Latvia's Kalniņš falls in first round at Leeds snooker event

Latvian amateur snooker player Filips Kalniņš, 21, has ended his run at the first “Q Tour” tournament of the season, held in Leeds, Britain. In the opening round he faced England's Aristos Pampuraiz, losing the match 3:4.

Match progress

The two players traded won frames early in the match. The first frame turned out to be the longest of the entire match, lasting nearly half an hour, during which Kalniņš built up a lead over several visits to the table that secured him the frame. However, Pampuraiz responded in the next two frames with breaks in the fifties, taking a 2:1 lead.

The players continued exchanging frame wins until the match reached a decisive seventh frame, with the winner guaranteed to advance in the tournament. Kalniņš opened up a ten-point lead early in the frame, but it was not enough. The English player found a promising attacking opportunity and moved a big step closer to the second round with a break of 45 points. The Latvian player tried to salvage the situation, but Pampuraiz sealed his progress by adding a further 19 points.

Tournament context

Filips Kalniņš was the only Latvian competitor in this season's first “Q Tour” tournament. The next tournament in the series is scheduled for September 21–24 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.