McManus squeaks past Bond

By Geet Sethi

SHEFFIELD, APRIL 20. Alan McManus, the World No. 8 from Scotland squeaked into the second round of the œ1.46 million Embassy World snooker championship with a hard-earned 10-7 victory over Nigel Bond, runner-up here in 1995. The intensely fought battle lasting 6 hours 40 minutes went McManus's way after the cueists were tied at 7-7.

With both McManus and Bond struggling to regain their best from - McManus' best result has been a quarterfinal appearance in the British Open this year and runner-up position in the Irish Open last season, while Bond has done nothing of note in the last three seasons - the contest lacked the entertainment value being provided on the adjoining table where World No. 1 John Higgins faced stiff resistance from Dave Harold.

The sudden and surprising slump in Bond's fortunes - he won the 1996 British Open and 1997 Regal Masters - in the last three years has been a direct result of a serious medical problem with his child. Bond's attention towards the game and the focus required at the highest level is understandably missing. However, the 35-year-old, who overcame Euan Henderson 10-5 in the final qualifying round is determined to battle both the problem plaguing his child and his own slump in form.

He fought resolutely and did well to enjoy an initial 7-5 advantage over McManus, winner of the 1994 Wembley Masters, 1994 Dubai Classic and the 1996 Thailand Masters. In an intriguing contest, dominated by tactical exchanges, McManus first led 2-1 with the aid of runs of 66 and 55. He then led 61-6 in the fourth but Bond rallied to win the frame 65-61 with a 59 clearance to level at 2-2.

The next two low-scoring frames consuming one hour, were shared and the scores were still level at 3-3. But Bond, ranked 21 then won four of the next five frames to lead 7-5. The quality of play dropped dramatically in these five frames except for two isolated breaks of 60 and 55 by Bond.

Yet, the Englishman was unable to retain his advantage, sudden and unexpected lapses in concentration allowing his opponent back into the match. McManus raising his game won five successive frames with contributions of 45, 48, 81 and 58. In the end what differentiated the two was the hunger for victory which seemed to be unusually diminished in Bond's case.

Harold keeps pace with Higgins

John Higgins, the second seed of the tournament is facing determined resistance from Dave Harold. The World No. 1 for the second consecutive year, the 25-year-old Scot, who won the world title in 1998, exhibited his characteristic break building, yet was unable to shake off the dogged aspirations of Harold, ranked 17. Higgins provided impressive proof of his pedigree compiling breaks of 109, 60, 77, 68 and 103 but his opponent, who reached the quarterfinal here in 1996, showed extreme stubbornness in not allowing the Scot to pull away. Harold constructed runs of 67, 54 and 82 to remain within striking distance of the more accomplished cueist.

Jimmy White, the darling of the spectators, trails Scotland's Billy Snaddon 4-5. With the untimely exit of Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan, everyone here is eagerly looking forward to a player who can provide the thrills and excitement required to sustain public interest. White, who at the age of 38 still evokes the same passion and delight amongst his fans as he did as an 18- year-old, was in action on Wednesday.

The physical dimensions have all changed. The hair is thinner (he has already had one hair transplant), the girth is far bigger than what it was 15 years ago and the racy lifestyle which he enjoyed in his youth is a thing of the past.

But there is still an electric atmosphere every time he enters the arena, and the adventurous and aggressive approach to the game remains the same. White, runner-up here six times keeps coming back to the Crucible Theatre with his chances irrefutably diminishing with every year but with the same optimism and, more importantly, with the same penchant of providing entertainment to the paying spectator.

On Wednesday however, he failed to live up to his reputation, playing a brand of snooker which till now seemed unknown to him. His highest break was only 35, which is really like Sachin Tendulkar scoring 8 runs in an important one day international. Yet he trails only 4-5, his inexperienced opponent unable to capitalise fully on the series of misses and unforced errors committed by White.

The results: Alan McManus beat Nigel Bond 10-7 37-62, 73(66)-26, 85(55)-30, 61-65(59), 65-41, 55-59, 63-28, 43-74(60), 35-62, 53- 86, 76-32, 1-78(55), 88-43, 64-26, 81(81)-0, 84(58)-4, 60-480.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Aparna slips to 52nd place
Next     : Wipro 'applies thought', backs Harikrishna