Northern Ireland's Joe Swail eased into the quarter-finals of the £600,000 LG Cup with a 5-2 win over world number six Matthew Stevens at Preston's Guild Hall late last night. Swail, diagnosed with tinnitis this summer that led to total deafness in both ears, will meet Hong Kong's Marco Fu or Londoner Barry Hawkins after pulling away from 2-2 to beat Stevens for the first time in three attempts.
Swail was expected to miss the event because of his ongoing health problems, but the condition lifted three weeks ago, to allow him compete this week. And Swail admitted his relief at being back at the table so soon after believing his career was over. He said: "It was frightening because a couple of specialists told me that it could well stay for good. If that had been the case there's no way I'd ever have been able to play top level snooker again."
Filed by Shane Murray
