Snooker stars chalk up victories in Sofia

Four of Scotland’s cue stars remained on course to win a coveted place on World Snooker’s Main Tour by all reaching the last 16 stage of the European Under 21 Snooker Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Bonnyrigg’s Michael Leslie, 18, made a century on his way to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Alexander Ursenbacher (Switzerland). Breaks of 55 and 49 in the opening two frames helped Leslie take control of the match. Although he lost the next, a tremendous 107 break helped the young Scot regain his two-frame lead before winning the fifth frame to set up a clash with Poland’s Grzegorz Biernadski.

Alloa’s Eden Sharav is still to lose a frame after a 4-0 whitewash of Lukas Kleckers (Germany) with breaks of 105, 54 and 86 and now meets Andreas Ploner (Austria).

In the top half of the draw, Perth’s Scott Donaldson, 17, ran out a 4-1 winner over Artem Smagin (Belarus), however a much harder tie awaits against highly rated Michał Zielinski (Poland) in the next round. Musselburgh’s Ross Muir defeated local favourite Dimitar Mehandzhiyski 4-0 with breaks of 56, 73 and 78. His win ensured that there remains a possibility of an all Scottish semi-final and will now play 14-year-old rising star, Shane Castle of England.