Tom Ford fights back to beat Lu Haotian in wild card round of 2012 Haiku World Open
Comparatively experienced, England’s Tom Ford seemed helpless when he played against the 14-year-old China’s Lu Haotian as he strived to clinch his wild card round victory by 5-4 at Haiku Stadium.
The Englishman might have considered his wild card round clash an easy one for him which almost cost him a brutal defeat but he realised his position and bounced back into the match. However, he still had to make a tough fight back to get to the winning
podium. The World Number 21 came from 0-3 down to claim his victory.
The young Chinese showed no signs of immaturity during his run and played brilliantly in the first session of the match. He surged into a fine 0-3 lead after he pushed his English opponent down early in the match with the help of some impressive small breaks.
Before the young Chinese could do more damage, Ford compiled three frame wins firing a cracking century knock to pull level at 3-3.
Haotian hit the seventh frame win to move 4-3 before Ford potted a stunning clearance of 80 equalise the scores at 4-4 and drag the match into the decider frame. The final frame seemed tough in the beginning but the 28-year-old Ford made it easy in the end
with a couple of small knocks and booked his place in the opening round of 2012 Haiku World Open.
While speaking to the World Snooker after his clash, Ford said, “He was a good player and I think in a few years time nobody will want to play him. The wild cards here are all good players but I thought that if a start playing like I can then knew I could
win. I'm just going to try and sleep now and keep relaxed for my last 16 match.”
Ford was scheduled to play with the Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan in his first round match but O’Sullivan had to pull out of the tournament because of some medical reasons. The Rocket’s absence in the event has now pushed Ford directly into the second round
where he will be meeting the winner of first-round encounter between Mark Williams and Mark King.
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