GLOBAL SNOOKER NEWS

Ronnie O'Sullivan safely negotiated a tricky first round encounter against John Parrott in the British Open in Brighton, but was disgusted with his performance, declaring "I'm nuts, I'm not the full ticket."

O'Sullivan was disparaging of both his own and his opponent's form, but in fact he had to dig deep, winning several high quality tactical exchanges. It wasn't the sort of match that the World Champion enjoys. It was a hard slog and Parrott pushed him all the way.

But Parrott's missed crucial balls and his poor break offs gifted opportunities to O'Sullivan.

The World Number One, bidding for a third consecutive ranking win, fell one behind as Parrott started brightly with a 55 break, and a late 23. But O'Sullivan looked in tip top form in frame two, strolling through a 94 clearance which included a number of awkward shots.

Although he didn't think much of it, winning frames like the third is the essence of hard match snooker and O'Sullivan won the twenty-seven minute frame, snatching it with pink and black.

The fourth was safety dominated, until O'Sullivan broke the stranglehold with a late run of 60.

He should have won the fifth, but having made 39 and 27 to leave Parrott needing snookers, the Evertonian battled back, got the snooker and eventually clinched the frame on the black, after a string of quite superb safety shots from both players.

But that was the end of Parrott's challenge. He battled on but O'Sullivan won another largely tactical frame and made 46 and eventually potted the pink to secure a 5-2 win.

And a win's a win, something that Matthew Stevens would give his right arm for right now. He hasn't won a best of nine match for twelve months, and this season he hasn't even won a frame yet. He crashed out to Scotland's Stephen Maguire, offering little resistance as the Scot pieced together breaks of 49, 42, 96, 40, 63 and 66.

The eagerly anticipated match up between Jimmy White and Ding Junhui turned into a nightmare for White. He couldn't get any sort of rhythm and looked unsettled throughout. The seventeen year old Chinese star won a very scrappy opener and adding breaks of 48 and 104 for a 3-0 lead. White gave himself a chance by taking frame four with breaks of 41 and 37.

But he broke down on just 8 in the fifth and Junhui won the frame in two visits. White looked as if he was going to pull a frame back as he opened with 60 in the sixth, but he didn't clinch the frame and Junhui dished up with 45 for a famous victory.

"This is the best win of my career", the inscrutable Chinese lad said, through his interpreter.

White was annoyed at his loss. "It's so frustrating. I am playing well in practice, but I haven't got going in matches yet this season."

He was also full of praise for his young opponent. "He's class. I practiced a bit up at Wellingborough, so I'd watched him play. He's certainly capable of winning the World Championship."

White, who won Poker Million, added "I wouldn't like to play poker against him, he doesn't give much away in his expression does he!"

Peter Ebdon's miserable start to the season continued, as he went down 5-3 to Londoner Barry Hawkins He won the first on the brown, but fell 3-1 behind as Hawkins made breaks of 95, 75 and nicked the fourth with a 28 clearance.

It went 4-1 as Hawkins added a run of 55 and then, with typical gritty application, Ebdon mounted a come back. Runs of 66 and 60 brought him back to 4-3, but he faltered at the start of the eighth frame and although Hawkins needed three bites at the cherry, he eventually contributed 28, 22 and 23 to secure his win.

Scotland's Alan McManus is sliding down the rankings at an alarm pace, and a 5-2 defeat by Ali Carter provisionally sees him drop out of the top 16. McManus opened a 2-1 lead, largely thanks to 83 in the third, but from thereon he made only 52 points in the rest of the match, as Carter stepped in with runs of 54, 36, 37, and 40 twice.

Fellow Scot Draw Henry nearly joined McManus on the road back home. Pitted against local favourite Mark Davis, the pair fought out a late night duel, before a crucial run of 39 at the start of the decider saw Henry over th line.

RESOURCES

2004 BRITISH OPEN

INFORMATION

RESULTS - LAST 48

LAST 32