Heading in the White direction

The long and windy road to the China Open began for the game's qualifiers this week.

For some it will feel like a journey as long as the Great Wall of China itself, with many difficult tests along the way.

Picture by Monique Limbos

It's become a bit of cliche that there are no easy games along the qualifying road but, today, Michael White dispelled that theory as he powered his way past David Gilbert by an emphatic 5-0 scoreline.

Breaks of 112 and 103 plus a frame-winning 90 at an average shot time of just 14 seconds prove again why this 20-year-old Welsh lad really is one to watch.

I've had the pleasure of watching him play live once before and thanks to the new live streaming service on World Snooker, I've seen him in full flow on countless other occasions too. His ability is plain for all to see.

He is a scoring machine; a real aggressor at the table. You can watch him break build fearlessly and soon see why he is predicted such a bright future in the game.

He came almighty close to earning his major ranking event debut at the UK Championship earlier this season but although he did miss out in the final qualifying round, his run did still see him into the top 64 of the world rankings for the first time in his career.

Michael is fast-becoming renowned for his predatory break building skills and you sense it's only a matter of time before we start seeing him at the televised stages of events.