In the first session, Jones took an early lead with a 5-4 advantage. However, Robertson won four frames in a row to put himself within two frames of qualification for the World Championship. Despite his initial struggles, Jones managed to battle back and ultimately qualified for the championship for the fifth time. After his impressive performance, he expressed his satisfaction and stated that the tournament brings out the best in him.
Meanwhile, David Gilbert, who reached the semi-finals in 2019 and is from England, defeated China’s Xiao Guodong 10-6 in their respective matches. Si Jiahui of China also made a comeback from being 4-0 down to beat Wu Yize 10-4. In another exciting match, Joe O’Connor qualified for the first time and will be the only debutant at this year’s competition after winning 10-8 against Matthew Selt in a late match that finished at 23:30 BST.
Iran’s Hossein Vafaei had a rough start losing the opening three frames against Jiang Jun from China. However, Vafaei recovered and went on to win 10-5, securing his place at the Crucible for a third successive year. Pang Junxu of China also made a successful comeback to the Crucible with a 10-8 victory over compatriot Cao Yupeng. Despite his loss in the qualifiers, Saengkham may still earn the £15,000 high break prize after scoring a maximum 147 break in his third qualifying round match against Andy Hicks.