Reanne Evans and Luca Brecel drew 2-2 with Mink Nutcharut and Neil Robertson on Saturday in Manchester at the World Mixed Doubles, while the second match between Baipat Siripaporn and Judd Trump against Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenna ended in the same scoreline.
Brecel made two early errors, and it was Mink who made the first real break of the frame, and match.
Nutcharut was coming off the back of a defeat in the Women’s World Championship a couple of weeks ago, and had the chance to retain her title here, won alongside Robertson two years ago.
That put the defending champions 7-1 up, with Brecel given a tough position to play from towards the top left, and when the Belgian returned to the table he was 40-9 behind.
The frame dragged on with neither team able to decisively pull away, and Evans found herself 35-52 behind, but hidden behind the pink with the remaining four colours all obscured as the safety exchanges continued, before committing a foul to give up four points.
The frame approached 45 minutes as Brecel started to put away the rest of the colours and he contemplated a narrow black to the top-right pocket, but instead pulled off an outstanding double into the left middle.
Another scrappy frame followed, with Evans leaving Robertson 26-17 behind, but offered up a long pot, only for him to instead play it safe, leaving the cue ball up against the cushion at the top of the table.
Robertson was then given another bite, but he missed a relatively straightforward red to the middle left, and Nutcharut compounded her pair’s difficult position as she then sunk the white.
The two teams continued to grind to a conclusion before Evans was the player to find some momentum as she cleaned up except for the last black to move 2-0 clear.
It was Mink who spurred her side on to reduce the deficit to a single frame with a fluent break of 47, as her team-mate Robertson continued with his struggles.
However, Robertson stepped up in the fourth frame for a decisive contribution as he secured a draw.
Speaking after the draw, Evans was disappointed, saying: “When you’ve got a lead, you don’t want to come out with a draw. But it was like pulling teeth out there, a bit scrappy.”
Brecel agreed, adding: “No-one really got any good chances.”
Neil Robertson praised his team-mate, saying: “I thought we played a really good first frame, but we were 2-0 down and Mink knocked in a load of really good reds, and then she made a really good break.
“I felt I played a lot of good safety for about an hour.”
In the second match of the day, Baipat teamed up with Trump to take on Selby and Kenna.
A fluke from Baipat allowed her the chance to set up a snooker for her pairing as they went 39-22 clear in the first, with the final red of the first frame hidden behind both yellow and pink.
Trump and Baipat would go onto seal the opening frame, after the former landed the brown, blue and pink to draw first blood in the contest.
Selby and Kenna would restore parity after Trump left a red over a pocket, with Selby rounding off the frame by potting a red followed by a yellow.
Selby would ruthlessly go on to punish another Trump error after his loose shot, and made his way to an impressive clearance of 46 to move 2-1 ahead.
A tense and cagey fourth frame ensued, with Kenna given the chance to wrap up the match after Trump snookered himself from the final red.
However, after Kenna missed the brown, Baipat drew herself and Trump level by clearing up to the black and ensuring the points were shared.
Reflecting on the match, Trump told ITV Sport: “It’s tough; there’s a lot of safety, but it went a bit quicker than the first game.
“In the end we looked like we were going to lose, but she [Baipat] potted a great brown and finished perfectly on the blue and pink. That kept us in it.
“We’re still in with a shout.”
Meanwhile, Selby and Kenna were left to rue what might have been after the latter missed a golden opportunity to seal the match with that elusive brown.
“Obviously we were a little bit disappointed at the end because I felt we were probably the better pair throughout the match, but it‘s a tough format to get any kind of momentum,” Selby added.
These two opening results means nothing currently separates the four pairs, having all secured two frames each.
Should teams finish level on points and frames won after the three round-robin matches, then overall points scored will be used to determine the top two positions in the group and who advances into Sunday’s final.
Selby and Kenna currently lead with the way, followed by Nutcharut and Robertson, while third and fourth places are occupied by the pairings of Baipat and Trump and Brecel and Evans respectively.