Bai Yulu enjoys luck of draw to advance at Q School as chase for World Snooker Tour place heats up

Women's British Open champion Bai Yulu advanced to the last 64 of Event Two at Q School in Leicester courtesy of a 4-1 win over Zac Cosker in the first round. Cosker won the first frame but shipped the next four with this year's World Championship finalist finishing with breaks of 50 and 61 to seal her progress and a match against Joshua Thomond or Jamie Curtis-Barrett for a last-32 spot at the Morningside Arena on Sunday evening.

Ad Bai – who lost 6-3 to Thailand’s Baipat Siripaporn in the women's world final in March – was in line to face Welshman Andrew Pagett on Saturday, but has been handed a bye to the third round after Pagett secured his professional tour card for next season via Event One on Wednesday. SnookerBoiko wins thriller to keep hopes alive at snooker Q School31/05/2023 AT 06:49 It means the 19-year-old Chinese player needs to win four more matches to secure her place on the main circuit for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons respectively.

Ukraine teenager Iulian Boiko whitewashed James Height 4-0 in his first match of Event Two boosted by knocks of 68, 90 and 56. Boiko agonisingly lost 4-2 to Pagett in the final round of Event One on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Craig Steadman – who edged Bai 4-3 in the second round of Event One – completed a 4-2 win over Jake Crofts in his opening match of Event Two with fellow Englishman Stuart Carrington whitewashing Pommy Kang 4-0. Steadman and Carrington are bidding to regain their tour cards after finishing outside the top 64 on the ranking list last season.

Alexander Ursenbacher, Andrew Higginson and Liam Pullen were the other players to successfully negotiate the path to a place on the main circuit from Event One at the 208-player competition. The second tournament runs