Mixed results for big names on day two of 2024 International Championship qualifying

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A plethora of century breaks were made during the second day of qualifying for the 2024 International Championship final stages as several well-known cueists booked a trip to the Far East for the next round, but several were also eliminated from the competition at the first hurdle.

Newly crowned British Open champion Mark Selby continued his excellent form as he registered runs of 93, 71, 143, 103, 82 and 55 in a 6-3 defeat of teenager rookie Artemijs Zizins.

Current Scottish and Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson was 3-1 down to Hammad Miah at the mid-session interval of their encounter, but on resumption the world number 10 went on a five-frame winning sequence - highlighted by breaks of 126 and 120 in consecutive frames - to emerge a 6-3 victor.

There were plenty of other tons during the morning session in Sheffield; Zhou Yuelong compiled efforts of 101 and 103 but he ended on the wrong side of a deciding frame outcome as Michael Holt (116 break) ousted him, 6-5.

Jimmy Robertson notched up a brace of centuries (102, 112) during his 6-5 win over Sunny Akani, while rookie Gong Chenzhi posted a 106 in a 6-4 success against Jordan Brown.

Three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu crafted a 135 on his way to a 5-2 lead in his tie, but opponent Lyu Haotian strung together the final four frames for a 6-5 comeback win.

Former World Women’s Snooker Champion Baipat Siripaporn made the highest break of the match - a 72 - but it was Mark Davis who progressed to Nanjing for the televised stages after a 6-1 verdict.

Q-School top-up Simon Blackwell caused a shock as he recovered from 4-1 to defeat Crucible finalist Jak Jones, 6-5, in yet another final frame shootout. Four of the eight fixtures during the early shift at Ponds Forge went all the way to a deciding frame.

Despite picking up a few wins over the past fortnight, 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel's concerns carry on as he was dismissed 6-3 by world number 77 Jiang Jun, who made breaks of 113 and 104 in the opening two frames. Defeat for Brecel means he has not qualified for the main venue/televised stages of any of the three ranking events in China this season, so far.

Last year's International Championship runner-up and current top 16 star Tom Ford also exited the £825,000 ranking event as he fell to teenager Stan Moody, 6-2. Ford is having a very difficult start to the 2024/25 season with only one match win to his name at present.

Shaun Murphy was put through his paces by the much-improved Louis Heathcote, but the former World Champion - who struck a 125 in the first frame - navigated through a 6-4 winner. Heathcote scored breaks of 130 and 113.

Elliot Slessor, Robbie Williams and Neil Robertson all capped victories with three-figure contributions of 140, 107 and 100, respectively.

Sanderson Lam, Barry Hawkins, Joe O’Connor, Zak Surety, Ben Woollaston (104 break), Aaron Hill, Stuart Carrington and Amir Sarkhosh also booked tickets to the final stages in Asia during Tuesday’s action.

For full details on the 2024 International Championship including the draw, results, prize money, schedule and how to watch, please visit our tournament information centre here.

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