Thailand's James Wattana admitted he felt embarrassed after suffering a crushing 10-1 defeat at the hands of former world champion John Higgins in the first round of the world snooker championship at the Crucible tonight. The Thai ace, a former world number three, admitted he was ashamed of the one-sided scoreline.
"I feel a bit embarrassed not to have given John a better match," said the world number 32. "I just didn't put any pressure on him at all. I had to qualify to get here and travel from Thailand and then I go and lose like that. John played so well. When he's in that sort of form you'd much rather be watching him than playing him."
Higgins now faces Graeme Dott for a place in the quarter-finals after needing just 20 minutes to see off Wattana after leading 8-1 overnight. The Scotsman, who was world champion in 1998 and is seeded three this year behind reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and Wales' Mark Williams, also hit a break of 136, the highest of the tournament so far.
"I'm delighted with the way I played," said Higgins. "I always seem to make some big breaks here and it's nice to start with three centuries, although it could have been five. I'm totally focused on this tournament and hoping to do some damage again."
Meanwhile, veteran Jimmy White exploded in frustration at the end of the first session of his second-round match with Matthew Stevens. White, nicknamed 'Whirlwind' and six-times a runner-up here, trailed 5-2 when he missed a black off the spot, which jarred in the pocket. As the cue ball bounced back off the cushion, he slashed wildly at it again and the black flew off the table.
He conceded the frame at 42-29 down with three reds still left on the table and the Londoner needs to rediscover his composure when the match resumes on Friday.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
