Detail Reports
| Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 7-10 | Stuart Bingham (Eng) |
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1st session: 74-44 (53), 48-82 (77), 67-56, 38-69, 6-79 (53), 23-60, 66-35 (51), 94-0, 106-8 (106) 2nd session: 31-55 (51), 14-92 (78), 2-79 (70), 0-117 (95), 79-42, 21-83 (53), 66-8, 0-116 (87) The Crucible Theater, home of snooker's premier event, opened up this year with a huge shock as the defending champion Stephen Hendry failed to jump over his first hurdle. Top seed Hendry, on cloud nine a year ago after his record breaking seventh Embassy world championship, came crashing down to earth when he suffered a 10-7 defeat to former English amateur champion Stuart Bingham. It was only the fifth time that the defending champion had lost his first match in the championship the following year. John Spencer started the ball rolling in 1979, Terry Griffiths followed 12 months later, Steve Davis in 1982 and Dennis Taylor in 1986. But Hendry's exit was more on a par with that of Davis who suffered a 10-1 hiding at the hands of former glamour boy, Tony Knowles. It's also only the third time in his career that Hendry lost his first round at the Crucible. Willie Thorne beat him 10-8 on his debut there in 1986 and Jimmy White memorably beat him 10-4 in the first round in 1998. The Scot fought back to led 5-4 before the evening session after went 4-2 down thanks to a break of 106, the first century of the tournament of 106. But Bingham, a 23-year-old from Basildon who stands at No.92 on the rankings, prodeuced a series of nice break to win four frame on the trot. Desipte losing two of his next three frames, Bingham finally hold his nerve and won himself the most memorable victory in his career. A disconsolate Hendry said, "Everytime I lose here, I'm gutted but that's life. In sport you either win or lose." He felt that his attitude led to the defeat, "I think I spent most of the day trying not to lose instead of trying to win. When you are negative like that from the start you are going to lose. My safety was poor, not aggressive enough and I left reds on. "It was still a great performance from Stuart. He was out to enjoy himself. He had the right attitude and it served him well." Bingham, now guaranteed �19,000, more than he has earned all season, said, "I can hardly describe the feeling. It is unbelievable but winning is all about what happens on the day. We can all make 70 plus breaks and it happened to be my day today. "I had nothing to lose and everything to gain and I played better than I have ever done before. I surprised myself though I'm not lacking in self belief. "The pressure was on me at 8-5 but I just tried to keep my head and not look at the finishing post." Hendry and Bingham had both been present at the televised draw for the championship standing next to each other, and coincidentally drew each other. "As soon as the draw was made on Grandstand I decided I was going to go out there and enjoy it," added Bingham. He now faces Jimmy White or Billy Snaddon for a place in the quarter-finals. | ||
| Jimmy White (Eng) | 10-7 | Billy Snaddon (Sco) |
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1st session: 82-32, 34-74 (53), 11-107, 46-62, 43-72, 66-9, 81-39, 9-65 (52), 68-39 2nd session: 48-68, 85-1 (66), 89-30 (51), 70-38, 62-49, 18-92 (73), 96-0, 67-8 (58) Six-times runner-up Jimmy White, as usual welcomed by a huge roar from the audience as he came out, finally found some form to reach the last 16. He defeated Sauchie's Billy Snaddon 10-7 having trailed 4-1 and 5-4 overnight. White, up against it to save his top 16 ranking, had to use all his experience on his 20th successive appearance at The Crucible. After two successive years in the wilderness, White regained his place in the top 16 this season but to stay there he must reach the final know that Steve Davis is also through to the second round. "I'm delighted to win. It's much better than heading for home along the M1," said White who now face Stuart Bingham, the conqueror of Stephen Hendry, for their second-round match within less than 24 hours. "Obviously Stuart is a great player, you don't beat Hendry here if you're not. Hopefully I won't be feeling quite so stuffed up with a head cold when the match starts," he added. White appears in the second round of the championship with a remarkable record of consistency. It