‘At 3-0 down I was heading back up north’ says David Grace after amazing English Open win

David Grace was planning a road trip back to Yorkshire before battling back to beat Andy Hicks 4-3 at the English Open.
Snooker player David Grace. Picture by Simon HulmeSnooker player David Grace. Picture by Simon Hulme
Snooker player David Grace. Picture by Simon Hulme

The Leeds star engineered a miraculous turnaround in Milton Keynes as gutsy breaks of 96, 90 and 63 helped him overhaul a 3-0 deficit and march into the last 32.

The world No 68 thought he was down and out but revelled in his escapology to keep his Home Nations adventure alive.

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“At 3-0 down I was heading back up north!” laughed the 35-year-old.

“I was already writing what I was going to tell people and the things that were going through my head, but then all of a sudden you get a frame back and you’re buzzing for it again.

“Then you’re telling people how you won 4-3 and I’m staying down here!

“You’re never out of it in the best of seven format and it can turn around quite quickly, and thankfully it did.”

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Grace, who reached the UK Championship semi-finals in 2015, slumped to 3-0 down under the Marshall Arena lights as a scrappy match ensued.

The Yorkshire player’s fourth-frame break of 96 was the maiden half-century visit of the match, narrowing the deficit to keep him in the contest.

Further efforts of 63 and 90 teed up a nerve-jangling decider and it was Grace who showed his bottle to march into round three.

Grace has endured a bumpy couple of years on the busy snooker circuit, only three times progressing past the second round of a ranking event last season.

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But he believes the beauty of the best-of-seven format helped keep his chances alive.

“I couldn’t get anything going the first three frames – it wasn’t like I didn’t have my chances and I still felt like I was in the match if I could find something,” he added.

Watch the snooker English Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport app and Quest

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