Chinese 23-year-old Pang Junxu swept past former Women’s World Champion Mink Nutcharut 5-1 to make it through BetVictor European Masters qualifying in Leicester.
Pang has risen to prominence in recent times, since earning the Rookie of the Year award back in 2021. The world number 34 enjoyed landmark moments towards the end of last season. He reached his maiden ranking final at the WST Classic, where helost out to Mark Selby. Pang then qualified for the final stages of the World Championship for the first time, he put up a strong fight against defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan but lost 10-7.
He carried that form over to the recent BetVictor Championship League, when he topped his first group before dropping out in stage two and looked to be in good touch today. Breaks of 64, 83, 71,92 and 55 helped Pang to a comfortable victory over Thailand’s Mink this morning, which earns him a place in Nuremberg next month.
World number 25 Zhou Yuelong scored a comfortable 5-1 over recent Q School graduate Stuart Carrington. China’s Zhou signed off in impressive fashion with three consecutive century runs of 116, 107 and 105 to round off the win.
Welshman Daniel Wells defeated Estonia’s Andres Petrov 5-2 to secure his place in the final stages, while tour rookie Jiang Jun scored an impressive 5-1 win over Andrew Pagett.
Former Shanghai Masters Dominic Dale scored a 5-2 win over Anthony McGill to make the final stages. Dale top scored with a run of 120 during the win.
The televised final stages of this world ranking event will run from August 22 to 27 in Nuremberg. For tickets click here.