Fifteen-year-old Ben Mertens falls short in World Championship qualifying

Ben Mertens’ bid to become the youngest player to reach the final stages of the World Championship is over after a 6-4 defeat to Sam Baird in the second qualifying round.

The 15-year-old Belgian had become the youngest winner of a qualifying match when he stunned James Cahill in the opening round on Wednesday.

But despite threatening to repeat the feat by fashioning a 4-2 lead, he did not have quite enough to overcome world number 77 Baird, who recovered to win four frames in a row and take the match.

Baird, who reached the second round at the Crucible in 2016 where he pushed eventual champion Mark Selby to the limit, needs to win two more matches to earn a return visit.

Former world champion Ken Doherty kept alive his own hopes of reaching the Crucible after a 6-4 win over Fraser Patrick.

The 50-year-old, who won the tournament in 1997, needs to win two more matches to book his place in the final stages for the first time since 2014.

Patrick looked down and out at 4-0 and 5-1 behind but fought back to put pressure on Doherty before the Irishman finally edged home.