Cork snooker ace Aaron Hill came up short against world number 80

AARON Hill was back in action on Monday at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keyes in the Matchroom.live English Open, against world number 80 Chang Bingyu from China.

The Cork snooker sensation, who caught the attention of the snooker world with a stunning upset against legend Ronnie O'Sullivan, came up short on this occasion. 

The talented northsider remains one to watch in the coming months, and years, as this is all part of his development in the professional ranks.

With both players just 18-years-old, this was a battle of the young guns. Their game plans usually full of attacking snooker but this match was a very cagey affair.

Hill was comfortable in the first frame showing his class with and early lead in the best of seven frames contest.

Bingyu hit back in frame two with a 45 break to win despite Hill having a mid-frame lead of 15 points.

Things didn’t go Hill’s way at the start of the third frame as Bingyu got off to a very solid start with a 40 break and with the balls not ideal Hill trailed by 34 points with 83 points left on the table.

Hill battled back to within nine points with just 35 points remaining after laying a great snooker in what seemed to be a very important stage of the match.

With just one red remaining Bingyu got Aaron into a snooker of his own and led by 22 points with the colours remaining and when Bingyu potted the all-important pink ball he took the crucial third frame.

Momentum really had swung the way of Chang Bingyu in the fourth frame and he raced into a strong lead with a 50 break leaving Hill requiring a snooker on the pink for the second frame in a row and again Hill just came up short.

So with Bingyu needing just one more frame and Hill needing to win the remaining three frames it really was an uphill battle for the Cork star.

Again Bingyu got off to a better start in the fifth frame knocking in an early 25 break and when the 18-year-old Chinese star broke down in the break Hill responded brilliantly considering the pressure with a superb 41 break to put himself back in the frame.

Hill kept up the pressure forcing Bingyu to require a snooker with the colours remaining where he needed the blue to really secure the frame and Hill patiently waited for his chance and the blue and pink fell leaving just a frame between the players.

In such a tight match every point counts and Bingyu led by 11 points early on in the sixth, but with one red remaining Hill got Bingyu into another snooker and clawed back some very valuable points.

But Bingyu got the vital breakthrough on the brown and blue balls to lead by seven with just 13 points left on the table and when he potted the pink he claimed the 4-2 win.

A tough match for Hill but another learning curve for the Cork cueist.