Bai Yulu is breaking records in UK Championship qualifying (Picture: Getty Images)
Bai Yulu is still going strong in UK Championship qualifying after a dramatic victory over Scott Donaldson, becoming the first woman ever to win three straight matches in a ranking event.
The women’s world champion came from 5-3 behind to win the final three frames with breaks of 54, 51 and 66 and claim a 6-5 victory late on Tuesday night.
The match with Donaldson had actually started in the morning session but was pulled off as it was going to clash with the matches following it in the afternoon. There was a gap of around eight hours before the two players returned for the final three frames, with Bai winning all of them.
The 21-year-old had already beaten Farakh Ajaib and former Crucible quarter-finalist Jamie Jones before downing a former Championship League winner in Donaldson.
She now is just one win away from reaching the main stages of the event in York, but has a tough task ahead of her on Wednesday in Jack Lisowski.
‘I was very nervous and I didn’t think I would win, but I did well,’ said Bai, after beating Donaldson.
‘I don’t want to think too much about the next match, I have already done well to win three matches. I have learned a lot.’
Jack Lisowski stands in Bai’s way next (Picture: Getty Images)
The Chinese star won the Women’s World Championship in March and earned herself a two-year tour card for the World Snooker Tour as a result.
It had been a slow start to her professional career but she has found her form in Leicester in this event, with her opening win over Ajaib being her first victory on the main circuit.
Lisowski, a six-time ranking event finalist and former world number 10, will be a very stern test for Bai next in her final hurdle before the Barbican.
Zhao Xintong has been in impressive form this week (Picture: Getty Images)
Also one win away from York is former UK champion Zhao Xintong, who is competing in his first professional event since returning from his ban from the sport for his involvement in the match-fixing scandal.
The 27-year-old has looked in very impressive form since coming back to the game, winning two titles on the Q Tour – the amateur circuit below the professional ranks.
His success on the Q Tour earned him a wildcard into UK Championship qualifying and he has beaten three tricky opponents so far in Sunny Akani, Jiang Jun and Noppon Sanegkham.
Standing in his way of return to the Barbican is Ricky Walden, with their final qualifier set for Thursday afternoon.
Judgement Days Schedule
Wednesday 20 November
1pm
Elliot Slessor vs Stephen Maguire
Jak Jones vs Fan Zhengyi
Jackson Page vs Hossein Vafaei
Jimmy Robertson vs Stuart Bingham
7pm
Ryan Day vs Sanderson Lam
Wang Yuchen vs Barry Hawkins
Jack Lisowski vs Bai Yulu
David Lilley vs Wu Yize
Thursday 21 November
1pm
Zhou Yuelong vs Matt Selt
Lei Peifan vs Ben Woollaston
Ricky Walden vs Zhao Xintong
Julien Leclercq vs Dave Gilbert
7pm
Rob Milkins vs Xu Si
Liu Hongyu vs Michael Holt
Stan Moody vs He Guoqiang
Matthew Stevens vs Neil Robertson