Ali Carter swiftly finished off Mark Davis to set up a second-round clash with Judd Trump at the Betfred.com World Championship.
'Captain' to face Trump in last 16 at the Crucible
Ali Carter swiftly finished off Mark Davis to set up a second-round clash with Judd Trump at the Betfred.com World Championship.
Hastings potter Davis felt unwell during the match and could not make it competitive.
Chelmsford man Carter, runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2008 Crucible final, finished with a break of 132 to clinch a 10-2 success.
Carter led 8-1 overnight, and was satisfied to complete his task and avoid becoming the ninth seeded casualty in the first round.
The 32-year-old, whose battle with Crohn's Disease has disrupted his career, said: "I'm pleased with the way I played there.
"Mark obviously felt under the weather but it was a good performance from me. I'm not getting too excited yet."
Energy
Discussing the symptoms of his medical condition, which has left him weak at times and unable to practice for longer than half an hour, Carter explained how revamping his diet is slowly helping him to win his health battle.
Carter said: "I've been on quite a strict exclusion diet, I've cut out dairy and wheat, so I'm carrying a lunchbox around with me when I go into restaurants. I feel a bit of an idiot.
"It's taken three weeks and I'm feeling better every day. If you've been eating wheat all your life it takes a while for it to get out of your system, but hopefully that's something that's going to help me feel better.
"All season I've been getting to the club and I haven't had the energy to walk around the table. I hope I can continue to feel good and progress in the tournament.
"In December, I was unwell every single day. With going away all the time and being away from home and a poor run of results, I just thought, 'I've had enough'."
Retirement
That was the point at which Carter considered retirement, and approached the chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
"I talked to Jason Ferguson about taking a sabbatical for a year which is what I really wanted to do, but fortunately I've been able to stumble across this exclusion diet," Carter said.
"It's really hard to do, I like my food like everyone does and living out of a suitcase in hotels it's difficult to do it. But I've got to be disciplined."
In the other match in action on Thursday afternoon, Neil Robertson moved 5-3 ahead of David Gilbert in their second-round meeting.
The Australian - champion in 2010 at the Sheffield venue - reeled off breaks of 84, 109, 57 and 131 in successive frames to surge into the lead.
Qualifier Gilbert, who knocked out Martin Gould in the opening round, had actually begun the match well before Robertson showed his class, meaning he has the upper hand ahead of the second session on Friday morning.
