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SIMON Dent insists the “good bunch of people” who attend the qualifiers for the English Masters Championship make it “a good snooker day”, regardless of how well he plays.
But it must make for a far better day if he does perform well.
Dent posted nine breaks of 30 or more in his 16 frames, with a high of 96 against Andrew Soper, in the southern qualifier for players aged 40 or over at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
He joins Ashley Beal and Andy Esgrove in the draw for the quarter-finals at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds, on March 22.
Dent - who hails from Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, and lost in the quarter-finals in 2011 - praised the event and the organisation.
“The club at Coulsdon was very good with good club tables and facilities for the day,” he said. “The TD (tournament director Derek Budde) did a great job.”
Meanwhile, Esgrove, competing on home turf, qualified for the first time at his second attempt.
“In general my safety was good all day,” he said. “I played well in fits and starts. There were no big breaks but a string of important breaks was key to getting through.”
And Beal is hoping to better his semi-final appearance in 2011, when he beat defending champion Gary Morris 4-0 but lost by the same score to the eventual champion Steve Judd.
Beal, who defeated Dent 3-1 to top their round-robin group, has now entered the Masters five times and always reached the knockout stage.
“I played solidly to qualify,” said the cueman from Maresfield, East Sussex.
Tim Dunkley
EASB Media Officer South and World Snooker coach
But it must make for a far better day if he does perform well.
Dent posted nine breaks of 30 or more in his 16 frames, with a high of 96 against Andrew Soper, in the southern qualifier for players aged 40 or over at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon.
He joins Ashley Beal and Andy Esgrove in the draw for the quarter-finals at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds, on March 22.
Dent - who hails from Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, and lost in the quarter-finals in 2011 - praised the event and the organisation.
“The club at Coulsdon was very good with good club tables and facilities for the day,” he said. “The TD (tournament director Derek Budde) did a great job.”
Meanwhile, Esgrove, competing on home turf, qualified for the first time at his second attempt.
“In general my safety was good all day,” he said. “I played well in fits and starts. There were no big breaks but a string of important breaks was key to getting through.”
And Beal is hoping to better his semi-final appearance in 2011, when he beat defending champion Gary Morris 4-0 but lost by the same score to the eventual champion Steve Judd.
Beal, who defeated Dent 3-1 to top their round-robin group, has now entered the Masters five times and always reached the knockout stage.
“I played solidly to qualify,” said the cueman from Maresfield, East Sussex.
Tim Dunkley
EASB Media Officer South and World Snooker coach
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