‘Proud’ Ukrainian Iulian Boiko motivated to impress in Turkey

The 16-year-old, who reached the second round of the Welsh Open in Newport last week, is determined to do all he can to make positive headlines against a backdrop of condemnation of Russia’s invasion.

Boiko – whose home city is Kyiv, with family members having fled across the border to Poland – recorded an impressive 5-4 win over amateur Simon Blackwell, who replaced Neil Robertson after the Australian decided to withdraw from the event in Antalya.

“The Ukrainian nation motivates me to play better and to fight because of what people are going through. I hope I make them a little bit happier by winning,” Boiko said, quoted on the World Snooker Tour website.

“I am doing it for them, they are my inspiration. I am really motivated and really proud to be Ukrainian. I hope we will get through these difficult times.”

Boiko will go on to meet Andrew Higginson in the next round.

He added: “You can’t just ignore the news, but then it’s hard to focus on snooker. It’s really terrible, I can’t put it aside when people are dying.

“Civilians and people I know are in danger. I wish it would stop. I wish I could help and the only thing that keeps me playing is to play my game and represent Ukraine with pride.”

Elsewhere on day two of the first professional snooker event to be staged in Turkey, Ding Junhui came from 4-1 down to beat Robert Milkins, recording breaks of 131, 105, 81 and 55 in the last four frames.

Ding goes on to meet Kyren Wilson, who beat Tian Pengfei 5-1 with a top clearance of 98, but European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi is out after a 5-4 defeat to Zhou Yuelong.

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, who won the BetVictor Shoot Out title, saw off Turkish wildcard Enes Bakirci without losing a frame and Yan Bingtao recorded a 5-2 win over Joe O’Connor.

Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh came from 3-0 down to beat Scotsman Stephen Maguire 5-4, while Belgian Luca Brecel marked his 27th birthday with a 5-1 win over Stuart Carrington.

In Tuesday’s late matches, Judd Trump, runner-up to Joe Perry in Sunday’s final at Celtic Manor, coasted past Michael Georgiou 5-0, making a break of 110 plus two half-centuries.

“I have been really tired for the last two days, it’s draining when you reach a final, to keep the momentum going,” said world number three Trump. “I felt flat out there today and I probably will do for the first few rounds.

“Hopefully I can play my way into the tournament. It’s great to come to new places and nice to be able to forget about Sunday and start a new tournament.”

Fellow former world champion Shaun Murphy beat Lyu Haotian by the same scoreline to take his place in the last 32.