will be for the 16th time in all and in the previous 15, he was only beaten once, 13-12 by Peter Ebdon in 1996. "I can't believe how badly I played yesterday," said White, who is suffering from a feverish cold. "At 3-1 down in the interval I nearly passed out. I felt so weak. I had to grab the wall to stop from faling over. But that would be no excuse if I'd lost. "I knew I had to hang in there today, and if I feel a bit better tomorrow, there's no reason why I can't produce." Snaddon also reckons White will to improve a great deal to win the championship. "I'm just disappointed with the way I played," he said, "I don't think Jimmy played well at all either but that's no consolation to me. He'd have to improve vastly, obviously, if he's going to win here. "I let the tension get to me when I was leading 4-1 as it was a bit intimidating out there. The crowd were cheering for Jimmy, I don't think anyone was on my side. "It's nothing against Jimmy, he is one of the nicest guys on the circuit, but some of those who come along to support him, should be thrown out." | ||
| Matthew Stevens (Wal) | 10-2 | Tony Drago (Mal) |
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1st session: 76-41, 77-4 (77), 63-27, 88-0, 62-31, 14-66, 76-1 (76), 77-15, 63-69 (61) 2nd session: 75-0 (75), 99-31 (91), 65-24 Being the first one-side match of the tournament, third-favourite Matthew Stevens reached the second round with a 10-2 commanding defeat over Malta's Tony Drago. The young Welshman showed fluent breakbuilding form as Drago failed to find his touch. Stevens took a 5-0 lead in the early stage and led 7-2 overnight. It then took him just under forty minutes to seal the victory. "Tony struggled and that helped me," he said. "But to win the first match 10-2 against anyone is a good result." But he maintained a low key outlook over his chances of becoming the first Welsh world champion for 21 years. "The odds don't matter to me," he said. "There are a lot of good players still in the championship who are thinking the same thing now that Stephen and Ronnie have gone. "I'm just taking it match by match but if I play well, I must have a good chance. "All I want to do now is go home and practice for four or five hours a day and come back fresh." World No.9 Stevens will face the winner of tomorrow's clash between Alan McManus and Nigel Bond. | ||
| Alan McManus (Sco) | 10-7 | Nigel Bond (Eng) |
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1st session: 37-62, 73-26 (66), 85-30 (55), 61-65 (59 Bond), 65-41, 55-59, 63-28, 43-74 (60), 35-62 2nd session: 53-86, 76-32, 1-78 (55), 88-43, 64-26, 81-0 (81), 84-4 (58), 60-48 Glasgow's Alan McManus maintained his 100% first round unbeaten record at the Crucible in 10 years when he complete a 10-7 victory over Nigel Bond. The match was hold in one day and both sessions were very tense. The gruelling first session took three hour and 46 minutes to complete as Bond took the 5-4 lead. The Scot was struggling throughout the match but managed to won the last five frames in a row to clinch the victory. McManus was a relieved man after seeing off the 1995 finalist and said, "It was a big, big match as a lot of the seeds have been falling. "I know it was going to be close. I just tried to tighten up and take my time. "Nigel is a great player who like myself has been struggling this season but towards the end he started to miss the long ones. "I knew then he was feeling the tension and I drew encouragement from it." McManus was a semi-finalist here in 1993 and 1994, but has not been past the second round since. He will need to raise his game if he is to change that record as he now faces Matthew Stevens, who has beaten him twice this season. And both time Stevens went on to win the event they were playing in, the Regal Masters at Motherwell and Benson & Hedges Masters at Wembley. | ||
| John Parrott (Eng) | 10-9 | Gary Wilkinson (Eng) |
