Sleepy Craigie pockets only a fine at Open

WALLSEND’S Sam Craigie’s bid for 19.com English Open glory came to a crashing halt – but not in the way you might think.

The 25-year-old failed to show for his last 64 battle with former world No 6 Ricky Walden, oversleeping and subsequently missing their scheduled 10am tie.

Having progressed through his opener with a 4-2 victory over Chinese teenager Luo Honghao, the world No 64 had made it to the second round of a tournament for only the second time this season.

Craigie had appeared in good form in Crawley, racing into the lead before posting three halfcenturies on his way to victory in the best-of-seven-frames format.

But that turned out to be his last contribution in West Sussex, with his mistake meaning he forfeited his game against Walden, which goes down as a walkover.

And the punishment didn’t stop there. As a result of his absence being the latest in a series of such incidents, Craigie has been fined by World Snooker.

He is due to be back in action later this month against either Zhang Jiankang or reigning world champion Judd Trump at the World Open in Yushan, with the snooker season set to hot up ahead of the first of the Triple Crown events – the UK Championship – in November.

Meanwhile, fellow Wallsend potter Gary Wilson fared far better – booking his place in the third round with a 4-1 win over Gateshead’s John Astley.

He now plays world No 16 Joe Perry for a place in the quarterfinals, with one of the breaks of the tournament to thank for securing his place.

Both players traded blows in the early stages, with Wilson’s 77 cancelled out by Astley to leave the tie at 1-1.

But from there Wilson showed exactly why he made the World Championship semi-finals last season, knocking in 141 without reply in Crawley.

That proved the beginning of the end for Astley as he sat in his chair to watch his opponent knock in another half-century break.

And he was put out of his misery in the fifth and final frame, scoring just 16 points in the last three frames as Wilson reached the third round.

Elliot Slessor was also on the cusp of joining Wilson at the time of writing, leading high-flying Welshman Ryan Day 3-1 in their first-to-four encounter. ■■Watch the English Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player