Jack Lisowski seals Northern Ireland Open win over Jackson Page, Neil Robertson exits after defeat to Jordan Brown

ByRichard Newman

Updated 23/10/2023 at 16:14 GMT

A 138 from Jack Lisowski helped him through to the third round of the Northern Ireland Open, with a 4-1 victory over Jackson Page in Belfast. He was joined by local hero Jordan Brown, who stunned Neil Robertson by the same scoreline to advance. Stream top snooker action, including the Northern Ireland Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Jack Lisowski produced what was described as "one of the best breaks we'll see all week" as he moved into round three of the Northern Ireland Open with a 4-1 victory over Jackson Page, while world No. 6 Neil Robertson fell to Jordan Page by the same scoreline.

In the earlier game on Monday, world No. 13 Lisowski struggled at the start, with an early mistake when trying to make a routine safety, allowing Page to rattle through a break of 75 which left his opponent little chance of a comeback.

But he recovered in the second frame and with his first scoring attempt of the match, a break of 68 was enough to draw level.

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Frame three began as a tightly contested tactical battle but Page blinked first, allowing Lisowski to steal in and assert his authority. The Englishman was now beginning to find his rhythm and the left-hander was even able to start switching to his right to pot reds with ease, as he moved ahead for the first time in the match.

Now Lisowski was in classy form, and he recorded a fifth century break of the season as he cleared the table with a 138 - “one of the best breaks we’ll see all week” said Eurosport’s commentary team, as Lisowski moved to within one frame of victory.

The dominance from his opponent meant Page was largely out of pot-making rhythm by the time he did get his chance in what would be the final frame and Lisowski took advantage to close out victory.

“I shocked myself, I haven’t been feeling very sharp,” Lisowski told Eurosport after the match.

“I haven't really practised much, I’ve been a bit rusty and just thought I was hitting the ball well in the end.

“I definitely have to practise tomorrow, I’ll then be playing sharper. I’ve been feeling ill as well, I had a cold. I thought I was going to lose today because I haven’t worked really hard for this one.”

'Wonderful break' - Lisowski makes century to extend lead over Page

Later on, Robertson was knocked out following a surprising defeat to 44th-ranked local hero Jordan Brown, who beat the Australian 4-1.

Brown was the first of the home favourites on the table, and he made an encouraging start.

The former Welsh Open champion came up just short of a century but a break of 94 earned him the opening frame.

• Northern Ireland Open snooker 2023 - Latest scores, results, schedule, order of play

Robertson missed a fairly routine green in the second frame as he struggled to find his range, and by the time he returned to the table he found himself 52 points adrift.

After several trades of safeties, the former world champion eventually conceded - allowing Brown to double his advantage.

A scrappy third frame featured mistakes from both players.

Brown went 55 points up but struggled to close it out, with Robertson frustrating his opponent without increasing his impact on the scoresheet.

Eventually, Brown did seal the frame to move one away from victory.

Robertson found some rhythm in the next and produced a classy break of 129 to stay within contention for a spot in the third round.

Robertson makes 'typically classy' century against Brown at Northern Ireland Open

However, he missed a long red in what turned out to be the decisive frame, as Brown took his chance to seal victory with a break of 51.

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Stream top snooker action, including the Northern Ireland Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

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