Liam Highfield won four straight sets against Ali Carter after falling behind 5-2 at one point to win the final qualifying round of the 2022 Snooker Championship and claim a place in the round of 32.
In the first round of the main event, Highfield will face Stuart Bingham. Carter, who lost the match, also missed the opportunity to challenge Bingham again to complete "revenge" after the 2020 Masters final. Highfield, from Stoke, have lost six games in a row since the start of the season, but are hoping to turn his playing form around in the second largest ranking match.
Highfield started with one-shot 90 and 79 to take a 2-1 lead in this crucial qualifying match, followed by one-shot 86, 91 and 61 to take the first match point after winning four straight innings. Highfield hit a one-shot 78, 50 and 54 to tie 5-5, and Highfield, who took the lead in the tiebreaker, scored 48 points and made a mistake, but he quickly re-entered the game with 20 points to complete the comeback.
'When I was 5-2 down, I relaxed and gave my all the game, which was very rewarding. The 31-year-old said after the game, "Sometimes letting go of a few shots can unleash your abilities and the game will become smoother. I try to follow the trend and play like in training. I was nervous at the end of the match, and even with a 68-0 lead in the final set, I felt like I hadn't fully won. ”
'I feel fit and strong and I don't feel tired after winning two games.'
Another England player, Sam Craigie, also played at a high level against Ian Burns, scoring 80, 104, 52, 129 and 79 to secure a 6-2 spot in the main season. Craigie will face defending champion Zhao Xintong of China in the opener - the match will be played this Saturday at 9pm Beijing time.
Professional newcomer Petrov from Estonia failed to win his fourth qualifying match, with Xiao Guodong shooting a one-shot 62 and a two-shot 90 to win 6-3. Xiao Guodong will face Judd Trump in the main event. In the final qualifying match, Matthew Celt scored a maximum one-shot 140 to defeat veteran Anthony Hamilton 6-4 and face Kyren Wilson in the first round of the main season.
Saturday, November 12
9 p.m.: Xintong Zhao vs S. Craiggie; M. Allen vs J. Brown
3 a.m. the next day: K. Wilson vs M. Selter; R. Day vs J. White
November 13 (Sun)
9 p.m.: N. Robertson vs J. Perry; L. Bressel vs Lu Haotian
3 a.m. the next day: J. Higgins vs T. Forde; B. Hawkins vs Ding Junhui
Monday, November 14
9 p.m.: R. O'Sullivan vs M. Stevens; Yan Bingtao vs Zhou Yuelong
3 a.m.: M. Williams vs J. Clark; S. Bingham vs. L. Highfield
November 15 (Sun)
9 p.m.: J. Trump vs Xiao Guodong; J. Lisowski vs Xu Si
3 a.m. the next day: M. Selby vs H. Wafi; S. Murphy vs D. Gilbert