Stan Moody reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time by beating Rod Lawler 4-1 in the second round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
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The highly-rated 17-year-old is playing his first season on the pro tour and initially struggled to find his feet, failing to win a match in his first six ranking events. But he got off the mark with a fine 4-2 victory over Zhou Yuelong to qualify for Belfast, and the WSF Junior Champion doubled his tally of wins by outplaying experienced Lawler at the Waterfront Hall.
Moody made a break of 102 to take the opening frame, then came from 57-0 down to snatch the second with a 66 clearance. Lawler pulled one back, but Moody took each of the next two on the colours to earn a tie with Gary Wilson.
“It was nerve-racking, to say the least,” admitted the Yorkshireman. “I started off well, then from 2-0 it was downhill and I was fighting to get over the line. I sometimes get annoyed with myself during matches, I was struggling with that at the start of this season. I was letting myself down and my team around me. Everyone was putting in hard work, and I was doing everything right but then not keeping my head during matches. So I’m trying to do it for them now. I had to try to stay calm today and it worked.
“I have more confidence and belief now that I have won a couple of matches, especially beating a player as good as Zhou to qualify. I know I can do it now. I will just keep playing my game and I know if I do that I can beat anyone.”
Mark Allen’s hopes of winning the title for a third consecutive year ended as he lost a late night battle against Estonia’s top player Andres Petrov by a 4-3 scoreline. From 3-1 down, Antrim’s Allen fought back to 3-3, setting up a dramatic decider. Petrov had first chance and made 48 before missing the green to a baulk corner, then Allen looked set to clear until he rattled the final blue in the jaws of a top pocket. World number 96 Petrov sunk blue, pink and black to cross the line at 1.45am.
“It’s the best win of my career, by far,” said Petrov. “I was really lucky in the end. When I was over the last black, I was thinking ‘this is for my daughter and I will pot it.’ I hope my wife back in Estonia was sleeping and not watching because she has to wake up soon. I am so happy to get through, I can’t describe what it means to me. I know I was playing the local favourite here, but I also knew there was a group of people in Estonia watching me and cheering me on, and that helped.”
Shaun Murphy edged out Marco Fu 4-3 in an extraordinary finish as the former World Champion looked certain to lose the decider. Murphy earlier made breaks of 122, 80 and 117 to lead 3-1 before Fu recovered to 3-3. In the last frame, Fu led by 27 points with just the colours left, and the balls in awkward positions. Murphy battled on, got the snooker he needed, and eventually potted a cracking long green to set up a winning clearance.
“I was fully prepared to accept I had lost. I have got no idea why I am standing here,” World number seven Murphy told Eurosport. “I missed chances to win 4-1 and 4-2, then the last frame was horrible and we both lost our technique. But before that I made two centuries and played some good snooker.”
Murphy was asked about an incident in the sixth frame when, in with a chance to win 4-2, he called a foul on himself for a push-shot when potting the penultimate red. He said: “I don’t think the referee saw it, you couldn’t tell that I had fouled, but I knew. We pride ourselves in our game on honesty and it cost me that frame.”
Matthew Selt made breaks of 79, 57, 60 and 67 as he beat Dean Young 4-3 while Gary Wilson saw off Lukas Kleckers 4-01 with top runs of 107, 96 and 86.
