Gunnell's hopes in the balance

Calculators were at the ready in Prestatyn as Shropshire's Adrian Gunnell battled for his future in snooker's Royal London Watches Grand Prix. Gunnell was meeting Alex Borg in the last of his seven group games in the round-robin qualifiers, knowing he could be the hard luck story of the week.

The 35-year-old, pictured, defeated Chris Norbury 3-2 last night, including a 106 break in the decider, to take his record to five victories from six games.

But even a success over Borg might not be enough for the Telford cueman to fill one of the places on offer from his eight man group for the final stages in Aberdeen.

Fergal O'Brien and Robin Hull have identical records to Gunnell and that leaves the Telford potter in the bizarre position where he could be eliminated with a victory - yet progress with a defeat.

Should O'Brien and Hull defeat Mohammed Shehab and Norbury respectively, Shropshire's professional will definitely be out.

A Gunnell victory would be enough if either O'Brien and Hull don't win. And a combination of an O'Brien victory and a Hull defeat would see Gunnell progress, regardless of the outcome of the clash with Borg.

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