GLASGOW // Former world champions John Higgins and Stephen Hendry were paired together when the draw was made in Glasgow yesterday for the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix. Higgins, an impressive first-round winner when he defeated Anthony Hamilton 5-0, was followed into the second round by fellow Scot Hendry who survived a nine-frame thriller against Dave Gilbert as he gained his first victory of the season.
The random draw was the first in professional snooker for more than 15 years. First out of the hat was Jamie Cope conqueror of Scotland's Stephen Maguire who now faces the Dubai-based former world champion, Peter Ebdon. Holder Marco Fu was paired against either the man he beat in last year's final Ronnie O'Sullivan or China's Liang Wenbo. On the table, the Wembley Masters champion, Mark Selby, made three century breaks as he whitewashed Andrew Higginson 5-0.
Selby took 71 minutes to book his place in the draw, where e was paired with Ryan Day. Ebdon scored a much-needed 5-1 victory over Simon Bedford, his first win in a ranking event this season. Ebdon is partially colour-blind and accidentally potted the brown instead of a red in the first frame, but he recovered to win it with a 33 clearance. Bedford levelled in frame two, but Ebdon comfortably ran out the next four frames with runs of 100 and 53. "I've had a disappointing start to the season and I was desperate to win this one," said Ebdon. "I've worked hard for the last couple of weeks and I'm pleased with the result.
"To be honest I have not felt match-sharp since I won the UK Championship in 2006. But I am getting my hunger back now and I feel that there is one really big tournament in me this season. This is an important event and one that all of the players want to win. "I'll be working very hard on my game this season. That might mean spending time away from my family which I don't enjoy, but when things are not going right in my career then nothing else makes sense."
As for accidental pot in the opening frame, Ebdon joked: "It was one of the best browns I've ever potted under pressure, I cued it perfectly, so I was gutted to hear the referee call foul and a miss." Stephen Maguire's bid to win his home tournament faltered at the first hurdle as rising star Jamie Cope stormed to a 5-1 victory. O'Sullivan has been named snooker's Player of the Year for 2007/8, after one of the most successful seasons of his glittering career. The Essex man won the 888.com World Championship for the third time, claimed his fourth Maplin UK Championship title, and reclaimed the No 1 position in the world rankings.
Last 16 draw: Today: J Higgins v S Hendry, D Junhui v Michael Holt, S Murphy or A Gunnell v S Davis, J Trump v J Perry. Tomorrow: M Fu v R O'Sullivan or L Wenbo, J Cope v P Ebdon, M Selby v R Day, M King or J Parrott v A Carter or D Harold. @Email:sports@thenational.ae
