Irish duo Aaron Hill and Jordan Brown have come through qualifying to secure their spots at next month’s Northern Ireland Open.
Hill was pushed all the way by Scotland’s Ross Muir before eventually winning 4-3 last night.
The Cork man led 2-0 and 3-1, but faced a deciding frame for the third match in a row, this time coming out on the winning side, after recent defeats to Jak Jones and Xu Si at the British and English Opens respectively.
It sets the 24-year-old up for a clash against Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on the opening Sunday in Belfast.
Brown had a much more straightforward path into his home event, seeing off Belgium’s Julien Leclercq 4-0, with breaks of 70 and 51.
Antrim man Brown is in a battle to retain his tour card having slipped down to 64th in the provisional world rankings, with only the top-64 guaranteed place on the 2027/28 World Snooker Tour.
Mark Allen’s last played against Wu Yize at the Crucible
He’s set to face fellow Antrim man Mark Allen in the first round, although Allen’s participation in an event he has won twice before remains uncertain.
The Pistol hasn’t played a professional match since this year’s World Championship, where he missed a straightforward, match-winning black in his semi-final against eventual champion Wu Yize.
This afternoon, WST confirmed that Allen won’t be participating at the upcoming Shenzhen Open, once more citing personal reasons. It means that the 40-year-old’s next scheduled match is against his good friend Brown at the Waterfront Hall.
Elsewhere in the Northern Ireland Open qualifiers, there was disappointment for Leone Crowley, who lost to Scott Donaldson 4-2 in the second round, while Fergal Quinn lost his first round qualifier 4-1 to Alfie Burden.
The Northern Ireland Open is the only WST event to take place on the island of Ireland, and it will run in Belfast from 18-25 October.