Gary Ponting through to World Championship finals

27 year-old Bristol-based snooker pro Gary Ponting has made it through the qualifying stages of the World Pool Championship for the second year in succession to secure a slot in Group 15 in the Cardiff starting line-up.

Ponting, who fought his way through a 72 man field in the first of 11 qualifying events, beat Vangelis Vettas of Greece 7 - 5 in the final.

In the semi-final pairings Vettas went past Ramil Gallego (Philippines) 7 - 5 while Ponting bested young British 9-Baller Ali Ramzi by 7 - 3.

Gary, who hasn’t had the best of seasons on the snooker circuit, will take his place in Group 15 alongside Earl Strickland (USA), Yi-che Kuo of Chinese Taipei, England’s Imran Majid, Shintaro Sugaya (Japan), Ditto Acosta of Aruba, local star Rob McKenna and Croatian hope Ivica Putnik.

Last year Ponting made it through the group stages and then went on to beat top Pole Radoslaw Babica in the last 64 before going out to London’s Anthony Ginn in the last 32.

Commented Gary, "I’m over the moon because this is a very tough tournament and to get through on the first day takes the pressure right off. I’ll be practising like crazy from here on in.

"Last year I did well but I was a bit naïve to the subtleties of 9-Ball. This time I’m more prepared and I’m going to give it a go".