UK Championship: Kyren Wilson sweeps past Stephen Maguire to move into round two
Michael Holt, who is out of the World Snooker Tour between 2022 and 2024, has reached the last 16 of the British Championship for the first time since 1999, beating 10th seed Gary Wilson.
The 46-year-old Holt, who topped the Q Tour standings last season and regained his spot on the tour, is ranked 98th in the world and must go through four rounds of qualifying.
He and Wilson tied for the opening two games before Holt narrowly won the third game on a black ball. Breaks of 69 and 95 left Holt a point shy of victory and he looked to be on track, only to snooker himself after pocketing the brown ball with three balls left .
But Wilson failed to capitalize on his chance and Holt scored a long-range pink to seal a fine win. Holt will now face 2024 world runner-up Jak Jones, who defeated 2023 Crucible winner Luca Brecel.
“This time last year I was getting ready to do the Q Tour 5 in Brighton, which I won, and now a year later I’m in the last 16 of the British Championships, so that makes me really happy,” said Holt.
“My game is there, it’s always been there, I just have to let it out. Coming to this arena, I love it. The crowd was great and it was a great game.”
On quitting touring in 2022, he added: “You always believe (you can come back) but you never know what’s going to happen. It does hurt to quit touring, but it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me .
“I’ve always been grateful (as a professional) and you realize you’re privileged. I quit touring and the world kept turning. The way I came back was a confidence booster. I enjoyed it – the nerves were always there ”
Bressel, the No. 7 seed, became the sixth seed to lose in three days. He led 42-0 in the decider, but Jones scored 66 points to win 6-5 while trailing 5-3.
“I thought I played pretty well down 5-3,” Jones said. “You always want to do well in the biggest tournaments and this is the second biggest tournament on tour and I felt good at the end.”
