Teenage ace Stan Moody showed glimpses of his potential in the opening round of the BetVictor English Open and had chances to beat the World Champion, but Luca Brecel eventually came through 4-3 in a dramatic finish.
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Tour rookie Moody, who turned 17 last month, came from 2-0 down to take three frames in a row, notably making a 121, the highest break of his pro career so far. At that point he had Crucible king Brecel on the ropes, and Moody had a chance for victory in frame six but missed a tricky red to a top corner on 30, allowing his opponent to level at 3-3.
A tense decider lasted 36 minutes and came down to a long battle on the colours. Moody trailed 42-46 when he made a safety error on the pink, handing a relieved Brecel the chance to pot it and progress to second round match with Andy Hicks on Tuesday afternoon.
“From 2-0, Stan played really well, the way he did that was incredible,” said Brecel, who has a chance to take over from Ronnie O’Sullivan as world number one this week, though he must at least reach the quarter-finals. “I had to dig deep and I was lucky not to go out because he missed a red at 3-2. I needed to find something.
“I have had a good start to the season, I reached the final in Shanghai and played well in Germany. I have just put a new tip on my cue and I have new chalk, I am trying to improve now.
“Stan has definitely got the talent, he did some great things today. I was impressed. If you are good enough you will make it, if you are not good enough, you will never make it. Sometimes I look at players and they change their diet or their lifestyle, but nothing happens. If Ronnie ate rubbish and sat on the couch all day, he would still win tournaments.”
China’s Liu Hongyu, another tour rookie, came from 3-1 down to beat Shaun Murphy 4-3. Liu trailed 57-0 in the deciding frame but battled back to take it with runs of 43 and 24.
Matthew Selt made it a clean sweep for Essex on day one in Brentwood as all three players from the county earned victories – following earlier wins for Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter. Former Indian Open champion Selt beat Michael White 4-3 in a high quality encounter which included two centuries and five more breaks over 50. Runs of 135, 54, 69 and 79 helped Selt into the last 32.
BetVictor European Masters champion Barry Hawkins saw off Anthony Hamilton 4-1 with a top run of 62. Judd Trump made a 102 in a 4-0 whitewash of Sean O’Sullivan, and now meets Scott Donaldson.
