Graham Scores First Professional Win
Scottish 18-year-old Liam Graham prevailed in a final frame decider to beat China’s Cao Yupeng 4-3 at Cazoo British Open qualifying in Leicester.
Rookie Graham earned his maiden stint on the World Snooker Tour by beating Iulian Boiko in the final of the European Under-21 Championship back in March. Today’s victory against former Scottish Open finalist Cao is his first since making the leap to the professional ranks.
Breaks of 57 and 69 helped Graham to secure an early 2-0 lead this morning, before Cao hit back with three on the bounce to move one away from the win at 3-2. However, Graham dug deep and took the sixth on the black to force a decider. He then dramatically also took the last on the black to clinch his place in the final stages.
Former Crucible semi-finalist David Gilbert scored a 4-1 win over Australia’s Ryan Thomerson to progress. Tamworth cueman Gilbert crafted runs of 63 and 77 en route to victory.
Egypt’s Mohamed Ibrahim defeated former Women’s World Champion Mink Nutcharut 4-3, while Iran’s Hossein Vafaei beat Andy Lee 4-1.