Jack Lisowski ended the run of Bai Yulu at this year’s UK Championship with a 6-1 defeat of the young Chinese star in the qualifiers on Wednesday.
Lisowski made six half-century contributions to see off the challenge of the reigning women’s world champion at the Mattioli Arena.
Victory for the Englishman means that his name will be entered into Thursday’s UK Championship draw for the last 32, with the venue stages commencing on Saturday in York.
Bai, a rookie on the main tour this season, wasn’t able to repeat her giant-killing performances of the previous rounds.
But the 21 year-old became the first woman to win three matches in a row on the pro circuit and announced herself as a talent to definitely keep an eye on in the future.
“Obviously, it was all about Bai,” Jack Lisowski, who could face the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan or Judd Trump in the main draw, told the World Snooker Tour.
“It would have been incredible if she could have qualified, but she had an incredible run anyway.”
“It was just about trying to keep my concentration tonight. I get easily distracted at the best of times, so obviously her story line was in the back of my head.
“I think she missed a blue to make it 1-1. I don’t know, I think I just made 50s and 60s in each frame.
“We dragged each other down a little bit, but obviously I’m happy to get through.
“I watched a bit of her game yesterday against Scott [Donaldson], and she was nicking a lot of frames with good breaks.
“I thought she might dish [in the second frame], and if it’s 1-1, it’s game on. I think that was probably the key moment in the match.
“I’m not really sure [how my game is], it’s a bit patchy. Some good, some not so good. I’ve been practicing less.
“I’ve been in Dubai for the last two weeks playing Mohamed al-Joker, I was playing him each morning for about two hours.
“Just a couple of best-of-sevens and that, I haven’t played loads. Sometimes, you just apply yourself and I feel like I’ve been applying myself.
“I’m getting the most out of what I’ve got at the minute. I’m actually kind of enjoying my snooker a little, so that’s good.”
Who else qualified?
Jack Lisowski was joined by seven other players who made it through the first of two Judgement Days in the final round of the UK Championship qualifiers.
The top 16 seeds, who were already assured of their place in the main draw, won’t be particularly pleased by the quality of the players who have advanced so far.
Former world champion Stuart Bingham thrashed Jimmy Robertson 6-0, while this year’s Crucible runner-up Jak Jones beat Fan Zhengyi.
Former UK champion Stephen Maguire emerged from a titanic tussle with Elliot Slessor in a deciding frame.
Barry Hawkins, Ryan Day, Wu Yize, and Jackson Page also progressed courtesy of relatively routine victories.
The remaining eight spots will be determined on Thursday, with the likes of Neil Robertson and Zhao Xintong back in the fray.
2024 UK Championship qualifiers
Round 4 – Judgement Day
Results
Jak Jones 6-3 Fan Zhengyi
Elliot Slessor 5-6 Stephen Maguire
Jimmy Robertson 0-6 Stuart Bingham
Jackson Page 6-2 Hossein Vafaei
Jack Lisowski 6-1 Bai Yulu
Ryan Day 6-2 Sanderson Lam
David Lilley 3-6 Wu Yize
Wang Yuchen 3-6 Barry Hawkins
Thursday, 1pm UTC
Lei Peifan vs Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong vs Matthew Selt
Ricky Walden vs Zhao Xintong
Julien Leclercq vs David Gilbert
Thursday, 7pm UTC
Robert Milkins vs Xu Si
Stan Moody vs He Guoqiang
Liu Hongyu vs Michael Holt
Matthew Stevens vs Neil Robertson
Click here for up-to-date results
(snooker.org)
How to watch the UK Championship qualifiers
Watch worldwide on WST’s Facebook or YouTube channels (outside China). You can also watch live on discovery+ throughout Europe including the UK and Ireland.
Featured photo credit: WST
