Saudi Arabia Masters 2024 snooker LIVE – Hossein Vafaei up first with Neil Robertson and Jack Lisowski to come

It’s Hossein in again at the start of frame three and he rolls a lovely red to right-centre that keeps the run alive; there are plenty of points waiting for him too.

• Joe O’Connor 1-1 Lei Peifan
• Ashley Carty 0-0 Liu Hongyu
• Graeme Dott 0-2 Si Jiahui
• Matthew Selt 0-1 Pang Junxu
• Rory Thor 0-1 Jimmy Robertson
• Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2-0 Chris Wakelin
• Anthony Hamilton 1-0 Stuart Bingham

Hossein leads by two and needs three more.

And has he got one? After accidentally potting the yellow he sticks the white tight behind the pink, green up the other end of the table … it’s a great effort, but Hossein escapes and though Ben pots the brown, his attempted snooker thereafter facilitates the clear-up.

He cannot, hitting it slightly harder than necessary to bring the ball away from pocket in case he missed. But when he does he leaves it to the midde and Hossein sees it away, missing the black that follows, so Ben returns to the table with just the colkours left, needing two snookers.

Gosh, a simple enough red to left corner fails to disappear – I didn’t expect Hossein to miss that, especially as it was frame-ball – means Bewn remains in the frame, just. Can he clear? The final red is in the middle of black cush, so he’ll need to get decent position to try and pot it … and he does. Can he slides it in along the rail?

Hossein is a very classy break-builder and he expertly removes balls; Ben looks pretty unhappy with life slumped in his seat.

Hossein wants to take a starter to left corner but can’t get at it comfortably so he tries one to right and misses, letting Ben in. But a poor positonal shot off the black means he’s chasing, he winds up in baulk, and misses the blue while breaking the pack; big chance for Hossein!

• Joe O’Connor 0-0 Lei Peifan
• Ashley Carty 0-0 Liu Hongyu
• Graeme Dott 0-1 Si Jiahui
• Matthew Selt 0-0 Pang Junxu
• Rory Thor 0-0 Jimmy Robertson
• Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 1-0 Chris Wakelin
• Anthony Hamilton 0-0 Stuart Bingham

A run of 75 and Vafaei hits the front.

But Hossein is straight back in building a lead, promoting a red … and quickly finishing the frame.

Ach, but he misses a black he shouldn’t to left corner, keaving a chance for Hossein. But a poor positional shot means a nasty pink to middle across the nap … and he drains it nicely. Problem being he’s still not im prime position and the next red, to the green, is taxing … and he can’t drain it. Ben, though, is nervous, soon missing blue to the same bag and, with two reds on or near the side rail, this frame might take a while yet.

A dreadful break from Hossein allows Ben to slide in an simple starter to left-middle, but a missed black that leaves nothing means we’re soon back playing safety. bit not for long, Ben steering in a fine red to the green bag, dead slow, then cracking the green itself into left-centre, another fine pot – with plenty on if he missed. Can he convert into something sub sub sub sub substantial? If he can win here, he’ll be a long way towards retaining his tour card for next season.

… Hossein Vafaei v Ben Woollaston and Gong Chenzhi v Neil Robertson.

And welcome to the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters – day four!

(All UK times, schedule subject to change)

• Hossein Vafaei v Ben Woollaston
• Joe O’Connor v Lei Peifan
• Ashley Carty v Liu Hongyu
• Graeme Dott v Si Jiahui
• Matthew Selt v Pang Junxu
• Rory Thor v Jimmy Robertson
• Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Chris Wakelin
• Anthony Hamilton v Stuart Bingham

• Xiao Guodong v Lyu Haotian
• Zhou Yuelong v Elliot Slessor
• Jordan Brown v David Gilbert
• Gong Chenzhi v Neil Robertson
• Jack Lisowski v Martin O’Donnell
• Scott Donaldson v Ryan Day
• Noppon Saengkham v Yuan Sijun
• Stephen Maguire v Wu Yize