Snooker World Championship: Shaun Murphy, the 2005 winner who is labouring with a chest infection, still managed to dispose comfortably of James Wattana 10-4 on the first weekend of the World Championship in Sheffield, but a former title holder, John Parrott, left snooker's most famous stage for possibly the last time.
Parrott, who inflicted the only whitewash The Crucible has seen in its 29 years of staging the championship - a 10-0 drubbing of the veteran Australian Eddie Charlton during his defence of the 1991 world title - looked as if he might suffer the same fate when he trailed Scotland's Graeme Dott 6-0. "Believe me I was thinking about it," said the 41-year-old. "The day before I came here, I played for two hours and hardly missed a ball. For the first two hours of the match, I couldn't pot one."
In contrast, Dott, the runner-up two years ago, was sharp off the mark, and even after Parrott had settled was never threatened in winning 10-3.
Qualifier Mark Selby caused the first shock last night by beating 1998 winner John Higgins 10-4. Selby, ranked 34, took a 6-3 lead into the final session, which was reduced to 6-4 after Higgins won the opening frame.
But the 22-year-old made a 123 and 58 break, before Higgins missed a yellow in the 13th to gift Selby the frame. A 14th frame break of 110 ensured Selby of a famous victory.
Ken Doherty was expecting a battle against Barry Hawkins, twice a ranked event semi-finalist this season, but the only Crucible debutant in the field. As it turned out, Doherty secured an 8-1 lead with the same consistency that won him the Malta Cup in February, thereby promising a swift conclusion this morning.
- Guardian Service
Today: 10am: (12) K Doherty (Irl) v B Hawkins (Eng) (Doherty leads 8-1), (6) P Hunter (Eng) v N Robertson (Aus). 2.30pm: (4) S Maguire (Sco) v M King (Eng) (Maguire leads 6-3), (10) M Williams (Wal) v A Hamilton (Eng). 7pm: Hunter v Robertson, (5) M Stevens (Wal) v J Swail (NIrl).
