Ukraine’s Anton Kazakov scored his first win of the season, beating Long Zehuang 4-1 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
Kazakov, age 18, turned pro last year after winning the WSF Junior Championship and found the going tough in his debut season, winning just two matches. But he impressed today in a comfortable victory, his top break 63, and Kazakov is through to the last 64 of a ranking event for the first time. He can look forward to a trip to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast for the world ranking event which gets underway this Sunday.
Germany’s Lukas Kleckers came from 3-1 down to edge out Andrew Pagett 4-3, making breaks of 84 and 101. Jackson Page whitewashed Liam Graham 4-0 while Alfie Burden made a vital colours clearance in the deciding frame to beat Mostafa Dorgham 4-3.
Veteran Dominic Dale rolled back the years in a 4-1 win over Allan Taylor, firing breaks of 57, 55, 136 and 101. Former European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi beat Liu Hongyu 4-2 with a top run of 84.
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