Jamie Burnett ousts James Wattana in Qualifying Round 3 of 2011 World Snooker Championships
Thai-Poon, James Wattana, has lost his battle to Jamie Burnett by a frame score of 10-8 in the qualifying round 3 of the 2011 World Snooker Championships at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, England.
James Wattana, who previously beat Justin Astley and Andy Hicks comfortably with frame scores of 10-3 and 10-2 respectively, has crashed out.
James Wattana, the man who has been knocked out, was relatively more experienced. He has reached the World Championships semi-finals twice in 1993 and 1997. However, Jamie Burnett has also made two Crucible appearances before.
It was one of the best battles seen in the qualifiers as of yet. Both players showcased their break-building skills and made classy breaks of 74, 118, 79, 96, 56, 66, 61, 65, 90, 45, and 115.
The overall score line between them was 51-85, 69-42, 4-74, 118-16, 8-81, 83-6, 40-96, 56-64, 62-42, 55-65, 66-24, 35-69, 49-57, 62-1, 71-14, 90-0, 87-0, and 115-0.
Wattana dominated the opening frame with a break of 49 to have the first blood 1-0. He also was the first one to be among the balls in the second but this time he broke at 35 giving his opponent a chance who responded with a couple of quick fires, 32 and
37, to level the things by 1-1.
Third and fourth frames were over within a blink of an eye. Wattana compiled a classy break of 74 in third where as Burnett wrapped up the fourth with a mind boggling match-highest century break of 118 to level the scores by 2-2 before the interval.
After the interval, Wattana took the first one playing tactfully before another superb break of 79 from Burnett came up in the sixth. However, he lost his nerve in the next one after rolling in 40 and when the chance presented itself, Wattana slotted a carving
break of 96. He also took the following frame with a couple of quick breaks, 41 and 23, to lead his opponent by 5-3. However, Burnett took the scrappy ninth after a bout of safety to come within one frame 5-4 before the end of first session.
In the evening session, Wattana again took the first frame showing his flawless safety skills before Burnett pocketed the second with a decisive break of 66. However, he again lost two straight to Wattana who came far superior in safety skills once again.
The match was almost through as Wattana needed only two more frames to seal his victory. He had left his opponent down by three frames with possible six to play.
However, the tables were turned over when Burnett clawed back with all of his zeal, energy and strength and won all five in a row with back to back breaks of 61, 65, 90, 45, and 115. The spectacular game from the Scottish didn’t let Wattana register himself
even in a single frame and secured his place in the final qualifying match by 10-8.
The 35-year-old, Jamie Burnett, will now face Liang Wenbo in the final qualifying round and the winner is going to reach the last 16.
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