Bai Yulu made four breaks over 50 as she scored her first win since joining the World Snooker Tour, beating Farakh Ajaib 6-4 in the first qualifying round of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in Leicester.
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China's Bai, age 21, has established herself as the most exciting young talent in women's snooker this year, winning both the World and UK Championship. She has joined the pro tour for the first time this season, and after a run of early defeats, she now has a victory under her belt.
From 3-1 down against Ajaib she took four frames in a row to lead 5-3, and eventually clinched the result in frame ten. Bai scored heavily across the contest, firing runs of 68, 57, 52 and 73. She will meet Jamie Jones next on Sunday evening and needs three more wins to make it to the final stages in York, which run from November 23 to December 1.
Liam Davies came within two pots of his first 147, but narrowly missed the pink with the rest on 134 during his 6-3 win over Ahmed Aly Elsayed. A maximum for the Welsh teenager would have got him halfway to a £147,000 bonus, available for any player who makes two 147s across the four majors this season.
Zhao Xintong, the 2021 champion, made a rare 146 during a 6-3 win over Sunny Akani, establishing a formidable target for the £15,000 high break prize. From 3-2 down, China's Zhao took the last four frames.
Promising rookie Gong Chenzhi made breaks of 123, 90 and 106 during a 6-2 win over Daniel Womersley, while Latvia's Artemijs Zizins top scored with 89 in a 6-1 defeat of Mark Joyce. Ukraine's Iulian Boiko saw off Bulcsu Revesz 6-3, while UAE's Mohamed Shehab scored his first win of the season, beating Dean Young 6-4.
African champion Hatem Yassen enjoyed a 6-0 success against Mink Nutcharut, while amateur Oliver Sykes scored an impressive 6-4 win over Ben Mertens.
The qualifying rounds run until Thursday, with the 16 survivors going through to York.