Snooker: No baize of glory for city stars

Leslie, 19, in only his second match as a snooker professional, went down 5-2 to Duane Jones (Wales) at Australian Goldfields Open at the Sheffield Snooker Academy. Leslie opened up a 2-1 lead but lost the next four frames to the impressive Welshman, also playing in only his second professional event.

Leslie said: “Duane played well and on the night played better than me. It is not the start to my professional career I was hoping for. If I was to take any positives from the defeat it was that I actually felt more relaxed tonight but missed a few balls at key points and that cost me.”

At the European Amateur Championships in Latvia, MacGillivray was beaten by Rodney Goggins (Ireland) in the quarter-finals. MacGillivray had earlier eased to a 5-1 victory over Lukas Krenek (Czech Republic). However, Goggins, also a former professional, proved too strong for MacGillivray, prevailing 5-1.

It was not all bad news though for Scotland as Scott Donaldson (Perth), who is based at the Locarno Snooker Club in Edinburgh, and James McBain (Glasgow) reached the semi-finals. Donaldson defeated the experienced Kevin van Hove (Belgium), while Scottish National champion McBain was in tremendous form as he defeated Michal Zielinski (Poland).

Donaldson now faces Goggins whilst McBain faces Brendon O’Donoghue.