Travis hoping to cause further upset at York

Sheffield amateur Mitchell Travis is hoping to cause another Barbican upset today when he faces Norway’s Kurt Maflin in the UK Championship.

The 21-year-old – one of just seven amateurs in the 128-strong field – caused the biggest shock of the tournament in the first round when he ousted world No 6 Marco Fu, after a 6-5 battle.

The Hong Kong potter had won the Australian Open and reached the final of the International Championship this season, to add weight to Travis’s achievement in York.

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But now Travis faces world No 57 Maflin, the 30-year-old beat Liam Highfield in his first round match, this morning in a 9.30am start.

Also hoping to cause an upset today, is fellow Sheffield potter Adam Duffy, 24 and world No 66, who takes on world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan this evening.

Leeds potter Peter Lines slipped to a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Ricky Walden in the second round yesterday.

Lines won the first frame of his match with Walden in confident fashion but the Chester potter claimed the next four to take control.

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The 43-year-old admitted he had been outplayed by Walden and he also had one or two things to say about various players’ complaints about the new open draw format.

“He thoroughly deserved to win,” added Lines. “I made a few mistakes but he punished every mistake I made.

“He deserved to win – no complaints.

“You’ve just got to try and do your own thing but it’s difficult when they’re scoring so heavily. The setup is top notch.

“I genuinely don’t know that they are actually looking for. Does everybody want to be on the match table, every match? It’s unrealistic.”

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Middlesbrough warehouse worker Antony Parsons gave world No 3 Ding Junhui a scare, but eventually lost 6-3.

Sheffield-based Ding powered into a 3-0 lead. But Parsons reduced the deficit to one frame only for Ding to step up a gear and triumph.

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