Snooker: Hull sails forth after 139

ROBIN HULL, who makes a habit of reserving his best form for the Grand Prix, convincingly booked a place in the fourth qualifying round of the pounds 370,000 world-ranking event at Plymouth yesterday.

The 23-year-old former world junior champion from Finland highlighted a 5-1 victory over Edinburgh's Craig MacGilivray with a 139 total clearance in the third frame of the contest.

That puts Hull, who coincidentally fired in a career-best run of 145 during the 1994 Grand Prix, in line to collect a pre-televised highest break bonus of pounds 1,100.

Hull now meets Hong Kong's reigning world amateur champion, Marco Fu, in the fourth round and needs to negotiate two more matches to secure an appearance at the tournament proper in Preston in October.