Hong Kong’s Marco Fu knocked Peter Ebdon out of this year’s Snooker World Championship with a crushing 10-2 win on Saturday as reigning champion Stuart Bingham suffered the “curse of the Crucible” in a first-round defeat by Ali Carter.
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Snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to face disciplinary action after refusing to attend a post-match press conference following his first-round win at the World Championship on Monday.
O’Sullivan won the next but Gilbert again battled back with a 71 to reduce his arrears to 9-7, only for the “Rocket” to clinch progress with an effortless match-winning 72 break.
“I’d been chopping and changing my cues, and obviously with getting older you’re thinking of previous people who have got to a certain age, and that it’s just a natural progression – that you’re going to go downhill”.
“As a 22-year-old I came here, lived here for three or four years, and it’s incredible how many people think I am Rotherham, born and bred”, he smiled. “I hope he goes on to win it now”.
Carter’s initial break in the 19th frame was ended at 39, although he was able to capitalise after Bingham botched two attempts to pot the pink. Carter, however, powered in a century of his won – 103 – to level, and then came through a scrappy decider by the score of 67 points to 34 and moved into the second round. Bingham finally hit back in the seventh frame to stop the rot, then came straight back to the table and produced a break of 96 to trim the deficit to two.
Bingham opens up his defence against Ali Carter this morning, in an all-Essex clash.
No first-time victor has ever successfully held onto their crown in Sheffield and Bingham fell at the first hurdle, albeit to a player who has twice finished runner-up in the tournament. “But it’d be nice to better last year’s result”.
“When you play someone like Ronnie you have to take every opportunity”.
Higgins, ranked No8 in the world, showed he meant business after four years of relative disappointment in Sheffield with brilliantly constructed breaks of 105 and 79 to take the opening two frames.
Murphy, the 2005 world champion, beat Scotland’s Anthony McGill in the quarter-finals on the way to last year’s title match, and by a twist of fate they were matched together in the opening round this time.
Past year the swashbuckling Bristolian was beaten by eventual champion Stuart Bingham in the semi-finals, an upset that was followed by Trump’s conqueror carrying off the title.
Firing in breaks of 61, 93, 76, 109 and 55, Murphy edged 5-4 in front of the Glasgow cueman, in a match that finishes on Sunday.
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World number 22 Gilbert said he played “probably the best I’ll ever play and not win” in losing 10-7 to the five-time world champion at the Crucible.
