Andrew Pagett cruises into the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011 Round One
Welshman Andrew Pagett entered the first round of Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011 defeating Andrew Higginson 10-6 in the final round of the qualifiers. Pagett is making his debut at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this April since 2003 when
he turned professional.
The world number 78 made his run to the last 32 sensationally crushing Zhang Anda (China) 10-6, Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer 10-4, Nigel Bond of England 10-9 and Englishman Andrew Higginson 10-6.
The Welshman, turning 29 in April, faced Chinese Zhang Anda in his first qualifier. The cueist from Blackwood, Newport, stepped over the Chinese 10-6 surprising him clinching first three consecutive frames – 75-46, 104-25 and 78-49 – to take 3-0 instant
lead. Anda replied brilliantly, crashing the Welshman clicking the next four frames consecutively – 1-70, 24-71, 0-101 and 56-68 – to lead 3-4 in the match. Anda’s one-frame lead throttled the 28-year-old, but he didn’t take it hard and capitalised in the
next frames taking back-to-back frames.
At one stage the scores were balanced at 5-5 before Pagett occupied the table and swept it winning the next four frames – 72-7, 77-0, 74-37 and 80-12 – followed by the 16th, after Anda won the scrappy 15th, to claim his first-round qualifier victory.
The Wales’ national number 1 in 2008/2009 took on Nigel Bond in the third-round match after dismantling Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer 10-4 in the second round of Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011 qualifiers. Bond stunned the Welshman putting him under
three-frame-lead pressure in the very beginning of the match. Pagett released the pressure quickly as he equalised the score 4-4 getting the next four frames consecutively.
After 19 frames, Bond was leading 8-9 before the 2010/2011 Welsh champion smashed back beautifully, grabbing the frame 103-11 and dragged the game into a decider frame which he finally won 68-65 with a three-point margin and paddled himself into the last
qualifying round head-to-head against Andrew Higginson.
The Players Tour Championship (PTC) quarter-finalist, Pagett, played his ultimate qualifier against 2007 Welsh Open runner-up Andrew Higginson of England. Pagett took a 3-2 lead over the world number 23 after five frames before the 33-year-old Englishman
grabbed the sixth, seventh and eighth frame 0-71, 38-98 and 44-68 respectively with a couple of outstanding breaks of 70 and 69 in the former two to gain a two-frame lead over the world number 78 at 3-5.
Pagett clinched the ninth frame followed by the Englishman’s 10th frame win to retain a two-frame lead at 4-6. After that, Andrew Pagett stumbled upon the table and smashed some extraordinary breaks of 79, 60, 62 and 64 to clinch six frames in a row ending
Higginson’s hope for the Crucible. He also earned his spot at the tournament for the first time in his career.
The 2003 European Championship finalist displayed some excellent rounds of potting skills from the beginning of the qualifying stages. He was ranked 78 in the world snooker ranking of 2010-11, revised after the Welsh Open 2011 where he lost to Kuldesh Johal
of England 1-4 in the first round of the qualifiers. He faced the same fate against Joe Delaney of Ireland in the China Open 2011 qualifiers first round losing to the Irishman 2-5. Pagett played his first World Snooker Championship qualifier in 2009 when he
won his first match against Paul Davison 10-5 but lost to Stuart Pettman 3-10 in the second qualifying round.
Pagett is making his debut entry at the Crucible Theatre along with his four compatriots, Mark Williams, Ryan Day, Dominic Dale and Matthew Stevens. England’s Jimmy Robertson has also qualified for the televised stages of the World Snooker Championship for
the first time so the Crucible will see several new faces this year. By qualifying for the most prestigious tournament of the cue sports, he has become the 16th Welsh player to play at the Crucible Theatre. Pagett’s opponent in the first round of Betfred.com
World Snooker Championship 2011 will be decided on 21st March in the draw for the last-32 clashes.
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