ROBBIE McGuigan came agonisingly close to taking the scalp of World Championship runner-up Jak Jones in what was only his second ever ranking tournament appearance.
The 20-year-old from Antrim lost 5-4 on the final black against the Welshman in qualifying for the Xi’an Grand Prix in Leicester.
To compound his frustration, the rookie pro had earlier led the match 4-2, with breaks of 64 and 106 leaving him just one frame from victory.
However, Jones, who lost 18-14 to Kyren Wilson in the Crucible decider in May, showed his customary grit to first force the decider, and then win it on the black.
Jordan Brown and Aaron Hill will both join Mark Allen when the final stages are played between August 19 and 25 in China.
As world number one, Allen goes straight to the final stages, where he will face Liu Hongyu, while Brown and Hill came through their qualifying matches against Liam Pullen and and Chris Totten respectively.
Breaks of 69 and 52 closed out victory for Antrim man Brown, who won 5-2 from 2-1 behind and will face David Gilbert in the last 64 in China.
Cork man Hill also won 5-2, having been level 2-2 at the mid-session, and he will play the winner of the match between Mark Selby and his as-yet unknown wild card opponent from the host nation.
Ken Doherty lost 5-1 to Stephen Maguire.
The qualifying action continues in Leicester until Saturday, with places up for grabs at the final stages of the Wuhan Open (October 6-12) and British Open (September 23 and 29).
First up is the Wuhan Open qualifiers, in which Allen takes on women’s World champion Bai Yulu on Tuesday, the same day Doherty that faces Neil Robertson. Hill comes up against England’s Ashley Carty on Sunday.
McGuigan and world number 45 Brown will go straight to Wuhan, with the former facing Ding Junhui and the latter taking on a Chinese wild card opponent.
In the British Open qualifiers, McGuigan plays veteran pro Mark Davis on Wednesday and Doherty faces Xu Si on Thursday. Allen, Brown and number 63 ranked Hill join the action at the final stages in Cheltenham.
