Stevens fails at World qualifying

Former runner-up Matthew Stevens was a big-name casualty in the final round of qualifying for next month's World Championships, while Ken Doherty is in action on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Welshman has twice reached the final, losing to Mark Williams in 2000 and Shaun Murphy in 2005, but today he slumped to a 10-4 defeat against Englishman Martin Gould.

Gould, 27, will make a debut appearance at the Sheffield theatre and will learn of his first-round opponent when the draw takes place on Wednesday.

Stevens successfully came through qualifying last year but, having failed to climb back into the world's top 16, he again had to return to Sheffield in an attempt to earn a place in the main draw.

He was outplayed though by the little-known Gould in the English Institute of Sport's badminton hall in the South Yorkshire city, where 32 players are converging in the hope of securing the 16 available places at snooker's highest-profile tournament.

Scotland's Alan McManus also failed in his bid to qualify, as the former semi-finalist lost 10-6 to England's Stuart Bingham.

The qualifying began on Sunday and continues until Tuesday, when former champions Steve Davis and Ken Doherty are in action.

Two-time former winner Williams takes on Tom Ford today, when Stephen Lee, Ricky Walden and Liang Wenbo are also due to play.