'I used to be crafty. They call me clueless Ken now' - Doherty wins Snooker Shoot Out thriller, faces David Gilbert next
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Updated 21/01/2022 at 23:03 GMT
“If you have not been having the results it is different as you feel you have to win,” Brecel told Eurosport. “I came to the tournament to have fun and to watch the other games and hopefully have a good run, but if I don’t have a good run it is fine. And I think that is a good mentality to have in this tournament.”
Luca Brecel
Image credit: Eurosport
Ken Doherty is still as crafty as ever, and he used his snooker smarts to beat Bai Langning in a thriller to set up a meeting with Dave Gilbert in round two of the Snooker Shoot Out.
The Irishman was in control with a 19-point lead, but Bai knocked in a couple of brilliant pots to get in the hunt and into the lead.
The match looked over for Doherty when he fouled the yellow with his shirt, but Bai took an age with ball in hand and left his opponent a shot.
Doherty knocked in a brilliant red, followed it up with another glorious red with the rest for position on the black. He rolled it in and killed the frame with 25 seconds left by trapping the white against a red.
"The old heart was fluttering," Doherty said on Eurosport. "I thought I was gone. I got a lifeline at the end and made it count at the end.
"I used to be crafty. They call me clueless Ken now."
The second round has thrown up a few tasty ties, with Barry Hawkins against Ali Carter one of the most intriguing.
Stan Moody stole the show on Thursday, and the diminutive 15-year-old will face Oliver Lines, whose father Peter Lines will face his fellow veteran Nigel Bond.
World No. 1 Mark Selby will have the crowd on his side in his home city of Leicester, and he will face Elliot Slessor in round two, while there will certainly be entertainment as Jack Lisowski faces Robbie Williams.
Second Round Draw
- Fan Zhengyi v Duane Jones
- Mark Lloyd v Mark Allen
- Gary Wilson v Kuldesh Johal
- Liam Highfield v Craig Steadman
- Mitchell Mann v Jordan Brown
- Liang Wenbo v Zak Surety
- Mark Williams v Mark King
- Mark Joyce v Jamie Clarke
- Michael Georgiou v Farakh Ajaib
- Oliver Lines v Stan Moody
- Simon Blackwell v Luca Brecel
- Zhang Anda v Matthew Selt
- Barry Pinches v Hossein Vafaei
- Aaron Hill v Jackson Page
- Paul Deaville v Jak Jones
- Lukas Kleckers v Tian Pengfei
- Dean Young v Yuan SiJun
- Barry Hawkins v Ali Carter
- Shaun Murphy v Ian Burns
- Cao Yupeng v Allan Taylor
- Gao Yang v Steven Hallworth
- Billy Joe Castle v Andrew Pagett
- Michael Holt v Simon Lichtenberg
- Stuart Bingham v Lei Peifan
- Anthony Hamilton v Chris Wakelin
- Leo Fernandez v Daniel Womersley
- Elliot Slessor v Mark Selby
- Ken Doherty v David Gilbert
- Nigel Bond v Peter Lines
- David Lilley v Andrew Higginson
- Jack Lisowski v Robbie Williams
- Sanderson Lam v Ross Bulman
Yuan Sijun and Tom Ford served up the most dramatic moment of the night, as the former won a blue ball shoot out to progress.
Hossein Vafaei knocked in the 25th century in the history of the Shoot Out as he comfortably beat Peter Devlin, while Anthony Hamilton showed he is in tune with his new cue as a break of 78 helped him see off Robert Milkins.
Luca Brecel eased to a 40-20 win over Joe Perry, and the Scottish Open winner arrived in Leicester with a relaxed mindset.
“If you have not been having the results it is different as you feel you have to win,” Brecel, who will face Simon Blackwell in round two, told Eurosport. “I came to the tournament to have fun and to watch the other games and hopefully have a good run, but if I don’t have a good run it is fine. And I think that is a good mentality to have in this tournament.”
The rapid-fire nature of the Shoot Out does not automatically lend itself to patient snooker, but Mark King took a restrained approach when trailing Graeme Dott - hopeful that a chance would come his way.
It did with two minutes left on the clock and the 10-point deficit was transformed into a 38-24 win, and he will face Mark Williams next.
Michael Holt has a cast-iron Shoot Out pedigree, with a win in 2020 and runner-up position in 2019, and he showed his class to beat UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong.
Holt got ahead early and as good a potter Zhao is, the youngster was unable to mount a fightback. Simon Lichtenberg is up next for Holt on Saturday.
Friday evening results
- Luca Brecel 40-20 Joe Perry
- Chris Wakelin 37-2 Michael White (a)
- Scott Donaldson 24-27 David Lilley (a)
- Hossein Vafaei 124-7 Peter Devlin
- Yuan Sijun 31-26 Tom Ford
- Billy Joe Castle (a) 61-23 Sean Maddocks
- Anthony Hamilton 82-0 Robert Milkins
- Jordan Brown 48-20 Jamie Jones
- Mark King 38-24 Graeme Dott
- Lukas Kleckers 67-1 Louis Heathcote
- Robbie McGuigan (a) 21-64 Liam Highfield
- Zhou Yuelong 1-49 Steven Hallworth
- Bai Langning (a) 26-32 Ken Doherty
- Andy Hicks 23-76 Gary Wilson
- Matthew Selt 66-36 Ashley Hugill
- Michael Holt 58-27 Zhao Xintong
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Stream the Snooker Shoot Out live and on demand on discovery+. A subscription for discovery+ is now £29.99 for the first year for UK users, down from £59.99
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