‘At 3-0 down I was heading back up north’ says David Grace after amazing English Open win

The Leeds star engineered a miraculous turnaround in Milton Keynes as gutsy breaks of 96, 90 and 63 helped him overhaul a 3-0 deficit and march into the last 32.

The world No 68 thought he was down and out but revelled in his escapology to keep his Home Nations adventure alive.

“At 3-0 down I was heading back up north!” laughed the 35-year-old.

“I was already writing what I was going to tell people and the things that were going through my head, but then all of a sudden you get a frame back and you’re buzzing for it again.

“Then you’re telling people how you won 4-3 and I’m staying down here!

“You’re never out of it in the best of seven format and it can turn around quite quickly, and thankfully it did.”

Grace, who reached the UK Championship semi-finals in 2015, slumped to 3-0 down under the Marshall Arena lights as a scrappy match ensued.

The Yorkshire player’s fourth-frame break of 96 was the maiden half-century visit of the match, narrowing the deficit to keep him in the contest.

Further efforts of 63 and 90 teed up a nerve-jangling decider and it was Grace who showed his bottle to march into round three.

Grace has endured a bumpy couple of years on the busy snooker circuit, only three times progressing past the second round of a ranking event last season.

But he believes the beauty of the best-of-seven format helped keep his chances alive.

“I couldn’t get anything going the first three frames – it wasn’t like I didn’t have my chances and I still felt like I was in the match if I could find something,” he added.

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