Women’s world champion Bai Yulu beat Artemijs Zizins 4-2 to qualify for the 2025 British Open on Friday at the Mattioli Arena.
The 21 year-old from China scored breaks of 67 and 80 to see off the Latvian, who had a 147 attempt in the second frame end on the 14th black.
Bai’s victory sees her immediately bounce back after suffering defeat in the Wuhan Open qualifiers to Lyu Haotian during the week in Leicester.
After claiming her second World Women’s Championship crown in May at the expense of Mink Nutcharut, Bai Yulu will have started the 2025/26 campaign full of confidence.
The rising star enjoyed a headline-grabbing debut season on the main tour last year, memorably reaching the last 48 at the UK Championship and just missing out on a spot at the venue stages of that prestigious competition.
It’ll be interesting to see how far she can go in ranking events this term, with the British Open in Cheltenham in September representing a good opportunity given its random draw format.
Elsewhere, there were triumphs on Friday for the likes of Joe O’Connor, Matthew Selt, and Noppon Saengkham.
O’Connor defeated Ricky Walden 4-2, Selt thumped David Gilbert with a whitewash display, and Saengkham ousted tour rookie Liu Wenwei.
Sam Craigie, back on the circuit after recovering from an injury that kept him out for the entire 2024/25 season, beat Yao Pengcheng 4-1.
Former UK and Masters champion Matthew Stevens was also among the winners, making it two from two in the qualifiers this week for the Welshman.
Young English talent Stan Moody edged Zhou Yuelong, while there were victories for countrymen Oliver Lines and Martin O’Donnell as well.
It was a good day for the Irish contingent, with Antrim’s Robbie McGuigan beating Lyu Haotian and Cork’s Leone Crowley whitewashing Hatem Yassen.
Iulian Boiko was the last player to seal his spot in the last 64 courtesy of a 4-2 defeat of Connor Benzey.
The British Open qualifiers conclude on Saturday with the remaining batch of fixtures from the round of 128.
Among those who will be in action are 12-time women’s world champion Reanne Evans, who takes on Lan Yuhao, and women’s world number one Mink Nutcharut who meets Amir Sarkhosh.
Probably the tie of the day sees former ranking event winners Robert Milkins and Fan Zhengyi do battle.
The draw for the British Open qualifiers is available by clicking here. (snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
It seems Jimmy White has pulled out of the Championship League.
Congratulations to Ronnie O’Sullivan and Laila Rouass on getting married. The uncertainty over their relationship last season could well have been a factor in his absence from so many tournaments last season. I’m hopeful this happy news could act as a catalyst for an upturn in O’Sullivan’s fortunes.
A good early win on the board for Bai Yulu, following Reanne Evans’ winning start for the Wuhan qualifiers. I agree that she will surely want to maintain momentum and confidence early in the season so back to back defeats would have surely been a setback.