Jimmy White extends record to 46 years with Welsh Open qualifiers win

Jimmy White won his first match of the new year after beating Sunny Akani 4-1 in the Welsh Open qualifiers in Sheffield on Saturday.

The ten-time ranking event winner lost the opening frame to a break of 89 from his opponent but subsequently dominated the contest at Ponds Fords.

White took a scrappy second frame to restore parity before adding a brace of 54 contributions and a concluding run of 56 to secure the win.

Victory for the 63 year-old means that he has now won a match on the World Snooker Tour for 46 consecutive years, extending his own record.

White first turned professional and joined the main tour in 1980 but played only one game in that calendar year, a 9-7 defeat to Alex Higgins at the Canadian Open.

The six-time World Championship runner-up duly won his first games at the Yamaha Organs Trophy in January of 1981, where he beat the likes of John Pulman and Patsy Fagan.

White has been an ever-present on the World Snooker Tour since, winning matches across five different decades and now 46 different calendar years.

According to statistics websites CueTracker, he has won more than 850 matches which places him just outside the top ten on the all-time list.

White, who reached the British Seniors Open final last month, will look to qualify for the Welsh Open proper on Saturday when he faces David Lilley in the second qualifying round.

Elsewhere, a busy opening round of Welsh Open qualifying produced plenty of exciting encounters, with several matches going the distance.

There were multiple deciding-frame contests, most notably Marco Fu’s narrow 4-3 victory over Xu Yichen.

The Hong Kong veteran was pushed hard and twice trailed by two frames but showed his experience at key moments to come through, making breaks of 100 and 95.

Fellow countryman Cheung Ka Wai also edged a close contest, seeing off Poland’s Mateusz Baranowski by the same scoreline after a tightly fought match.

Haris Tahir survived a nail-biting climax to see off Bai Yulu on the final black in their deciding frame.

Latvia’s Artemijs Zizins also held his nerve to defeat Ross Muir 4-3, while Alexander Ursenbacher claimed a confidence-boosting win over Steven Hallworth in another deciding frame.

Welshman Duane Jones, meanwhile, delivered a commanding display with a 4-0 win against Kreishh Gurbaxani to move one step closer to making an appearance at his home event.

Liam Davies continued his steady progress this season by beating Umut Dikme 4-2 and Dylan Emery also advanced comfortably, conceding just one frame against Yao Pengcheng.

Sam Craigie and Louis Heathcote both recorded solid 4-1 victories, easing past Zhao Hanyang and Jonas Luz respectively.

A number of matches ended in one-sided fashion with Antoni Kowalski, Liam Highfield, Michal Szubarczyk, Farakh Ajaib and Ian Burns all recording whitewash wins to coast into the next round.

Liam Pullen claimed a notable result by defeating former world champion Ken Doherty 4-1, and Canada’s Sahil Nayyar bagged a rare victory with a 4-2 defeat of Chris Totten.

The Welsh Open qualifiers conclude on Saturday with the second round and the remaining players chasing a spot in February’s main event.

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Welsh Open Qualifiers

Round 1

Jiang Jun 4-2 Florian Nüßle
Julien Leclercq 4-2 Ashley Hugill
Marco Fu 4-3 Xu Yichen
Liam Davies 4-2 Umut Dikme
Cheung Ka Wai 4-3 Mateusz Baranowski
Iulian Boiko 4-2 Chatchapong Nasa
Dylan Emery 4-1 Yao Pengcheng
David Grace 4-1 Liam Graham

Huang Jiahao 4-2 Patrick Whelan
Wang Yuchen 4-2 Mink Nutcharut
Jimmy White 4-1 Sunny Akani
Antoni Kowalski 4-0 Connor Benzey
Haris Tahir 4-3 Bai Yulu
Liam Highfield 4-0 Ng On Yee
Artemijs Zizins 4-3 Ross Muir
Michal Szubarczyk 4-0 Hatem Yassen

Duane Jones 4-0 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Alexander Ursenbacher 4-3 Steven Hallworth
Amir Sarkhosh 4-3 Riley Powell
Sam Craigie 4-1 Zhao Hanyang
Mitchell Mann 4-3 Fergal Quinn
Liam Pullen 4-1 Ken Doherty
Bulcsu Revesz 4-2 Oliver Briffett-Payne
Liu Wenwei 4-3 Gong Chenzhi

Mohammed Shehab 4-2 Lan Yuhao
Farakh Ajaib 4-0 Leone Crowley
Allan Taylor 4-3 Oliver Brown
Louis Heathcote 4-1 Jonas Luz
Robbie McGuigan w/o Reanne Evans
Gao Yang 4-2 Haydon Pinhey
Ian Burns 4-0 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Sahil Nayyar 4-2 Chris Totten

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Round 2

Oliver Lines vs Jiang Jun
Ben Woollaston vs Julien Leclercq
Robbie Williams vs Marco Fu
Ricky Walden vs Liam Davies
Aaron Hill vs Cheung Ka Wai
Ben Mertens vs Iulian Boiko
Xu Si vs Dylan Emery
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs David Grace

Michael Holt vs Huang Jiahao
Martin O’Donnell vs Wang Yuchen
David Lilley vs Jimmy White
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Antoni Kowalski
Anthony McGill vs Haris Tahir
Sanderson Lam vs Liam Highfield
He Guoqiang vs Artemijs Zizins
Jamie Jones vs Michal Szubarczyk

Liu Hongyu vs Duane Jones
Matthew Selt vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Scott Donaldson vs Amir Sarkhosh
Lyu Haotian vs Sam Craigie
Matthew Stevens vs Mitchell Mann
Robert Milkins vs Liam Pullen
Noppon Saengkham vs Bulcsu Revesz
Mark Davis vs Liu Wenwei

Chang Bingyu vs Mohammed Shehab
Luca Brecel vs Farakh Ajaib
Long Zehuang vs Allan Taylor
Zak Surety vs Louis Heathcote
Daniel Wells vs Robbie McGuigan
Jordan Brown vs Gao Yang
Stan Moody vs Ian Burns
Fan Zhengyi vs Sahil Nayyar

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Featured photo credit: WST