Neil Robertson advanced to the venue stages of the Wuhan Open after a comfortable 5-0 defeat of Ken Doherty in the qualifiers on Tuesday.
After a lengthy tactical battle at the end of the first frame, Robertson potted pink and black to snatch an early lead.
From then on, the Australian controlled the contest and compiled breaks of 55, 101, 91, and 80 in the following four frames.
It has been a positive start to the 2024/25 snooker season for Robertson, who ended the last campaign outside the world’s top 16 and without a spot in the World Championship.
Many expect the 42 year-old to bounce back this term, and it’s a case of so far so good with two qualifying victories from two.
He was also undefeated in the season-opening Championship League Snooker but was forced to withdraw from that following a scheduling mishap.
World number one Mark Allen was among the other players who progressed in the Wuhan Open.
Despite his esteemed ranking, the Antrim man’s round-of-128 match was somewhat surprisingly not chosen as one of the several held over to the main stages in October.
Still, Allen made light work of his clash with Bai Yulu – beating the reigning women’s world snooker champion 5-1 with a high contribution of 102.
Jack Lisowski also made it through courtesy of a 5-2 triumph over Liam Graham.
Like Robertson, Lisowski has endured a difficult spell of form that has seen the talented Cheltenham cueist drop outside the top 16.
There were victories elsewhere for World Championship finalist Jak Jones, his fellow Welshman Jackson Page, and veteran Mark Davis.
Marco Fu rolled back the years, meanwhile, with a fine 5-1 success against Zhou Yuelong that included a 105 break and three more above 50.
Xiao Guodong, Jimmy Robertson, Louis Heathcote, Stan Moody, and Andrew Pagett were the others to record wins.
With the preliminary phase for the Wuhan Open over, it’s on to the next batch of qualifiers at the Mattioli Arena.
The early stages of the British Open will take place over the next four days in Leicester.
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British Open qualifiers information
On Wednesday, Lisowski and Si Jiahui are among the higher-profile names back in action.
2024 Wuhan Open draw
Round of 128 (bo9)
Top Half
Judd Trump vs Antoni Kowalski (Oct 6)
He Guoqiang 5-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Anthony McGill 5-3 Simon Blackwell
Mostafa Dorgham 5-4 Ricky Walden
John Higgins 5-1 Ben Mertens
Fan Zhengyi 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Robert Milkins 5-1 Farakh Ajaib
Zak Surety 5-1 Scott Donaldson
Haris Tahir 5-3 Jamie Jones
Chris Wakelin 5-1 Ma Hailong
David Lilley 5-1 Mohammed Shehab
Allan Taylor 5-0 Joshua Thomand
Yuan Sijun vs TBC Wildcard (Oct 6)
Xing Zihao 5-1 Stuart Bingham
Xu Si 5-1 Ian Burns
Ding Junhui vs Robbie McGuigan (Oct 6)
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Mitchell Mann (Oct 6)
Sanderson Lam 5-3 Huang Jiahao
Hammad Miah 5-3 Joe O’Connor
Robbie Williams 5-4 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Zhang Anda vs Dean Young (Oct 6)
Graeme Dott 5-2 Julien Leclercq
Hossein Vafaei 5-0 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Jordan Brown vs TBC Wildcard (Oct 6)
Daniel Womersley 5-4 Joe Perry
Si Jiahui 5-3 Gong Chenzhi
Martin O’Donnell vs TBC Wildcard (Oct 6)
Sunny Akani 5-2 Tom Ford
Matthew Selt 5-2 Liam Pullen
Pang Junxu 5-2 Révész Bulcsú
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 5-3 David Grace
Duane Jones 5-4 Luca Brecel
Bottom Half
Mark Allen 5-1 Bai Yulu
Jamie Clarke 5-4 Alfie Burden
Cheung Ka Wai 5-4 Stephen Maguire
Wu Yize 5-1 Rory Thor
Jak Jones 5-3 Ross Muir
Tian Pengfei 5-3 Andrew Higginson
Jack Lisowski 5-2 Liam Graham
Iulian Boiko 5-4 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Elliot Slessor 5-3 Artemijs Zizins
David Gilbert vs TBC Wildcard (Oct 6)
Ben Woollaston 5-1 Oliver Lines
Gary Wilson 5-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
Jackson Page 5-3 Lei Peifan
Neil Robertson 5-0 Ken Doherty
Dylan Emery 5-1 Lim Kok Leong
Long Zehuang 5-4 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Michael Holt
Anthony Hamilton 5-4 Reanne Evans
Noppon Saengkham 5-1 Daniel Wells
Jimmy White 5-3 Dominic Dale
Ali Carter 5-3 Wang Yuchen
Mark Davis 5-3 Chris Totten
Marco Fu 5-1 Zhou Yuelong
Louis Heathcote 5-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Stan Moody 5-2 Matthew Stevens
Ryan Day 5-3 Lui Hongyu
Jimmy Robertson 5-2 Amir Sarkhosh
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Jiang Jun
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Andrew Pagett 5-1 Lyu Haotian
Aaron Hill 5-2 Ashley Carty
Kyren Wilson vs Liam Davies (Oct 6)
Featured photo credit: WST