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1st session: 2-60 (53), 10-63, 61-14, 71-22, 80-0 (50), 14-66, 92-0 (92), 5-75, 77-15 2nd session: 85-30 (69), 49-59, 65-35, 54-61, 43-89 (85), 55-72, 23-65, 71-26, 83-0 (59), 84-19 (83) World No.5 John Parrott showed some special fight-back to recover from 9-7 down to beat Gary Wilkinson 10-9. The Liverpudlian has only lost once in the first round in sixteen years at the Crucible, which was four years ago, but it is his fifth 10-9 first round victory. A gruelling morning session lasting nearly three and half hours saw a lot of scrappy play. Wilkinson, who has dropped out of snooker's elite following many successful years in the game has developed a reputation for slow play. The last frame of his final qualifying match for the Crucible was a new record at over 83 minutes in length. Parrott managed to hold a 5-4 lead into the evening session. But the odds start to against him when Wilkinson pulled away from him to 9-7. A defeat looked ominous until the 1991 champion called on his vast experience to pull him through, a match winning break of 83 taking him into the last 16. "Gary will be sick about losing. The first four frames of tonight's session were the worst snooker I've ever played here. I couldn't believe the chances I was missing. "When my back was against the wall, all of a sudden a true snooker player in me came out. I was just looking for one chance in the decider. After all that I just want to go to bed. I'm knackered." Although he is in the half of the draw where top seeds were fallen, Parrott does not tip himself for the title. "I think there are a lot of players ahead of me," he said, "If I play to the same standard as tonight, there's no way I'll win my next match." Parrott's second-round match will be against Northern Ireland's Joe Swail. | ||
| Paul Hunter (Eng) | 6-10 | Joe Swail (NI) |
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1st session: 100-10, 77-0 (63), 0-103 (103), 77-41 (51), 48-59, 70-75, 1-90, 93-0 (81), 52-90 2nd session: 76-19 (55), 32-86, 56-31, 7-63, 0-126 (85), 0-141 (141), 4-63 Joe Swail, the only Northern Irish player at the Crucible this year, set a high break target of 141 during his 10-6 victory over world No.12 Paul Hunter. Hunter, came so close to knocking out Stephen Hendry in the first round last year, took the early two-frame lead in the first session, but couldn't get ahead again anymore after Swail levelled at 3-3. Having a 5-4 lead after the first session, Swail battled a bit but finally reeled off the last four frames to set Hunter became the second top 16 seed to go out the tournament with Stphen Hendry. A satisfied Swail, the world No.28 who had to battle through qualifying rounds, said, "When I started to go for my shots, it turned the game around. We both struggled in the first half but I played so much better afterwards. "Earlier this season I haven't been getting the results against top players and I couldn't figure out why, considering the amount of work I was doing at the practice table. "I was getting chances and didn't take them. I seemed to bottle them a bit so it's nice to get over the winning line this time. "I didn't see Hendry lose though the result did surprise me. It also shows how high the standards are. But when he was beaten I was even more determined to pot another seed." Already been a semi-finalist in the British Open this season, Swail will face either John Parrott or Gary Wilkinson for a place in the last eight. After a inconsistent season, Hunter said, "My long potting was diabolical. I've got to get my confidence back for next season." | ||
| Peter Ebdon (Eng) | 6-10 | Dominic Dale (Wal) |
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1st session: 33-66, 53-50, 58-76 (58 Ebdon), 101-1 (100), 0-73 (73), 70-19, 1-80, 0-120 (120), 71-62 2nd session: 53-75, 70-0 (69), 55-73 (72), 62-71, 67-25, 18-87 (87), 8-104 (84) Qualifier Dominic Dale took advantage of his 5-4 overnight lead by wining four of the last five frames to send the 13th seed Peter Ebdon out of the championship. Ebdon, runner-up to Stephen Hendry in 1996, never led in the match as he looked distinctly out of sorts but showed plenty of his fighting spirit. The Welshman, who reached the last 16 in 1997, said, "If I keep on like this, I'm confident of doing well. Peter is a very tough opponent and difficult to play against. If you relax for a minute, he's on you. "I looked a bit sluggish at times but I put together some useful clearances to stop Peter taking the lead during the earlier part of the game. "The Crucible is the hardest venue of all to play at. We only come here once a year and I'm pleased to get through." But as he face a second round clash with giantkiller David Gray, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan earlier, Dale took nothing for granted, "I've got another very tough match. David played great and here you don't treat anybody with disrespect." It is interesting to mention something outside the table as both player's battle of the best-dressed. Dale, who appeared in a somewhat loud red number last year, chose a lemon shirt this time, while Ebdon dazzled in his star-spangled waistcoat. | ||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) | 9-10 | David Gray (Eng) |
