Robertson hopes ended by Wenbo

Jimmy Robertson's hopes of qualifying for the World Snooker Championship were ended by a 10-3 defeat against Liang Wenbo

The Bexhill cueman was beaten 10-3 by Chinese potter Liang Wenbo in the penultimate round of the qualifiers at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

Although Robertson will have been full of confidence following a superb 10-2 victory over Li Yan in the previous round, world number 34 Wenbo took control of the match from the outset.

Wenbo reeled off the first five frames with breaks of 70, 103 and 55. Robertson pulled a couple back thanks to runs of 65 and 57, but Wenbo won the eighth and ninth via breaks of 61, 62 and 59 to lead 7-2 after the first session yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.

The left-handed Wenbo wasted little time wrapping up victory in the second session this afternoon, hitting runs of 64, 76, 60 and 52. Robertson failed to score a point in three of the last four frames, although he did knock in a break of 50 to clinch frame 12.

Wenbo will face St Leonards-based world number 16 Mark Davis for a place at The Crucible later this month. The first session of that match will take place on Saturday afternoon with the second session following 24 hours later.