Miah Earns Cheltenham Spot
World number 109 Hammad Miah scored a 4-3 victory over a player ranked 84 places higher, Zhou Yuelong, to reach the final stages of the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.
China’s Zhou is a three-time ranking event finalist but he won’t be at the final stages of this one as he finished second best in the qualifying round despite making a break of 105 in the opening frame then going 2-0 ahead. Miah hit back to win four of the last five frames with a top break of 61.
World number 20 Ricky Walden was another player to lose to a lower-ranked opponent as he went down 4-0 against Xu Si, whose top break was 67.
Highest break of the day was 134, made by Robbie Williams during a 4-0 rout of Pang Junxu. Dominic Dale rattled in runs of 91, 67 and 54 during a 4-1 defeat of Mark Joyce.
Oliver Lines top scored with 71 in a 4-0 win over practice partner Liam Pullen, while Oliver Brown made a 79 clearance in the deciding frame to edge out Himanshu Jain 4-3.