Former snooker superstar advances at World Championship with a dazzling performance

Marco Fu of Hong Kong started his journey at the Snooker World Championship qualifiers in spectacular fashion on Tuesday on the back of a 10-1 rout over Thailand's Mink Nutcharut.

The 48-year old Fu is remembered fondly at the Crucible, and the 2006 and 2016 semifinalist left little to chance in the first qualifying round. His match highlights included three centuries (100, 105 and 136), which were complemented by three other breaks worthy of note (94, 74 and 65).

- "I played well and scored a lot of points. Returning to the Crucible would mean everything to me, but the level of play is nowadays extremely high.", Fu commented following his victory.

It's certainly been a while since the Sheffield crowd got to enjoy Fu's showmanship, as his last visit to snooker's showpiece event dates as far back as 2018. Known for his flashy no-nonsense style, even in his slightly more senior years Fu is still the fastest player on the felt amongst all World Tour participants. Peaking at #5, Fu has seen his ranking plummet down to 85 today.

However, in long and gruelling World Championship qualifiers Fu can still be a dangerous prospect for any opponent. In the second round the pride of Hong Kong will face Liam Davies of Wales.

In the other qualifiers on Tuesday we said goodbye to 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty following a 5-10 defeat to Englishman Patrick Whelan. This was definitely a career-high moment for Whelan, as the amateur status cueist had previously tasted victory only once at the professional level.

12-time women's World Champion Reanne Evans also bowed out of the tournament, falling 7-10 to Moldovian Vladislav Gradinari.

The most dramatic match of the day was between Liam Pullen and Alfie Burden. The 20-year old Pullen made a proper comeback from 1-5 down all the way to a decider, where a potted blue completed his journey to a 10-9 win and the second round.

Below you can find all the matches and results from the first round of qualifiers at the snooker World Championships. The qualifiers continue on Wednesday with some first round matches, complemented by the first bouts of the 2nd qualifying round. Players need to make it past four qualifying rounds to reach the Crucible.






Sources: WST, BBC