Stevens through in style
Matthew Stevens cruised into the last 16 of the Betfred.com World Championship with a 10-3 demolition of Marco Fu.
Last Updated: 23/04/12 11:55pm
Matthew Stevens cruised into the last 16 of the Betfred.com World Championship with a 10-3 demolition of Marco Fu.
The Welshman - twice a losing finalist at the Crucible - had put himself on course for a comfortable victory after taking the opening eight frames.
Fu did attempt to launch a fightback when they returned to the table on Monday evening, taking the opener thanks to a run of 65 before also coming out on top in a scrappy frame that followed.
However, Stevens took two out of the next three to seal victory in an opening-round match that didn't feature a century break from either player.
Talk
Afterwards, Fu said he would talk to Mark Allen after the Northern Irishman's scathing attack on a number of Asian players currently on tour.
Speaking after his defeat to Chinese qualifier Cao Yupeng, Allen named two players from the Far East whom he claimed had cheated in the past, believing they had broken snooker's moral code by not calling fouls.
"Probably I'll speak to him. I thought we got on okay," Hong Kong cueman Fu said in a press conference after his defeat to Stevens.
"We didn't go out a lot but we used to be under the same management group and we went to China a few times."
He added: "All cameras are on you. Even if you don't have sportsmanship you have to call it sometimes,"
"I can't recall any shot, especially against him. Maybe it came from disappointment (at losing)."
Meanwhile, Andrew Higginson will take a 5-4 lead into the final session of his clash with fellow Englishman Stephen Lee.
A two-frame advantage was the widest gap created in the opening session. Lee led 3-2 after a break of 110 but the unseeded Higginson hit back with a run of three straight frames, albeit none of them featuring a half-century break.
The eventual winner will face Jamie Jones, a shock winner over Shaun Murphy, in the next round.
