Dubliner Michael Judge condemned John Parrot to becoming the first seed to exit the Embassy World Championship when he won 10-6 against the 36-year-old Liverpudlian. It was only the second time in his 18 appearances at the Crucible that Parrott bowed out in the first round.
But there was disappointment tonight when Judge's fellow Dubliner Fergal O'Brien, the ninth seed, lost 10-8 as world number 22 Mark King sent another seed to an early departure from the championship. Meanwhile Tyrone's Patrick Wallace delivered another tournament shock when he a completed a 10-2 victory over World number 8 Alan McManus this afternoon.
Parrott, champion in 1991, has suffered a slump in form this season and went into the World Championship with his provisional ranking down from number 10 to 22. And when Judge won the first four frames of yesterday's opening session, it looked as though Parrott was heading for the same fate as Jimmy White, whom the Irishman beat in the final qualifying round for the event.
Although Parrott fought back and levelled the match at 5-5 in this morning's first frame, world number 46 Judge maintained his impressive form to book an all-Dublin second-round clash with 1997 champion Ken Doherty. The 25-year-old edged ahead again with a break of 108 and allowed his much more experienced opponent, whose only previous first-round defeat came in 1996, just one more frame as the duo became increasingly nervy.
Both missed a number of straightforward pots but Judge held things together and when he fluked the brown in frame 16 to leave his rival needing three snookers, Parrott immediately conceded defeat.
Judge, who is making his debut at the Crucible, said that the result represented a big breakthrough for him. "It was a dream come true just to play John here and I'm delighted to have won. It's what I've practised for over the years," he said.
"I'm definitely in the best form of my career and I knew that if I could settle I had a good chance. Winning the first frame helped me do that and I knew I couldn't fall behind John today because then the pressure would really have been on me."
Latest:
M Judge 10-6 J Parrott
F O'Brien 8-10 M King
A McManus 2-10 P Wallace
M Fu 4-4 C Small (Resumes 10.00 am Wednesday)
J Higgins 6-3 G Dott
Filed by Seán Folan
