Steadman Steams Through In Bruges
Craig Steadman eased through his two qualifying matches at the ISCA Bruges Open to without dropping a frame and sets upa match against Ian Glover when the tournament proper gets underway on Friday.
The former professional from Bolton made breaks of 40, 55, 66 and 122 in beating Bert Van Tiggelen before winning by the same scoreline against the highly rated teenager, Mitchell Mann from Birmingham at the Boudewijn Seapark.
Steadman who dropped off the professional ‘tour’ last season is looking to regain the right to play in the major ranking tournaments. He is currently in 90th position on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit, but an extended run in Belgium would help him climb towards one of the 24 automatic places at the Tour Finals next March.
Elsewhere, Belgian, Lauren De Staelens looked good for a four-frames-to-one win over Kris Van Landeghem and sets up a first round clash with Jimmy Robertson.
Leeds' professional also put his name in the main draw with a 4-1 win against Psacal Durnez and faces out of form Mark Joyce with the winner in line for a shot at 2005 world champion, Shaun Murphy.
