Donaldson Withdraws / Vafaei Leads
Scott Donaldson pulled out of the Cazoo World Championship for medical reasons during his final qualifying round match with Ryan Day.
Day was 4-0 up in the Judgement Day tie when Donaldson withdrew, which means the result is 10-0 to Day and the Welshman goes through to the Crucible.
Three-time Crucible quarter-finalist Day said: “Scott pulled me to one side after the fourth frame finished, as we walked backstage. I feel really sorry for what has happened. I started really well in the first couple of frames. In the third frame I noticed he might have an injury to his left knee or ankle. Then he explained that it’s a tremor which had disappeared for five months, then the pressure of his first match brought it back on. Today he said it was there all the time when he was playing so it’s so unfortunate he had to withdraw.”
Day had a a break of 146 in the opening frame, the new front runner for the tournament’s Β£15,000 high break prize.
Hossein Vafaei, who became the first Iranian to compete at the Crucible last year, is four frames way from a return as he leads Jackson Page 6-3. Breaks of 68, 62, 64 and 91 helped Vafaei build a handy advantage.
David Gilbert, a Crucible semi-finalist in 2019, is 6-3 up on two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens after a high quality session. Gilbert fired runs of 96, 64, 52, 55, 103 and 59 while Stevens made 74, 83 and 66. Mark Davis, who needs to win today to keep his tour card, came from 5-2 down to win the last two frames against Joe Perry, so trails just 5-4.
The matches resume at 5pm, with first to ten frames to go through to the televised stages.