Mink Nutcharut narrowly failed to become the first woman this century to win two consecutive matches in a ranking event as she lost 6-5 against Michael White in the second qualifying round of the MrQ UK Championship.
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Thailand’s Nutcharut led 5-2 but missed chances to win the match and was eventually beaten in a tense deciding frame by two-time ranking event winner White.
Nutcharut beat Adam Duffy 6-3 in the first round on Saturday and victory today would have made her the first woman to win back-to-back ranking event matches since Kelly Fisher in 1999. She compiled breaks of 50 and 60 in taking a 5-2 lead and held a 36-0 advantage in the eighth, but Welshman White battled back to take that frame and that proved a turning point as he recovered to 5-5.
A 45-minute decider came down to the last few balls and Nutcharut trailed 50-39 when she potted a long blue, but then missed a tricky pink to a centre pocket. White got the better of a safety exchange and converted the pink to set up a third round meeting with Si Jiahui. He needs two more wins to reach the final stages in York.
Julien Leclercq needed a half-time pep talk from his girlfriend as he hit back from 4-0 down to beat Peng Yisong 6-5. Breaks of 62 and 54 helped the Belgian 20-year-old to take six of the last seven frames.
The Shoot Out runner-up said: “At 4-0 I called my girlfriend Chloe and told her was going to lose and I wanted to go home. She told me this is my job and I have to stay motivated. She said I would win the match for her. After that my mindset was better. I was too negative to start with, but after the interval I started to get angry and that helped me play my game.
“My target this season is to get into the top 64. Hopefully I can have another great moment, like I had at the Shoot Out. If I can qualify for the final stages of this event that would be fantastic.”
Xu Si made the first 147 of his career during a 6-1 win over Ma Hailong, which puts him halfway to a huge £147,000 bonus available for any player making two maximum breaks during this season’s Triple Crown events.
Marco Fu got the better of an excellent match with Ben Mertens by a 6-4 scoreline. Hong Kong’s Fu, who showed signs of a return to form in reaching the last 32 of the recent International Championship, knocked in breaks of 90, 51, 104, 116, 78 and 72. He now meets Ricky Walden.
Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko fired runs of 80, 62 and 72 as he beat Liam Pullen 6-1. Chinese amateur Gao Yang beat Ishpreet Singh Chadha 6-3, while former German Masters champion Martin Gould whitewashed Stuart Carrington 6-0.
David Grace got the better of a 57-minute deciding frame to edge out amateur Ryan Davies 6-5. Dylan Emery top scored with 122 in a 6-2 win over Robbie McGuigan, while China’s Jiang Jun came from 4-1 down to beat Jackson Page 6-4 with a top break of 109. Dominic Dale recovered a 5-4 deficit to beat Stan Moody 6-5.
