Pullen In The Right Direction

Tour rookie Liam Pullen won a knock out ranking event match for the first time, beating Ahmed Aly Elsayed 4-0 to reach the final stages of the BetVictor English Open.

Yorkshire’s 18-year-old Pullen qualified for the tour via Q Tour and showed glimpses of his potential during narrow 5-4 defeats to Oliver Brown and Jamie Jones in recent weeks. The former English under-18 champion now has a victory under his belt and can look forward to a trip to Brentwood for the season’s first BetVictor Home Nations event next month. Breaks of 70, 90, 55 and 74 were the highlights of an impressive performance from the teenager.

Six-time ranking event winner Stephen Maguire trailed Daniel Wells three times but recovered to win 4-3. Breaks of 130, 65 and 131 helped Maguire to win a high quality tussle.

Veterans Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty both suffered heavy 4-0 defeats. Hendry was up against Fergal O’Brien in a match where the combined age of the two players was 105. O’Brien came out on top with a high break of 69.  Doherty was whitewashed by Jackson Page, whose top breaks were 58 and 56.

Scott Donaldson edged out Long Zehuang 4-3 thanks to a run of 55 in the decider while David Lilley earned a 4-1 success against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. David Gilbert knocked in 103, 93 and 105 during a 4-1 defeat of Dean Young. Allan Taylor beat Jak Jones 4-3, coming from 52-0 down in the decider to take it with a break of 65.