UK Championship snooker: Mark Selby and Stephen Maguire through in first round
Mark Selby recovered from a slow start to beat Michael White 6-3 in the first round of the UK Championship in York.
Last Updated: 02/12/12 11:47am
The Leicester man made a tentative start against 21-year-old Welshman Michael White at the UK Championship in York but improved as the match went on and polished off a 6-3 win in style with a break of 105.
"I think Michael played really well," said Selby. "With the way my season's gone so far, I was under a lot of pressure coming here for the first round so even though I didn't perform and make break after break I'm still happy with the win."
Former world champion Graeme Dott saw off Martin Gould in the first match of this year's championship to go the distance to an 11th frame.
North London player Gould led 5-3 but was reined in by Dott, the Scot as tenacious as ever.
It seemed Dott's efforts would go unrewarded when Gould moved ahead in the fifth frame, but it swung back in the 35-year-old Scot's favour and following a safety battle he sealed a 6-5 success by rolling in a telling long red.
Dott said: "I never really thought I was going to win. I struggled all the way through the match. I was cueing terribly. Sometimes I win matches like that and I never really know how I've won them. I think Martin played better than me. I'm over the moon that I won."
Few players over the coming eight days in York will find the fluency Stephen Maguire showed after the interval in his opening match against Ireland's Fergal O'Brien.
Glaswegian Maguire pinched the frame before the interval on a re-spotted black to go level at 2-2, but breaks of 102, 104 and 131, followed by a 70, saw him to a 6-2 victory.
Maguire will tackle Premier League champion Stuart Bingham or UK Championship debutant Jack Lisowski in his next match on Tuesday.
Former UK champion Ding Junhui did not make it beyond the first round this time as he was beaten 6-4 by Ryan Day of Wales.
