Dubliner Fergal O'Brien got off to a winning start in the first round of the Thailand Masters snooker in Bangkok today. O'Brien beat Mark Davis 5-2, to become the first player to book a place in the last 16. O'Brien will play 1997 champion Peter Ebdon, who had little trouble on the way to beating Stuart Pettman 5-1.
He said, "It wasn’t a great match but I just won it with 30s and 40s, in fact I played better against Joe Perry last week but ended up losing. I stayed in Shanghai after that match until Friday and put in a lot of practice there. It was important for me to win this match after losing in the first round in China. I’m trying to come to tournaments with my focus on winning them as a lot of players tend to hang around in the top-16 for a long time without ever winning."
Also in action was Marco Fu who was forced to labour for four hours before securing a 5-3 final qualifying round win over the methodical Gary Wilkinson. Fu drew level at 2-2 by battling through a 63-minute fourth frame and gradually pulled away to set up a meeting with Northern Ireland's Joe Swail in the last 32.
1996 champion Alan McManus bounced back from a 5-0 whitewash by Steve Davis in last week's China Open to cruise past Lee Walker 5-1, while home favourite James Wattana booked his place in the last 32 with a 5-4 victory over Finland's Robin Hull.
Filed by Johnny Proby
