Allen and Un-Nooh Progress on Day Two

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a 147 maximum break as he secured his spot in tomorrow’s final day at the Paul Hunter Classic in Fürth. After agonisingly missing the final black for a maximum on two occasions last season, Un-Nooh finally had his moment in the second frame of his last 32 match with Kurt Maflin. The break puts him in line for a potential £40,000 prize. 31-year-old Un-Nooh was a 4-1 winner, making a run of 120 in the final frame.

“I feel as if I’m flying,” said Un-Nooh. “The two blacks I missed last year were still in my head. If I had known this one was for £40,000, maybe I would have missed again.”

Un-Nooh’s opponent in the last 16 will be world number 6 Mark Allen. Making his first tournament appearance of the season, Allen got his campaign off to a successful start as he progressed to the final day. The Northern Irishman beat Zhang Yong in his opening match, before sealing a 4-1 victory over compatriot Joe Swail. 30-year-old Allen looked to be in impressive form, as he defeated Li Hang 4-2 in the last 32, making two centuries.

There was further success for Northern Ireland as Gerard Greene produced the shock of the day with a 4-3 win over 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham in the last 64. Having dropped off the tour last season, Greene came through the amateur rounds to reach the last 32, where he faced Cypriot Michael Georgiou. 42-year-old Greene proved to be too strong as he booked a clash with Jamie Jones thanks to a 4-1 win.

Jones put an end to a great run by another amateur Peter Lines. 46-year-old Lines, who also dropped off the tour at the end of last year, got off to the better start making a break of 71 in the opener. However, Jones responded with breaks of 91,50 and 62 as he secured passage through with a 4-1 win.

David Grace kick-started his 2016/17 season with two 4-0 whitewashes on his way to the last 16. He first saw off Sean O’Sullivan 4-0 in the morning session, before a tense 4-3 victory over 2003 UK Championship winner Matthew Stevens. 31-year-old Grace then faced Jack Lisowski, who was fresh off a 4-0 defeat of 2015 Shanghai Master Champion Kyren Wilson. However, this time Lisowski was on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline as Grace progressed.

Tom Ford put on an impressive display in the last 32 to see off Alan McManus. Ford made breaks of 54, 128 and 72 to on his way to a 4-2 victory. Earlier in the day, the Leicester based potter produced a resilient display to defeat Chris Wakelin 4-3, having squandered a 3-0 lead.

Robbie Williams reached the last 16 stage of a ranking event for the first time since 2013 with a 4-3 win over Andrew Higginson. World number 55 Williams made breaks of 104 and 74 on his way to the win.