Snooker WC qualifiers Day 3: Welsh snooker progidy makes strong return after year-long break

Welshman Jamie Clarke started his journey at the Snooker World Championship qualifiers in style, defeating Haydon Pinhey 10-5 in Sheffield.

The 31-year old Clarke has always been considered a strong prospect, but sadly his career has never propely taken off. This culminated before the start of last season with him losing his spot on the World Tour.

However, his professional status was restored for the ongoing season after victory in the Q Tour Ranking. During his hiatus from the top level of snooker Clarke set up his own academy in Llannell, which has brought new-found excitement to his game according to the Welshman.

"I needed a small break which worked wonders for me. I've found clarity to my game and now feel ready to challenge the top of our sport," Clarke explained.

"I've been playing the best snooker of my life and feel ready. My academy and the community has brought a lot of new motivation," he added.

There's a side to every story, and sadly Pinhey losing meant that he in turn lost his spot on the Tour - just like Clarke did a year ago. In the second round awaits a meeting with Ben Mertens of Belgium.

In other day 3 matchups Lan Yuhao defeated Thailand's Chatchapong Nasan with a score of 10-5. The 17-year old Chinese cueist made a respectable 10 breaks over 50, with three of those being centuries. Lan even came relatively close to a maximum, but his attempt was cut short at 112 points with a miss on the 15th red ball.

The teenager will be rueing that miss, as a maximum in the qualifiers also comes with a £10 000 prize. Sounds good right - especially as a second maximum in the qualifiers would fatten your bank account with a whopping 147 000 pounds! This rare achievement and prize has actually been done as recently as last year by Welshman Jackson Page.

Day 3 brought the first qualifying round to its conclusion, with some second round matchups already starting on Wednesday. These include Michael Holt taking a strong 7-2 lead against Bai Yulu, while 15-year old snooker sensation Michal Szubarczyk has taken a 5-3 lead over Liam Sanderson.

The qualifiers continue today on Thursday with Day 4. Below you can find all the results from the first round of play.






Source: WST