Jimmy White recorded his best victory in a long time with a 6-4 defeat of Stephen Maguire in the UK Championship qualifiers on Monday.
The 60 year-old, who secured the biggest ranking title of his career with success at the 1992 UK Championship, is one win away from a place in the main draw this year.
White backed up his consecutive 6-0 triumphs over Victor Sarkis and Mitchell Mann at the weekend with a remarkable ousting of 2004 UK champion Maguire.
Trailing 3-1 and 4-3, the Whirlwind compiled breaks of 103, 61, and 57 to lead 5-4 before winning a close tenth frame to progress.
White has had his son in his practice camp this season to help him stay motivated, and he appears to be reaping the rewards as he rolls back the years.
- CLICK HERE: 1992/93 Snooker Season: Jimmy White’s night
Dominic Dale is White’s final hurdle to overcome if he wants to feature in the main draw of the competition at the Barbican Centre in York.
Dale fought back well from behind too, overturning a 4-2 deficit to beat Li Hang 6-4 with contributions of 121 and 95.
Meanwhile, joining Maguire on the sidelines was his countryman Anthony McGill – a recent semi-finalist in the Northern Ireland Open.
McGll, who missed out by only one spot on being one of the top 16 seeds who qualified automatically for the venue stages, was thumped 6-2 by Duane Jones.
Also through to the final qualifying round are Chinese duo Tian Pengfei and Xu Si, England’s Tom Ford, Thai Noppon Saengkham, and Welshman Jamie Clarke.
Earlier on day three of the qualifiers at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, the second round also reached its conclusion.
Marco Fu and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh were among those who continued their participation in the preliminary stage.
The former ranking event winners face tricky upcoming ties in the penultimate round against Anthony Hamilton and Ding Junhui respectively.
By the end of Tuesday’s play, the complete final round of qualifying encounters will be known.
UK Championship Qualifying
Monday’s Results
Round 2
Lei Peifan 6-4 Fraser Patrick
Mark King 6-3 Oliver Brown
Yuan Sijun 6-1 John Astley
David Lilley 6-2 David Grace
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 Martin O’Donnell
Zhang Anda 6-4 Dylan Emery
Zak Surety 6-2 Elliot Slessor
Si Jiahui 6-2 Chang Bingyu
Peter Lines 6-4 Michael Judge
Ashley Hugill 6-5 Scott Donaldson
Hammad Miah 6-4 Muhammad Asif
Marco Fu 6-4 Oliver Lines
Cao Yupeng 6-0 Callum Beresford
Andres Petrov 6-5 Jackson Page
Joe O’Connor 6-5 Rod Lawler
Ian Burns 6-4 Craig Steadman
Round 3
Duane Jones 6-2 Anthony McGill
Jamie Clarke 6-3 Pang Junxu
Tom Ford 6-5 Alfie Burden
Noppon Saengkham 6-2 Andy Lee
Dominic Dale 6-4 Li Hang
Jimmy White 6-4 Stephen Maguire
Tian Pengfei 6-5 Chris Wakelin
Xu Si 6-4 Jimmy Robertson
Click here to view the full draw (Times: CET)
White’s first win over Maguire since he beat him in the 2001 Thailand Masters. The Scot now leads their head-to-head 8-3 in all meetings.
The Whirlwind is 5-5 with Dominic Dale. I feel White this season is producing big breaks at the business end of matches. His total of three centuries this term is his highest return in a season since he made three centuries in the 2016/17 season. I’m backing White to complete what would be his biggest feat in years on the main tour. His second whitewash win seemed to be the top story on here even with O’Sullivan winning a major title!
I love the stories you share. It’s very real and interesting