WITH the snooker circuit concentrating on invitation tournaments until near the end of the month, Chris Melling has travelled to China to compete in the Joy Cup World Chinese 8-Ball Masters pool tournament in Qinhuangdao.

And the 35-year-old from Keighley has come through the qualifying stages of the $113,500 (£74,807) tournament.

After a 13-12 defeat to Chen Qiang in his opening match, 'The Magician' defeated another Chinese player, Yu Longhai, 13-11, fellow Briton Daryl Peach 13-3 and Canada's Alex Pagulayan 10-9 to emerge from the first phase.

Melling tweeted about his first match: "He played well. Was 10-6 down and came back good but missed a daft chance in the decider."

As for the Longhai contest, Melling tweeted: "High standard in decider but a few silly mistakes from both of us. He's gonna be some player when he's older, I know that."

Melling explained that Peach "struggled with the break" and added that his victory over Pagulayan "was a good one".

Six Britons are competing in Qinhuangdao – Melling, Peach, Bradford-born Karl Boyes, Darren Appleton, Gareth Potts and seven-times world snooker champion Stephen Hendry.