5-4 Stewart Colcough Brian Salmon 5-1 Gary Challis Garry Hardiman 5-1 Ian Preece (Wales) James McBain (Scotland) 5-3 Adam Davies

Round 1 (amateurs)

Ashley Walker 5-4 Lee Farebrother Stephen Croft 5-1 Richard Walsh Steven Bennie 5-4 Matthew Bulbeck Jonathan Beeko 5-3 Faisal Almisfer Matthew Barnes 5-0 Liam Smith Ben Fitzgerald w/o Douglas Hogan (Ireland) Arthur Eldridge 5-2 Jonathan Lewis (Wales) Stuart Mason 5-3 Kevin Fitton Luke Fisher 5-1 Andrew Rosser (Wales) Stan Murphy (Ireland) 5-0 Neil Kershaw Jason Barton 5-0 Paul Dunthorne Charles Isbill w/o Mark Colgan Nicholas Heseltine 5-4 Andy Lee Nayef Al-Jawini 5-4 Pascal Richard Nicholas Wiles 5-4 Jason Smith (Wales) Gary Challis 5-0 Martin Johnson Garry Hardiman 5-2 Weland Holroyd Adam Davies 5-3 Barry Hughes