Former Shoot Out winner Michael Holt held his nerve to come from 2-0 down and beat Manasawin Phetmalaikul 4-3 at Q School event two in Sheffield.
Holt is one of a number of high profile players to have lost their tour place at the conclusion of the 21/22 season. It came as a bitter pill to swallow for the Nottingham cueman, who had been on the circuit for 25 seasons since first turning professional back in 1996.
The Hitman only has two remaining opportunities to immediately regain his place on the World Snooker Tour, having lost his first match last week. The four semi-finalists over events two and three will earn fresh two-year tour cards.
It had looked as if 43-year-old Holt would fall by the wayside again here, when Phetmalaikul took the opening two frames. However, Holt dug deep and runs of 53, 72 and 64 saw him take three on the bounce to lead 3-2. A gutsy break of 77 from Phetmalaikul forced a decider, but Holt fired in 91 to progress. Next up he faces fellow Englishman Sean Harvey tomorrow.
Sunny Akani comfortably progressed thanks to a 4-0 whitewash win over Jamie Curtis-Barrett. Thailand’s Akani composed breaks of 87, 63 and 80 in the last three frames to wrap up the win. He now plays Scotland’s Chris Totten, who beat Alex Millington 4-2 earlier today.
Aaron Hill top scored with 116 in his 4-0 win over James Lee, while Gao Yang registered a 4-0 win over Simon Bevz.
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