Mark Williams in second round

By Geet Sethi

SHEFFIELD, APRIL 22. Mark Williams, the world no.1 and the defending champion heaved a sigh of relief after booking a place in the second round of the Pounds 1.53 million Embassy World snooker championship. His victim was Scotland's Billy Snaddon, a seasoned pro ranked 24, who said after the match, ``I think both of us played really poor''. The 10-4 scoreline notwithstanding, it was a contest, which Williams would like to forget as soon as possible.

Indeed not since 1982, when Steve Davis was unceremoniously defeated in the opening round by Tony Knowles here at the Crucible, has any defending world champion played so poorly in the opening round. The only difference is that while Davis paid for his lacklustre performance with a humiliating defeat at the hands of a rookie, Williams somehow managed to overcome Snaddon's challenge.

It really could have been anybody's match. The quality of play was just not acceptable going by the high standards normally set by the cueists who have been here defending their title. One has witnessed some remarkable displays by Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Davis, so sure of themselves against opponents who with a mixture of awe and fear invariably collapsed in a venue, which facilitates the spectators to scrutinise each emotion, each flicker of the eye, each missed pot, making it such an unnerving and intimidating experience.

Snaddon in contrast has been here before on four occasions and was neither over awed by the occasion nor intimidated by his worthy opponent. Yet, he failed to make use of an opportunity of a lifetime. Never has Williams played so poorly in a world championship and the chances are that he never will. Normally so fluent, Williams could only manage a high break of 43 in the first session of nine frames. For a player who is not accustomed to tactical exchanges, he did admirably in clinching the sixth and the ninth frame to take a 6-3 first session advantage.

The portly Scot has defeated all the top players in the circuit today and was therefore justifiably disappointed at being unable to make use of this golden chance of overcoming a world champion at the most famous snooker venue. Later Snaddon complained about the table saying that it was too slow. At one stage the 32 year old refused a straight forward green into the top pocket, because he was not confident of negotiating the cue ball for position on the brown. ``You have just got to try and adapt,'' he said ruefully.

But it was Paul Hunter, who proved that it is possible to overcome less than satisfactory playing conditions. Playing poorly himself against David Roe, the 23-year-old Hunter trailed 1-4 but then in an inspirational burst of scoring, reeled off 266 unanswered points to take a first session 5-4 lead. Hunter uncorked a 130 clearance in the sixth which sparked his aggressive comeback and recorded further well-compiled runs of 55, 60 and 52 to lead 5-4. On the resumption he added a 100 and then concluded the contest with a flourish with a 108 in the 12th frame and breaks of 87 and 61 in the last two.

It was a breathtaking exhibition of scoring, comparable to the very best in the business. Hunter has already given sufficient evidence of his capabilities and potential to be a title contender by recently winning the Wembley Masters in February. En route he accounted for defending champion Mathew Stevens, Peter Ebdon, Stephen Hendry and came from 3-7 behind to clinch a sensational 10-9 victory over Fergal O'Brien in the final. Hendry, who meets Hunter now, if he negotiates his opening match against Mark Davis, will have something to think about when they commence their match next Sunday.

Dave Harold, ranked 13 has booked his berth in the second round with a resounding 10-5 win over Australia's Quinten Hann. Harold, a former winner of the Asian Open prevailed thanks to his consistency. Hann, a brilliant potter led 5-4 after the first session but was unable to contain the persistent and determined Harold, who won six successive frames this morning aided with runs of 61, 40, 46 and 71.

Harold now awaits the winner of Ronnie O'Sullivan and qualifier Andy Hicks.

The results: First round : Best of 19 frames: Mark Williams bt Billy Snaddon 10-4. 46-66, 61-1, 55-13, 67-14, 23-56, 78-43, 75- 30, 47-60, 58-33, 59-67, 77-18, 66-54, 80-27, 78(69)-47.

Paul Hunter bt David Roe 10-6. 39-73, 0-71, 67-55, 1- 103(55), 20-68, 130(130)-1, 76(55)-0, 69(60)-34, 82(52)-0, 101(100)-19, 6- 55(55), 108(108)-7, 0-73(73), 51-3, 112(87)-9, 80(61)-0.

Dave Harold bt Quinten Hann 10-5. 92(59)-30, 15- 98(67), 62-4, 40-78(65), 22-58, 70-41, 71-27, 20-67(58), 46-74, 67(61)-5, 68- 59, 76-53, 77(71)-0, 67-30, 75-16.

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