Jenson On The Button

World number 116 Jenson Kendrick scored a surprise 4-1 victory over former Crucible king Stuart Bingham to reach the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Kendrick came through Q School in 2022 and has found the jump to the pro circuit tough, failing to win a match before today. But the 21-year-old is now off the mark thanks to a fine result against 2015 World Champion Bingham. A break of 67 helped the Stoke cueman to a 3-0 lead and he made a 52 in frame five on his way to the finish line. Kendrick goes through to the last 64 in Brentwood next month.

World Women’s Champion Baipat Siripaporn came close to her first win on the pro tour, but let slip a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 to Muhammad Asif. A break of 63 helped Siripaporn surge ahead and she had chances for victory in frames five and six, but Asif battled back to 3-3 then dominated the decider.

Dylan Emery scored an impressive 4-2 win over Noppon Saengkham, making breaks of 62, 88 and 70. Ricky Walden top scored with 121 in a 4-0 whitewash of Jordan Brown, while James Cahill’s 4-2 win over Manasawin Phetmalaikul was highlighted by runs of 140, 55 and 111. Joe O’Connor pulled away from 2-2 to beat Jimmy White 4-2.

All winners now go through to the final stages which run from October 2nd to 8th in Brentwood. All matches involving the top 16 seeds have been held over to the Essex venue and the match schedule for the opening day is available here. Tickets for the event are available now from just £11, for details click here.