All images credit: Oliver Behrendt
Jimmy White thrashed Peng Yisong 5-1 to make the last 16 of the BetVictor German Masters in Berlin and set up a mouth-watering clash with Jack Lisowski.
London’s legendary 10-time ranking event winner White is enjoying a strong season, having come through four rounds of qualifying to make the final stages of the UK Championship before Christmas. He’s also already earned a spot in the final stages of the upcoming BetVictor Welsh Open.
Victory sees 60-year old White become the first player of his age to reach the last 16 of a ranking event since Eddie Charlton at the 1992 British Open, an event which White won.
White composed breaks of 55, 82, 63, 50 and 70 on his way to victory and is relishing tomorrow evening’s meeting with Lisowski.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I love Jack’s style of play. He is fantastic to watch. This is the perfect arena for me to face a young gun like Jack,” said world number 88 White.
“I’ve got my son working with me full time now. He is enthusiastic like me, so the table is brushed and ironed and I make sure I’m doing my two to four hours of practice. I’m practising different parts of the game, including safety play. I didn’t previously do too much of that. I’m really enjoying playing and I’m really enjoying competing.”
World number 12 Lisowski wasted little time in securing his last 16 berth, after storming to a 5-0 whitewash win over China’s Zhang Anda.
Lisowski, 31, is still searching for his maiden major silverware, but has been pushing hard for the breakthrough this season. The six-time ranking event finalist made the semis at the UK Championship and the Masters, but was beaten by Mark Allen and Mark Williams respectively. He also narrowly lost out to Allen 5-4 in the quarters at the recent World Grand Prix.
The Englishman composed breaks of 61, 117 and 87 this afternoon on his way to a quickfire victory, which lasted just one hour and 19 minutes.
Lisowski said: “Jimmy is one of the biggest legends of the game. It is so good to see him doing well. There are a lot of people who watch him that don’t even like snooker, they are just Jimmy White fans. He is great for the game and it will be a special occasion to play him out there.”
Kyren Wilson kept his hopes of moving to the top of the BetVictor Series rankings alive, with a 5-2 win over Sam Craigie.
Whoever earns the most prize money across the qualifying events will pick up a bumper £150,000 bonus and there is just this week and the BetVictor Welsh Open left to play. Wilson is currently in third place behind Mark Selby and Mark Allen, who didn’t qualify for Berlin.
The Warrior top scored with 82 in today’s win and now faces Jimmy Robertson for a place in the quarter-finals.
Elliot Slessor defeated Joe O’Connor 5-2 to earn his last 16 spot, while Tian Pengfei was a 5-1 winner against Anthony McGill.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login