Belgium’s Luca Brecel edged a nervy encounter with Joe Perry 4-2 to continue his momentum from reaching the final last week in York and progress at the BetVictor Scottish Open.
Former China Champion Brecel reached his first Triple Crown final at the Cazoo UK Championship after a superb run, which saw him beat the likes of Stephen Maguire, Anthony McGill and Kyren Wilson to reach the title match. However, he was denied the title by 24-year-old Chinese sensation Zhao Xintong, who swept to a 10-5 win.
This afternoon’s tie saw former Player Champion Perry move into an early 2-0 advantage, before Brecel pulled one back by taking the third. Perry had looked set to reclaim the lead, but he spurned a straightforward final pink and allowed Brecel to move one from the win at 3-2.
The sixth frame came down to a black ball fight, with Perry fighting to force a re-spot. Eventually the Englishman deposited the black to move level in the frame. However, it was Brecel that got the better of the re-spot to win the match after Perry left the black over the right middle. He faces China’s Pang Junxu up next.
Brecel said: “The disappointment from losing the final is gone now. I am just proud and happy with the way I played. It is also a massive boost up the rankings for the rest of the season. Zhao also played unbelievable snooker so I couldn’t really do anything about it.
“The two main goals are to get in the top 16 for the Crucible and qualify for the Tour Championship. There are still a lot of targets for the season. I also like this tournament so it would be nice to go far here as well.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan blitzed to a quickfire victory against Michael Georgiou to reach the last 32, where he will play Liang Wenbo.
Breaks of 68, 88, 72 and 86 saw the Rocket surge to the whitewash in just 37 minutes. Georgiou was restricted to just three points throughout the encounter and his high break was 1.
“That was pretty quick. I got into the balls pretty early, made some good breaks and got into a nice little rhythm,” said 46-year-old O’Sullivan. “I feel like I’m thinking pretty clearly which is important. Listen, my game is never far away from clicking. If I get my head right and my game comes it will be interesting.”
Jimmy Robertson registered the highest single frame points total in snooker history on his way to a 4-1 win over Lee Walker.
Robertson won the decisive fifth frame with a score of 178. That defeated Dominic Dale’s previous record of 167. He now plays Scotland’s Anthony McGill.
Fergal O’Brien secured a surprise 4-1 win over Kyren Wilson, making a break of 140 in the final frame. The Irishman faces Gary Wilson in the last 32.
World Champion Mark Selby eased to a 4-1 defeat of Oliver Lines to set up a clash with Xiao Guodong, while a 4-1 win for Stephen Maguire against Sunny Akani earned him a tie with Tom Ford.
Click here for full results.
The post Brecel Maintains Momentum appeared first on World Snooker.
