Pinches seals 'biggest win'

Norfolk potter knocks out former world champion

Last updated: 6th October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Pinches seals 'biggest win'

Pinches: Toppled Murphy

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Barry Pinches was celebrating his "biggest win for a long time" after he knocked former world champion Shaun Murphy out of the Grand Prix in Glasgow.

World No.3 Murphy missed his chance for victory in the eighth frame before losing the decider against Norfolk potter to crash out of the tournament 5-4.

Pinches, who had earlier compiled a top-break of 109, was trailing 43-10 in the final frame but a run of 60 was enough to secure the win.

And Pinches, ranked 49 places below Murphy, was delighted at the victory.

"That's definitely my best win for a long time, especially under the TV lights," Pinches told Worldsnooker.com.

Terrific

"I felt terrific during the last break and I'm really pleased that I held myself together.

"I'm surprised because my record in 5-4s is appalling, I doubt there's anyone who has lost more games 5-4 than me. I came from 4-1 down to beat Michael Holt in the qualifiers and that must be the first time in ten years I've won two deciders in a row.

"But the standard is so high in the qualifiers - I'd rather play a top eight player who is at 70 per cent than someone at the bottom of the rankings playing 90 per cent."

Mark Allen is also through to the second round after he saw off the challenge of Ian McCulloch 5-3.

The 23-year-old, who reached the last four at the Crucible earlier this year, rattled for breaks of more than 50 before he wrapped up the win with a run of 55.