World No.86 snooker player Michael Holt managed to chalk up 50 foul points on a single ball during his Welsh Open qualifying match. Holt, 46, was competing against Daniel Wells in a best of seven match. He was teetering on the edge of victory with a 3-0 lead over Wells and a 70-40 advantage in the fourth frame. However, he made things difficult for himself when he failed to hit the green off the cushion with just five colours remaining on the table. After Holt's initial foul, Wells sunk the blue and set up another snooker behind the brown.
Holt's first attempt to escape resulted in him missing and potting the white. Even though he managed to connect on his next try, Holt found himself snookered again, leading by a mere 70-51. An increasingly exasperated Holt needed four attempts to finally break free, by which time his lead had dwindled to 70-63. The Hitman then faced another tough situation where he had to hit the green off three cushions to avoid a foul - a feat he failed to achieve even after six attempts.
On his sixth go, he fouled out once more by hitting the brown, setting up a shot for Wells who potted the green into the corner and took the frame 93-70. Despite his series of frustrating blunders, Holt rallied to win the next frame and ultimately the match. Holt's victory means he has punched his ticket to the main event. He's set to clash with Chris Wakelin on the Welsh Open's opening day on Monday night.
Reflecting on his performance in a video shared on Instagram, Holt said: "I felt really good in both matches. I didn't play as well as I felt, as daft as that sounds. "But Daniel wasn't at his best - he sort of let me off a few times. But I'm going to take it, there's plenty of times where that doesn't happen.". With the qualifiers wrapped up last week, the Welsh Open 2025 is all set to run from Monday, February 10 to Sunday, February 16. Holt's competition in North Wales begins on February 11, with a difficult clash with Wakelin, who is the World No.18.
Wakelin is in desperate need of a confidence boost having lost his last five matches. His most recent defeat came in the German Snooker Masters where he was beaten 5-2 on frames by World No.81 Miah Hammad in the first round. He was also defeated in the first round of the World Snooker Championship by 2023 world champion Luca Brecel. As well as the disappointing showings at the Crucible and Berlin, there have also been further losses to Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Robert Milkins in the World Championship League.