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1st session: 0-75 (55), 61-53, 123-7 (123), 101-30 (101),
116-5 (115), 96-0 (96), 19-74 (70), 0-77 (69), 0-89 (89) 2nd session: 63-10, 59-73 (59 O'Sullivan), 0-76 (76), 81-0 (51), 136-0 (136), 0-96 (96), 102-31 (102), 32-69, 46-57, 34-60 Ronnie O'Sullivan became the second star name to crash out, in only the third day of the Embassy World Championship, after a dramatic 10-9 defeat by 200-1 outsider David Gray, one of his biggest fans. The fourth seed made five century breaks, a record for a first-round match at the Crucible, but could never shake off his opponent and lost a nail-biting deciding frame against the 21-year-old qualifier from Surrey. He was clearly shattered by his loss but was full of praise for his conqueror, who only came here for the second time after losing the first round in 1998. O'Sullivan, who led 5-1 at one stage, said: "It's David's day and I hope he does well in the rest of the tournament. He played a great match, he was superb and deserved to win. "I might have had that many centuries but I never really got hold of the match by the scruff of the neck. I made a few mistakes and at this level and against someone as good as David is, I couldn't afford to. "Defeat here is hard to take but that's the way it goes. That's snooker." But the rocket soon put the defeat behind him and added, "Tomorrow, the championship is history as far as I'm concerned but hopefully next season I will come back a better player." Ronnie, who won the Regal Scottish just eight days ago, had been struggling to pull clear of the world No.60 throughout the match. He led 5-4 overnight after making three centuries in the first session but Gray, from Morden, was calm and produced some good snooker himself to keep in pace all the way through. Even in victory he remained remarkably composed. "I knew I could get back into it even when I was 5-1 down. I just needed a chance," said the youngest winner of the English amateur championship at the age of 16. "When Ronnie's in the balls he's a genius but I knew he couldn't keep it going forever. "It's a massive result. It's the best day of my career so far." Gray, who defeat James Wattana in his last qualifying round, will now face Dominic Dale. This victory guarantees him GBP 19,000 compared to his best earning before of GBP 8,000 by winning last year's B&H championship. He also declared, "There is not much to choose between the world number eight and the number forty these days. "The standard outsaid the top 16 is improving massively. I wasn't expected to win but I know I can beat anyone on my day. "If you practise for three or four hours a day, you are bound to improve. I don't play golf or anything like that. I play snooker ... and eat." | ||
| Mark J Williams (Wal) | 10-4 | John Read (Eng) |
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1st session: 24-68, 76-0 (64), 63-41, 98-0 (88), 23-104 (82), 75-38, 84-1 (54), 62-76 (62/76), 3-92 (91) 2nd session: 89-0 (60), 72-8, 84-40, 83-13, 110-8 (101) Mark J Williams had a comfortable win over debutant John Read in his first round contest, and became the first seed to make it through to the second round. Read, who took the opening frame, did well to fight back from 5-2 to end the first day only 5-4 down. But Williams proved too strong for him in the second session especially when Read could only managed the highest break of 17. Williams, runner-up last year to Stephen Hendry, wasted no time to take five successive frames, including a stylish 101, in the last frame to run out the winner. "I was expecting a tougher match to be honest," said the new world No.1, "But John didn't play as well as he did yesterday and I managed to get a couple of good breaks. "He was appearing here for the first time so might have been a bit nervous." Regarding the shock departure of Stephen Hendry he added, "The standard is so good now that an upset can easily happen to anyone." | ||
| Mark King (Eng) | 8-10 | Drew Henry (Sco) |
