Mitchell Mann is hunting for some form

The Brandhall Labour potter went down 4-2 against the teenager as his miserable run of form since snooker restarted continued.

Mann, currently ranked world No.73, made a second-frame break of 59 but efforts of 62 and 56 from the precocious Asian left him slumped in the chair and sent him back to the Midlands disappointed.

Gao opened up a one-frame lead after racking up 57 points in the first, only for Mann to restore parity with a solid half century visit.

The Chinese player then regained his advantage but Mann, who reached the semi-finals of the 2017 Paul Hunter Classic, levelled once more to make it two apiece.

His youthful opponent then started to hit his potting straps, however, striking fine breaks of 62 and 56 to book his place in the last 64 and heap more pain on the West Midlands player.

Mann went down to a 4-1 defeat against Liam Highfield in the first round of the English Open – the season’s first Home Nations event – before being blown away 5-0 by Elliot Slessor in German Masters qualifying.

And it’s Slessor he’ll face again in the first round of the UK Championship next week, as he looks to rediscover the form that saw him beat Ashley Hugill 3-1 in October’s Championship League.

The tournament, one of snooker’s three Triple Crown events alongside the World Championship and Masters, will be taking place at the same Milton Keynes venue rather than its usual York location as the sport continues to adapt to coronavirus restrictions.

And Mann, 28, will be bidding to emulate the heroics that saw him reach the last four of the Paul Hunter – a former ranking event – as well as the third round of the UK Championship back in 2017.

Walsall’s Mark Joyce will take to the table in his first round match at the Northern Ireland Open against Dominic Dale later today.

LEAVE IN FINAL PAR Watch the Northern Ireland Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport app, and stream on discovery+