Monitoring Desk

BURTON ON TRENT (England), March 30: Shokat Ali set aside the disappointment of missing out on the Crucible to secure his place in the final stages of the 2002 Regal Scottish Friday night.

The former Pakistan World Cup captain cruised to a 5-1 victory over Derby’s David Roe in the final qualifying round here Friday.

Ali lost 10-9 to John Parrott after 9-7 ahead in the final round of World Championship qualifying in Newport earlier this month. But the Accrington-based world No 40 was back in form today as a top break of 74 helped him to a comfortable win over Roe.

“I was a bit upset to lose in Newport, but I had a couple of days off and then got back to the practice table,” said former Thailand Masters quarterfinalist Ali, who will take on Dominic Dale in his first match in Aberdeen.

“My snooker was very solid today. I have a good safety game which helps me to create chances and that showed. I still have a chance of getting into the top 32 so I will be trying as hard as ever. Dominic Dale is a tough draw but everyone from No 1 to No 100 is a good player.”

Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer set up a match with Drew Henry in Scotland by beating Nottingham’s Michael Holt. Haneveer trailed 3-2 but took the last three frames with breaks of 61, 75 and 53.

“I had a bad start to the season and I knew I had to win a couple of matches here to get into the top 64,” said 25-year-old Haneveer.

Crucible qualifier Robert Milkins continued his excellent recent form with a 5-1 victory over Harrow’s Alfie Burden. Gloucester’s Milkins knocked in breaks of 43, 56 and 66 and the world No 54 will take on Nigel Bond

Worcester’s Dave Finbow intends to give up professional snooker at the end of the season but he will have to delay his retirement a little as he beat Preston’s Stuart Pettman 5-3.

Regal Scottish qualifiers Burton-upon-Trent Final round Dave Finbow bt Stuart Pettman 5-3; Robert Milkins bt Alfie Burden 5-1; Brian Morgan bt Martin Dziewialtowski 5-2; Shokat Ali bt David Roe 5-1; Bradley Jones bt Tony Jones 5-4; Bjorn Haneveer bt Michael Holt 5-3; Gary Wilkinson bt Sean Storey 5-4.