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1st session: 83-20 (64), 22-68 (51), 0-87 (87), 1-85 (85),
58-23, 61-10, 32-75, 60-73 (54 Henry), 78-61 (55 King) 2nd session: 24-64, 85-0 (85), 42-63, 78-39, 68-13, 68-54 (68), 21-88, 6-71, 25-65 Drew Henry, the 31-year-old stands at world No.45, became the first Scot to reach the last 16 following a 10-8 victory over No.14 seed Mark King. It was the first time in three attempts that Henry, guaranteed a top 32 ranking next season, had won a match at the Crucible. It's a tense encounter and neither player was able to shake the other off. There were never more than two frames between them. Taking a 5-4 lead overnight advantage, quailifer Henry only went behind once at 8-7 but successfully held the nerve to knock out King. "I lost the 15th frame due to a lack of concentration so I gave myself a good telling off when I popped out of the arena to visit the toilet. It worked," said Henry who then won three frames on the trot to seal the victory. He will now face Mark J Williams in his second round clash. Henry also spoke of the incident on the M1 motorway near Sheffield on the eve of the championship. He was travelling to Sheffield on Saturday when a window in his car was shattered by an air-rifle shot. Fortunately, apart from the shock, no one was injured in the car. He remarked, "I was very lucky not get hurt but it didn't affect me one bit. After the pellets smashed through a rear window, there was glass all over the place. I was even pulling pieces out of hair in my hotel room. "But I was quite laid-back about the incident," said the Scot. "Perhaps that's just the sort of person I am. "I don't mind who I play now. I'm going to enjoy it and hopefully win a few matches. The way the results have been going, you never know what may happen." | ||
| Fergal O'Brien (Ire) | 10-8 | Chris Small (Sco) |
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1st session: 48-58, 70-57, 98-23 (54), 77-26 (70), 47-81, 0-101 (101), 75-59 (67), 1-82 (82) 2nd session: 70-40, 55-43, 90-44 (90), 30-63, 66-63, 4-88 (76), 0-83 (83), 71-28 extra session: 1-80 (52), 76-6 After more than eight hours of this slow-paced and tedious battle, world No.11 Fergal O'Brien finally emerging the victory over Chris Small, which took three session to complete. At such a snail's pace, their two sessions were both postponed due to overran the schedule time. According to WPBSA tournament rules, a new frame cannot begin in a match if the next session on that table is due to begin within forty minutes. They needed an extra session at the end of day's play to decide a winner. O'Brien, who never behind after recovering from the first frame defeat, finally took the 48 minutes last frame to shake off the stubborn opponent. He admitted afterwards that his marathon struggle with Small taxed his concentration to the limit. He said, "Towards the end this morning I was virtually playing from memory. It feels like this match had lasted for three days. "Outside of the top 16, Chris was the hardest draw I could have had. Even to beat him 10-0 would have been a hard slog." He now plays either Stephen Lee or Icelander Kristjan Helgason. The state of affairs was well summed up by some members of the audience as they fought a losing battle to stay awake as the stalemate dragged on. This match might be recalled from the lesson of last year. Small emerged victorious 10-9 over Anthony Hamilton when their first-round match was played to a late-night finish. | ||
| Stephen Lee (Eng) | 10-3 | Kristjan Helgason (Ice) |
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1st session: 90-19 (73), 112-14 (89), 31-92 (56), 93-0 (79),
131-6 (85), 64-45, 66-20, 113-0 (56), 5-83 (51) 2nd session: 81-29, 23-74 (65), 78-40, 86-0 (71) World No.6 Stephen Lee made it a baptism of fire for the first Icelandic qualifier Kristjan Helgason as he cruised into the second-round with a comfortable 10-3 victory. Lee, a quarter-finalist last year, was always in charge throughout the match and had a commanding 7-2 overnight lead. Helgason, who battled through five rounds of qualifying to clinch his debut, immediately tipped his conquerer for the title, "I think that he will go all the way and win the tournament as he seems to be cueing well, and his long potting is better than anyone else I've seen this week," he said. Regarding his own