Jimmy White battles back to win at English Open and set up tasty clash with Luca Brecel in round two

Victory for 63-year-old White at the Brentwood Centre in Essex on Thursday sets him up for a mouth-watering round two clash with 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel this weekend.

Ka Wai - a 26-year-old from Hong Kong who effectively won the world amateur title last year - took control of the encounter early on with a 2-0 lead before breaks of 50 and 57 helped White claim the next two frames to restore parity at 2-2.

White also made a 50 in a dramatic frame five, but it was Ka Wai who pinched it on a re-spotted black to reach the hill first at 3-2 up.

However, the Englishman responded, securing frame six on the colours to force the contest all the way to a decider.

In the final frame, White amassed an advantage by compiling a neat effort of 41 before breaking down. Ka Wai potted a thin red and was very unfortunate locking himself in a tricky snooker behind two other reds from which he awarded his opponent crucial points.

Eventually, Ka Wai made contact with the black ball, but White subsequently sank what was essentially frame ball red before putting the contest beyond doubt.

The result is White’s second win of the season following his impressive Wuhan Open qualifying round victory against Anthony McGill in June.

White - who has been an ever-present on the sport’s top flight since 1980 - plays Belgium’s Brecel in the next round on Saturday morning. The two have previously only met once before on the professional circuit when Brecel defeated White 4-0 in the last 64 of the 2022 Northern Ireland Open.

Former Crucible conqueror Brecel has only just returned to competition on the World Snooker Tour having recently withdrawn from several events at the start of this season and announcing on social media that he was “suffering with health problems”.

Brecel’s first action of the term came during last week’s qualifying double-header at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, where his return match in the Xi’an Grand Prix preliminaries was cut short when he conceded midway through the third frame at 2-0 down to Sunny Akani. The 30-year-old later explained that he wasn’t using his own cue.

Just a few days later in Leicester, Brecel was back on the baize, and this time there was a happier outcome for him as he saw off teenager Liam Davies 4-0 to qualify for the main venue, televised stages of the Northern Ireland Open which will take place at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in November.

Elsewhere during the curtain-raising session for this year's English Open, Akani - who has recently made cues for Ronnie O'Sullivan - strung together four successive frames from 2-0 down to eliminate Oliver Brown, 4-2.

Thai ace Akani turned 30 yesterday. He began his comeback against Brown with a break of 107 in frame three.

Chinese cueists Zhao Hanyang and Huang Jiahao also advanced.

The top 32 seeds for the event enter the fray from round three that begins on Monday; this coincides with the start of televised coverage. Contestants in Brentwood are aiming to lift The Steve Davis Trophy and collect a top prize of £100,000.

Visit our 2025 English Open tournament information centre here for the draw, results, and details on the format, schedule, prize money, and how to watch.