Jimmy White’s renaissance continues in opening round of the WST Classic
Jimmy White’s superb season could only get better after he came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Graeme Dott 4-2 in the opening round of the inaugural WST Classic in Leicester.
The Whirlwind have turned back the years on numerous occasions this year, including qualifying for their first UK Championship since 2010 and becoming the first player aged 60 or over to reach the last 16 of a ranking event since Eddie Charlton in 1992 .
Competing in his seventh ranking tournament of the campaign, White looked against as the Scottish veteran compiled breaks from 130 and 51 to open a 2-0 lead.
The 60-year-old grabbed a hard-fought third frame to get back in the match, going 3-2 ahead before securing the win with a break from 56.
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan made it through to the second round safely, while there was a milestone for Judd Trump as he also advanced.
Seven-time and reigning world champion O’Sullivan saw off Egypt’s world No. 117 Mohamed Ibrahim 4-2, recording breaks of 137 and 104 in the process.
Trump’s 4-1 win over David Lilley saw him join O’Sullivan and John Higgins in an elite club – the only players in history to have completed 900 career centuries. That was accomplished with a 113 that put him 2-1 against Lilley and Trump later sealed the triumph with another to add to the tally, a 131.
Mark Williams beat Sean O’Sullivan 4-3 and Kyren Wilson beat Dean Young 4-1. But world No. 10 Luca Brecel was beaten 4-2 by Haydon Pinhey, a Plymouth amateur who paused for two centuries en route to victory.
Ryan Day, ranked No. 18 in the world, was also eliminated by an amateur status player who was beaten 4-1 by Steven Hallworth.
WST Classic: Today’s schedule and results
Friday March 17th
First Round (Best of 7 Frames)
Games played by 1000
- Gary Wilson 4-0 Lei Peifan
- Yuan SiJun 4-0 Andy Lee
- Ryan Day 1-4 Steven Hallworth
- Cao Yupeng 4-3 Craig Steadman
Games from 1200
- Jordan Brown 1-4 Allan Taylor
- Luca Brecel 2-4 Haydon Pinhey
- Zhou Yuelong 4-3 Julien Leclercq
- Graeme Dott 2-4 Jimmy White
Games from 1400
- Elliot Slessor 4-0 Himanshu Dinesh Jain
- Mark Williams 4-3 Sean O’Sullivan
- Wu Yize 4-1 Ashley Hugill
- Kyren Wilson 4-1 Dean Young
Games from 1600
- Jimmy Robertson 3-4 Luke Kleckers
- Jackson page 4-3 Anton Kazakov
- Judd Trump 4-1 David Lilley
- Joe Perry 4-0 Duane Jones
Games from 1800
- Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 Mohamed Ibrahim
- David Grace 4-1 Ryan Thomerson
- Sam Craigie 2-4 Hammad Miah
- Jamie Jones 4-2 Rory McLeod
CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND DRAW
WST Classic: How to watch?
The brand new WST Classic can be viewed for £4.99 at http://Matchroom.Live