performance, Helgasson, who has two brothers and five sisters, said, "I was a bit nervous during the first few frames but it began to wear off as the match went on. "I liked the atmosphere here, it's very different and hopefully I'll do well to come back next year. ThoughI need to improve my safety game," added the quietly-spoken 26-year-old. The 25-year-old Lee, who missed the Regal Scottish two weeks ago due to a recurring back injury, revealed, "I'm OK now but I feel a bit older than I am." "I've had a lot of treatment and I'm being told to do nothing but hold a cue. I just have to be careful the way I sleep and what I do during the day as there have been times when I couldn't even put my shoes on. "But missing the Scottish was crucial. It's hard to have a break like that and then and play here. Facing a debutant, he added, "I know it was important to keep the pressure on him as it was his first time here. "Although I'm scoring well, I'm not quite match fit and I gave him some chances through my safety game not being up to scratch. "But you've got to take every match as it comes and every game is different." Lee moves on to face Ireland's Fergal O'Brien. | ||
| Ken Doherty (Ire) | 10-3 | Darren Morgan (Wal) |
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1st session: 65-29, 0-89 (89), 68-6, 99-0 (57), 54-48, 14-114 (80), 90-9 (82), 57-92 (57, 72), 72-11 (68) 2nd session: 80-4, 67-15, 117-0 (101), 83-24 (75) 1997 champion Ken Doherty avoided the first round minefield and cruised into the last 16 with a 10-3 romp past Welshman Darren Morgan. The Irishman led 6-3 overnight and spent less than an hour to finish off the job he required. Morgan, a semi-finalist way back in 1994, had to qualify this time and he found it very hard to keep in pace. Doherty, winner of this year's Malta Grand Prix, was relieved to have reached the second round and said, "I was expecting a tougher match because Darren hammered me here 13-5 a few years ago. He has always been a very good competitor but he has had a bad time both on and off the table during the past two seasons. I'm glad to be through. "I know I haven't been given a lot of attention but I don't mind that. I've always done my own thing." Commenting on the defeats of Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan, he added, "I'm as surprised as anyone at the shocks we've seen this week. It's really weird. "But I think the shocks are good for the tournament. Players who have qualified to get here are going to enjoy themselves and that's the way to play at the Crucible. Stuart Bingham and David Gray have given the championship a great buzz and its now as wide open as ever, particularly in the top half of the draw. World No.7 Doherty will now face Anthony Hamilton. | ||
| Anthony Hamilton (Eng) | 10-4 | Macro Fu (HK) |
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1st session: 76-52, 0-95 (94), 38-97 (52), 67-33 (67), 0-99 (99), 46-82 (62), 70-62, 77-0 (77), 85-1 (85) 2nd session: 77-21 (76), 70-54 (53 Fu), 75-4 (64), 68-16 (52), 76-10 (55) Both players came from Ian Doyle's CueMasters, both lost their first round here last year, but one of them will definitely go through this year. And it's Anthony Hamilton's day as he beat Hong Kong's Macro Fu 10-4. Having trailing 4-2, world No.10 Hamilton might be surprised as he easliy found the way to fight back eight frames on the trot to take the victory. "My safety game was tight all the way through and I knew I had to limit Marco's chances," said Hamilton. "When I was 4-2 down I knew I had to stay with him because he is so dangerous when he gets in front. "Styles make games and I've always doen well against him. He goes for his shots and It's fun playing Macro." Hamilton will now face another stablemate Ken Doherty in the next round. | ||
| Steve Davis (Eng) | 10-6 | Graeme Dott (Sco) |
