By Anand Philar
Mumbai, March 10 (IANS): Jamie Jones lived up to his nickname 'Welsh Warrior' by knocking out higher-ranked Liang Wenbo of China 4-2 to author the first upset result in the Indian Open World ranking snooker tournament here on Tuesday.
The first round match saw Jones, ranked No.44, shrug off a 0-2 deficit and win the next four frames in a row to put out the 20th ranked Wenbo. The Chinese paid the price for some loose play, especially in the third.
He squandered a 39-0 lead to allow the Welshman back into the match that saw both players complaining about balls drifting, but agreeing to carry on.
Ben Woolaston, the 26th ranked Englishman, pulled off a dramatic 4-3 win over China's Yu Delu after being down 0-2 and then 0-67 in the seventh before clinching the decider with a 67 clearance that led to black being re-spotted.
Delu, ranked 51, played a careless safety shot and Welsh Open finalist Woolaston sank the black for the match.
Elsewhere, three Indian Wild card entries made their exit. Brijesh Damani lost 1-4 to England's Sam Baird after taking the first frame, Neeraj Kumar went down 0-4 to Thai star Thepachaiya Un-Nooh 4-0 with the visitor posting a break of 101 in the third frame. Sumit Talwar was beaten 4-0 by England's Adam Duffy.
The 28-year old Yenbo was up and flying as he took the first frame on a break of 41 clearance to turn back a 37-point deficit and then notched a brilliant 85 for a 2-0 lead.
However, a miss on the red when on a break of 39 in the third frame turned the tide against Yenbo as 27-year old Jones responded with a run of 43 to make it 1-2. Yenbo had another chance in the fourth which he began with a break of 53, but Jones crafted a 37 followed by 28 clearance to black and level the frame scores.
Jones pouched the fifth on the back of 41 and 39 clearance before finishing off in style by crafting a break of 73 in the sixth for a 4-2 victory.
"I was very nervous at the start and by the time I settled down, he was up two frames, but I got a good opening in the third which helped me to get back into the match," said Jones.
The performances of the Indian wild card entries were rather disappointing and they looked out of depth against hardcore professionals who made every visit to the table count.
"This is something we must learn from these professionals. They punish us every time we make a mistake and score big points. I had my chances after winning the first frame, but an error in the second was the turning point as he came up with good breaks and took the match away from me," said Damani.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Marco Fu, the World No.10 and Allister Carter of England conceded walk-overs as both could not make the trip. It was said the two failed to secure a visa.
The results:
Round 1 (Main draw): Gerard Greene (N Ireland) bt Matthew Stevens (Wales) 4-2: 08-88, 71-42, 90 (69)-00, 62-23, 37-61, 70-14; Jamie Jones (Wales) bt Liang Wenbo (China) 4-2: 50-54, 01-85 (85); 74-47, 65-54 (53), 74-31, 81 (73)-00; Ben Woollaston (England) bt Yu Delu (China) 4-3: 54-66, 24-90 (59), 80-13, 65-54, 00-89 (72), 101 (100)-16, 74 (67)-67 (66); Stuart Carrington (England) w/o Marco Fu (Hong Kong); Mark Joyce (England) w/o Allister Carter (England).
Wild card round: Thepachaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Neeraj Kumar 4-0: 92-09, 101(64)-15, 101(101)-23, 77 (69)-08; Sam Baird (England) bt Brijesh Damani 4-1: 04-71, 57-26, 67-27, 129 (69,50)-01; 68-31; Adam Duffy (England) bt Sumit Talwar 4-0: 51-15, 63-53, 71-32, 71-45.