Gould Downs Doherty – World Snooker

Martin Gould finished with a century as he beat Ken Doherty 4-2 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.

The qualifying round runs until Friday this week in Leicester, with places in Belfast at stake – the televised phase to take place in October.

Match schedule

Former German Masters champion Gould shared the first four frames against Doherty, but then crucially took a scrappy 31-minute fifth frame before sealing victory in style with a run of 110 in frame six.

Liang Wenbo top scored with 104 as he beat Pang Junxu 4-1 in a Chinese derby, while Luca Brecel saw off Michael White 4-0 with top runs of 97 and 83.

Pakistan’s Farakh Ajaib came from 3-1 down to beat Andrew Higginson 4-3, winning the decider on the final pink after getting the better of a safety battle. Elliot Slessor also recovered a 3-1 deficit, beating Ross Muir 4-3 with a 35 clearance in the decider.

Germany’s Simon Lichtenberg saw off Wu Yize 4-2 while Andy Hicks beat Aaron Hill by the same scoreline. Jak Jones fired breaks of 70, 112 and 71 as he beat Soheil Vahedi 4-2.