The qualifying rounds for the Haikou World Open 2013 are held in the Academy in Sheffield from December 18 till December 21, 2012. Chen Zhe, Jack Lisowski, Li Yan, Liang Wenbo, Yu Delu and Zhang Anda are competing and trying to book their place in the television stages. Chen Zhe, Jack Lisowski, Yu Delu and Zhang Anda reached the final round, but none of them managed to qualify for the venue.

Round 1 (last 96)

Chen Zhe 5-1 Gareth Allen
Sleepy had a fairly easy win over amateur Gareth Allen, being superior in all departments. Allen’s fighting spirit can’t be faulted though as he battled hard and the last frame went to the last black.

Li Yan 1-5 Duane Jones
Li Yan got beat soundly by amateur Duane Jones. He had a chance to be back in the match when he managed to comeback to 55-58 from 0-58 down in frame 5 to trail only 2-3, but having lost that one on the colors he fount himself 1-4 and his fate was sealed.

Zhang Anda 5-3 Michael Wild
Anda struggled at the start of the match and was 1-3 down at MSI. However, the MSI changed the momentum of the match and from there on Anda won 4 on the trot, quite fluently.

Round 2 (last 80)

Adam Duffy 1-5 Chen Zhe
Sleepy completely outplayed Adam Duffy in this match, scoring 100 as a highest break. He was fluent and scoring well.

Luca Brecel 4-5 Zhang Anda
It was a poor match overall, with both players struggling for position. Luca’s potting was sloppy at times, Anda’s safety wasn’t any good. But Anda made a great 131 to win the decider after Luca played a terrible containing safety and left him right in.

Round 3 (last 64)

Jack Lisowski 5-3 Anthony McGill
Excellent win for Jack against a man in form, in particular as he came from way behind in several frames. Both players were scoring well when in. The highest break of the match was 86 by Jack.

Liang Wenbo 4-5 Liam Highfield
Wenbo lead 3-1 and looked very fluent, allowing Liam only 8 points in the last 3 frames before the interval.But the MSI changed the momentum of the match, the match turned scrappier and Liam took the upper hand. Liam won all next three before Wenbo managed to stop the rot – in extremis – and forced a decider winning the 8th on the black. But Liam took control of the decider and finished with a break of 75.

Steve Davis 4-5 Chen Zhe
A long and scrappy match, with Sleepy the better scorer despite struggling with position and old fox Steve building on his superior safety nous and experience. It went 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 … But Sleepy played an excellent break in the decider (after playing some good safety to create the chance for himself) and he’s one win away from a trip to China.

Yu Delu 5-1 Mike Dunn
Not sure anything can really been taken from that match when it comes to actual form. Mike Dunn has been dispirited for quite an while and intends to retire. Never mind, Yu won convincingly and is one match away from making the venue.

Rory McLeod 2-5 Zhang Anda
And played solid and showed great composure to leave “the Dentist” toothless.

Round 4 (last 48)

Robert Milkins 5-2 Jack Lisowski
Robert Milkins is a very heavy scorer on his day, and this was such a day. He simply had too much for Jack. There was only one frame that didn’t feature a break over 50 and Robert finished with a 101.

Michael Holt 5-3 Chen Zhe
Michael Holt is a very good player when he doesn’t let his nerves get the better of him and he proved it again. Sleepy battled hard and from 1-4 down it looked like he could force a decider when he lead by 62-0 in the 8th frame. Michael however snatched it with a 75 clearance and that put an end to Sleepy’s China dream.

Martin Gould 5-4 Yu Delu
Yu trailed 0-3 and came back to 3-3. He then trailed 3-4 and won a very tense and fragmented 8th frame. But in the end Martin Gould showed his class by taking the decider with two good breaks.

Jamie Cope 5-4 Zhang Anda
It was a very tense match, full of mistakes on both sides. Anda trailed 0-2, came back to 2-2. He then trailed 2-3, but won the next two to lead 4-3. Jamie managed to steal the next with the aid of a fluke. The decider was agony for both, each getting ahead in turn. In the end though it was Jamie who handled it the better of the two and won it by doubling the final pink.