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| Mark Allen kept his place in the tournament with a comeback form 3-0 down to beat plucky amateur Sydney Wilson. Image: Monique Limbos |
Wilson, from Southend in Essex, was just a few balls away from clinching the match 4-0 but Allen nicked the fourth on the colours to keep his hopes alive. Wilson never looked able to clinch it from there on in and Allen eventually saw out victory with a 112 break in the decider.
Dominic Dale continued the strong Welsh performance in Newport, but needed a decider to make his way past amateur Ant Parsons.
John Higgins also secured a spot in the main draw next week with a 4-0 victory over ‘Tornado’ Tony Drago, with top runs of 71 and 52. He’ll face fellow experience pro Ken Doherty who whitewashed James Cahill on Thursday afternoon, with a top break of 111.
World number two Mark Selby cruised into the last 64 thanks to a 4-0 win over Joe Swail, as did Ricky Walden who swiftly finished off Pickering’s Paul Davidson with breaks of 88 and 73 following a close start to the match.
James Wattana’s hopes of tour survival took another big step forward as he knocked out 4-2, with a top run of 62, which backs up his 5-0 win over Matthew Stevens in the China Open qualifiers a few weeks ago, as he looks to climb back into the top 64.
In contrast, Steve Davis’ hopes of keeping his tour card took another bump as he was whitewashed by Noppon Saengkham, who made a run of 102 in the opener. Davis was also defeated in the China Open qualifiers.
Peter Ebdon’s disappointing season continued as he was whitewashed by China’s Li Hang. The 2002 World Champion has not made it past the last 64 of any major ranking event this season, bar the Shanghai Masters where he got to the quarters.
There were also 4-0 wins for Martin Gould, Jamie Cope and Tom Ford who defeated Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon, Adam Duffy and Gareth Green. They are joined in the last 64 by Dechawat Poomjaeng, Dave Harold, Matt Selt and Anthony Hamilton who all recorded victories on Thursday.
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