Jimmy ‘Whirlwind’ White continues to show some vintage form on the main World Snooker Tour circuit. After defeating Anthony McGill 5-2 in qualifying for the Wuhan Open, the six-time Crucible finalist produced a battling 4-3 comeback win over Hong Kong hopeful Cheung Ka Wai on Thursday to reach the second round in Brentwood. His reward is a meeting with 2023 world champion Luca Brecel.
Jimmy White will face Luca Brecel in a blockbuster second-round meeting at the English Open on Saturday after displaying his trademark powers of recovery in a 4-3 win over Cheung Ka Wai.
Six-time world finalist White trailed 2-0 and 3-2, but dominated the final two frames against the Hong Kong potter to secure a last-64 meeting with 2023 world champion Brecel in Brentwood.
White – who reached the last of his world finals in 1994, five years before Cheung was born – dropped the first two frames against the 26-year-old, but breaks of 50 and 57 saw him restore parity at 2-2.
Despite producing a further run of 50 in the fifth frame, White lost it on a re-spotted black, but refused to be deflated as he clinched the final two frames to seal his progress.
Cheung’s fate was sealed when he snookered himself behind two reds trailing 42-9 before conceding another 28 points in failing to hit the black as White saw out the decider with ease.
His match with Brecel, who won their only previous meeting 4-0 at the Northern Ireland Open three years ago, begins at 10am live on discovery+, with the winner of that encounter meeting Hossein Vafaei in the last 64 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Marco Fu continued to find some rapid scoring form with the three-time ranking event winner compiling 62, 79, 110 and 104 to whitewash Gao Yang in less than an hour in his tournament opener.
The evergreen Hong Kong player has become a reborn speed merchant in recent times, clocking an average shot time of 15.3 seconds, the fastest in the world this season.