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1st session: 123-0 (58), 69-38, 94-6 (93), 51-48, 105-16, 61-37 2nd session: 1-72, 98-16 (89), 0-78 (78), 28-74 (67), 17-71 (63), 63-48, 61-8, 41-70, 0-71 (71), 93-5 Six-time champion Steve Davis survived a plucky comeback from Scotsman Graeme Dott with a 10-6 win in his 22nd consecutive appearance of the Embassy World Championship. Crucible veteran Steve Davis had a superb start as he stormed into a 6-0 lead in the first session. But the 22-year-old qualifier Dott didn't give up and won four of the five frames at the start of the second session. Despite the strong challenge, Davis finally struggled across the finish line. Dott, who lost all six frames in the first session, accused Davis of deliberately slowing things down as their six-frame session took over three and a quarter hours to complete. He said, "Steve played so slowly it not only annoyed me, it got to me as well. I couldn't believe how slowly he was playing. It was beyond belief. "I shouldn't have let that happen but what can you do when someone is looking at every conceivable angle for every shot including the break off. He also went to the toilet between every frame. "To my mind the referee, Colin Brinded, should have been said something to him. I'm pretty sure I would have been told off had it been me. I thought it was scandalous and bordering on cheating and I've played all the slow ones, including Robby Foldvari. "I was delighted only six of the scheduled nine frame were played. Had the other three gone ahead, I would have lost those as well. If Steve wants to play like that, it's up to him though it's my own fault of course for getting into a stew over it." But No.15 seed Davis defended his style of play and explained, "Stephen Hendry tries to steam roller his opponents and I try to anaesthetise them. That's the way I learnt to play this game. "You cannot teach old dogs new tricks. I only left the table to go to the toilet because I had to and not to put off my opponent. If you try to put someone off while you are playing, it takes a lot of effort and can ruin your own game. I have never tried to do this but if that's what the other player thinks, that's marvellous. "I played brilliantly out there and absolutely nailed him to the boards. I slowly banged them in. When someone is up against the ropes, how you deal with it is up to you." This victory means Steve Davis would hold a top 16 ranking for the 21st successive seasons unless his biggest threat, Joe Swail, Jimmy White and Dominic Dale, can reach the semi-finals or final. Davis' next opponent will be John Higgins or Dave Harold. | ||
| John Higgins (Sco) | 10-8 | Dave Harold (Eng) |
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1st session: 57-45, 50-67, 114-12 (109), 64-67 (60, 67),
99-8 (77), 119-2 (74), 110-0 (103), 8-78 (54), 0-86 (82) 2nd session: 79-9 (79), 0-76 (59), 141-0 (141), 55-75, 30-79 (68), 47-60, 89-0, 75-50, 126-1 (126) No.2 seed John Higgins enjoyed a slice of luck at the best possible time during his 10-8 victory over Dave Harold. The closely-fought tussle saw both players showing fine form and battled closely all the way throughout the match. Harold was set to take the 17th frame but the cue ball went in off a red to allow Higgins to sneak the frame before sealing the match with his fourth century break. The Scot, who now faces six-time champion Steve Davis, said, "I was a bit fortunate to go 9-8. I felt great. I'm a bit drained now but I'm delighted. "When Dave went in off it was one of those shots in which you don't quite know where the cue ball will finish. "His safety was good from start to finish. He doesn't give much away and I had to hang on to beat him. "But I knew it would be a tough match as soon as the draw was made, and Dave gave me one. On paper, he was probably the hardest qualifier to beat." A 141 break in frame twelve equalled the highest of the televised stages so far, while victory guaranteed Higgins the No.2 ranking next season with Mark J Williams already confirmed as the new No.1. This seemed unlikely when he trailed Stephen Hendry for many months. But the seven-times world champion will now drop to No.3, his lowest ranking for twelve years. Harold remarked, "I have competed with the best player in the world who was on top of his game, and I think that I can play better than I did. "He threw everything at me, I took it on the shoulder and came back strongly. I thought I had him then something happened which can turn a game like this. "The seventeenth frame was a sickener. It wasn't carelessness really, but it knocked the stuffing out of me. Afterwards I started to think bad things for the first time in the match instead of keeping a positive attitude. "But credit to John for making a century to win it." At least Harold knows that he will return to the Crucible as a seed next year as his solid ranking-events record will see him into the top sixteen. | ||
