Chris Wakelin holds off Neil Robertson to reach second round for the first time
Chris Wakelin withstood a stirring Crucible comeback from Neil Robertson to beat the Australian former champion 10-8 and seal his place in the second round of the World Snooker Championship for the first time.
The 33-year-old from Rugby, who had not won a match at the famous venue in three previous attempts, resumed with a 7-2 lead but was rooted in his seat as Robertson reeled off five frames on the bounce to haul the match back level.
“I must have had five or six chances in that last frame and I just fell over the line,” Wakelin told the BBC.
“You’re playing against one of the best players of all time and a 7-2 lead is no guarantee at all. I told my friends I could easily lose four frames in a row without doing too much wrong and that’s pretty much what happened.”
But having wiped out his overnight deficit, Robertson twice fell back behind before spurning a series of chances to force a decider, as a visibly shaking Wakelin went in-off, misjudged a respotted black, and left his opponent a free ball.
Robertson, returning to the final stages after falling in qualifying last year, reflected on having left himself too much to do after Saturday’s opening session.
Also in a drama-filled evening session, 11th seed Barry Hawkins surrendered a slender overnight advantage to Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei, whose pressure-filled break of 73 in the decider sealed a 10-9 win and a second round meeting with Mark Williams.
Williams was forced to dredge up every ounce of his Crucible experience to sink rising Chinese star Wu Yize 10-8 and book his place in the last 16 for the 22nd time in his career.
Williams, who turned 50 last month, delivered two near-faultless final frames to hold off his opponent, who had spurned a golden chance to seize a 9-7 advantage when he missed a frame-ball red with the rest.
The Welshman’s win was all the more remarkable considering his ongoing battle with failing eyesight. Williams said his eyes had “completely gone” after defeat to Ding Junhui in the Players’ Championship in March, and is booked in for lens replacement surgery in June.
Mark Allen also had to dig deep to chisel out a 5-4 overnight advantage against world number 46 Fan Zhengyi.
Earlier, the Chinese surge had showed no sign of abating as Xiao Guodong and Zhao Xintong produced impressive displays on the second morning of tournament.
Xiao followed compatriot Lei Peifan – who stunned defending champion Kyren Wilson on Saturday night – into the last 16 after completing a 10-4 victory over qualifier Matt Selt, while Zhao built a 7-2 lead against last year’s beaten finalist Jak Jones.