Snooker: Leslie comes from behind to record first pro victory

By MICHAEL GALLACHER
Published on 19/12/2012 12:00

Bonnyrigg snooker star Michael Leslie put a run of defeats behind him yesterday to record his first victory as a professional, defeating England’s Michael Wasley 5-3 in the opening round of the Haikou World Open Qualifiers at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

Leslie didn’t start well after his English opponent made breaks of 42 and 32 to go 2-0 ahead, but he recovered well to win a close third before breaks of 29 and 37 allowed the Bonnyrigg teenager to level the match at 2-2 at the interval.

Leslie then edged in front 3-2 by winning the fifth and a break of 50 helped him open up a two-frame lead. Wasley pulled one back with a 77 in the seventh frame, but in a closely fought eighth frame a run of 26 at a key point in the frame proved decisive and gave Leslie a 5-3 victory.

Locarno based player Scott Donaldson is also through. He recovered from 4-3 down to India’s Aditya Mehta to win the last two frames and secure a 5-4 victory to set up an all-Scottish encounter against Glasgow’s Anthony McGill today. McGill produced a career best performance on Sunday, reaching the final of the Scottish Open at Ravenscraig before losing to China’s Ding Junhui.

Leslie was due to meet 
Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh today for a place in the last 64 of the event.