English Open 2021 – David Gilbert and Ali Carter win, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh makes 139 in whitewash, Matthew Stevens out

ByEurosport

Updated 20/09/2021 at 21:45 GMT

David Gilbert reached the last 64 of the English Open with a 4-2 win over David Grace. The Thai Rocket Thepchaiya Un-Nooh needed little time earlier to reach the main event at Milton Keynes as he made four straight 80+ breaks to book a match with Peter Devlin in the first round proper. There were also wins for Devlin, Li Hang and Ali Carter in qualifying. The English Open begins on 1 November.

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David Gilbert completed a 4-2 win over David Grace to reach the last 64 of the English Open with breaks of 70, 107 and 50 securing his progress in the qualifying round in Milton Keynes.

World number 18 Gilbert saw Grace restore parity at 2-2 with a 66, but the Championship League winner dominated the final two frames to reach the televised stage LIVE on Eurosport.

The English Open returns to the Marshall Arena between 1-7 November with the opening matches involving the world's top 16 held over until the venue.

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Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made three centuries earlier on Monday as he cruised into the main draw for the English Open with a 4-0 whitewash of Jamie O’Neill.

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The 36-year-old made breaks of 123, 82, 139 and 105 as he restricted his opponent to just 34 points.

Since reaching the World Open final in 2019, Thepchaiya has faded as a force and failed to progress beyond the fourth round at any event last season.

However, he remains one of the Tour’s most exciting players and is hard to stop when he finds this sort of rhythm.

Matthew Stevens was a surprise casualty as he went down 4-3 to Peter Devlin, while Li Hang was a 4-1 winner over fellow Chinese Si Jiahui.

Two-time world finalist Ali Carter progressed with a 4-1 win over Fan Zhengyi boosted by knocks of 76 and a 91.

Former German Masters winner Anthony Hamilton was a 4-2 winner over Louis Heathcote as he rolled in a break of 109 in the opening frame.