McManus wins 10-7 
Good news for Ken it will be a 50/50 match with McManus
Ken will be hoping to repeat his victory over Alan at the same stage in 1994.
[QUOTE=“Sidney, post: 935122, member: 183”]John Higgins 4-9 Alan McManus
Looks very much like a repeat of the result of their 1995 first round clash.
Pains me to say it but I think John may be done as a top player.
Still, he will always be able to say he had the last laugh on the News Of The World.[/QUOTE]
I saw the first 5 or 6 frames of this match yesterday.
Higgins was missing pots that you would expect a multiple World Champion to make.
Yes, that was a good win. McManus was heavily favoured going into that match as he had recorded a famous win over Stephen Hendry in the final of the Masters just a few weeks earlier. Worth noting they met at the same stage in 2005 and it resulted in an upset win on that occasion for McManus.
McManus has had some notable wins at the Crucible over the years. He dethroned John Parrott in 1992 and beat Ronnie and Higgins in the first rounds in 1993 & 95 when both were making their Crucible debut. With a bit of luck, maybe he might now have ended the Crucible career of Higgins who has brought such shame and disgrace on the sport over these past few years.
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 935223, member: 377”]
McManus has had some notable wins at the Crucible over the years. He dethroned John Parrott in 1992 .[/QUOTE]
He knocked the Scouse Parrott off his perch.
[QUOTE=“Sidney, post: 935122, member: 183”]John Higgins 4-9 Alan McManus
Looks very much like a repeat of the result of their 1995 first round clash.
Pains me to say it but I think John may be done as a top player.
Still, he will always be able to say he had the last laugh on the News Of The World.[/QUOTE]
Four-time champion John Higgins has called himself a snooker “journeyman” after his first-round exit from the World Championship.
Higgins, seeded 11 at the Crucible, was defeated 10-7 by fellow Scot Alan McManus.
The 38-year-old has not won a ranking tournament since 2012.
“I’m maybe not one of the top players challenging for every event - I’m possibly a journeyman top-16 player now,” admitted Higgins.
“But those journeymen can have their day sometime.”
It was McManus’ turn to have his day in the first-round encounter, thwarting a Higgins fight-back to win in Sheffield, but the former world number one was remaining upbeat considering his exit.
“It’s been bad,” he said of his season. "But I’m a lot happier this year than I was last year when I lost to Mark Davis.
"I can definitely see signs and I’m playing better than I have been in the last year or two. That’s the crumb of comfort I can take.
“There have been times when I’ve been sitting here desolate thinking that there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel, but I definitely think I’ve got some decent snooker left in me.”
Higgins had said before the match that he believed his form was returning.
“I was feeling good coming into the tournament, but sometimes matches go that way and you can’t get into it,” he said.
"I am disappointing the way it finished because I was feeling pretty good and I fancied my chances if I made it 9-8.
“I knew I’ve got some decent form inside me but just couldn’t bring it out in the early part of the match.”
McManus, a former Crucible semi-finalist, has staged a career revival and is back at 35 in the world rankings at the age of 43, thanks to an expanded tournament schedule.
“He maybe doesn’t hit as high breaks as he used to, but his tactical play round the table was really good and basically froze me out,” said Higgins.
“He has been in the wilderness for the last couple of years and I think, the way the new system is, it helps the likes of Alan because he likes the bigger stage while he was maybe struggling in the qualifying.”
McManus, who plays 1997 champion Ken Doherty in the second round, was becoming concerned after Higgins went on a run of three frames.
“I scraped over the line in the end,” he said. "If John starts relaxing and putting his arm through the white the way he can do, then it is like trying to tame a lion at times.
"Fortunately, I just got a couple of chances near the end that I badly needed.
"Even to practice with John is just a thrill, frankly. I hold him in such high esteem as a guy and as a player - he is a legend of the sport.
“To play him here was a really special thing for me and to win is a bonus.”
Ken Doherty v Alan McManus Friday 2:30
Really scruffy performance from Judd Trump earlier as the Bristol cueman just about limped over the line 10-8 from Tom Ford. But like Mark Selby he’ll be glad just to be in the next round.
Earlier on the other table Barry Hawkins reeled off 8 frames in a row to dispose of David Gilbert 10-4 and set up a repeat of last year’s semi-final against Ricky Walden.
Neil Robertson has taken the opening frame against Fergal O’Brien’s conqueror Robbie Williams.
Robertson has beaten Williams 10-2
Selby leads Carter 5-3
Perry leads O’Sullivan 3-1
Good start from Joe Perry to take a 5-3 lead over Ronnie. Second round shapes up as follows:
(1)Ronnie O’Sullivan -v- (16)Joe Perry 3 - 5
(8)Shaun Murphy -v- (9)Marco Fu
(5)Barry Hawkins -v- (12)Ricky Walden
Dominic Dale -v- Michael Wasley
(3)Mark Selby -v- (14)Ali Carter 3- 5
Alan McManus -v- Ken Doherty
(7) Judd Trump -v- Ryan Day
(2)Neil Robertson -v- (15)Mark Allen
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 936560, member: 377”]Good start from Joe Perry to take a 5-3 lead over Ronnie. Second round shapes up as follows:
(1)Ronnie O’Sullivan -v- (16)Joe Perry 3 - 5
(8)Shaun Murphy -v- (9)Marco Fu
(5)Barry Hawkins -v- (12)Ricky Walden
Dominic Dale -v- Michael Wasley
(3)Mark Selby -v- (14)Ali Carter 3- 5
Alan McManus -v- Ken Doherty
(7) Judd Trump -v- Ryan Day
(2)Neil Robertson -v- (15)Mark Allen[/QUOTE]
Three Irish in the bottom half there. We must have a decent chance of our first finalist since 2011.
The frames shared all round this morning.
Selby 9-7 Carter
Hawkins 4-4 Walden
Yes, with Mark Selby’s missus hailing from Carlow, its probably not too impolite to lay claim to him. Excluding Selby’s final appearance in 2007, its over a decade since Ken Doherty made it to the final in 2003.
Perry 7-5 O’Sullivan at mid session interval.
Perry 9-7 up over O’Sullivan entering the final session. Selby leads Carter by the same score. Walden and Hawkins are locked at 4-4.
In the other second round tie Ken Doherty has battled back from 4-1 down and trails 4-3. The session was so slow the players have just been taken off now with one frame left.
Perry should really have made it 10-6. Had a lot of chances in last frame to clinch it. Ronnie has actually done well to hang in there at only 9-7 down as he hasn’t been playing well.
Ken will be happy to be only 4-3 down. McManus looked much the better player for most of the 7 they played.
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 937059, member: 377”]Perry should really have made it 10-6. Had a lot of chances in last frame to clinch it. Ronnie has actually done well to hang in there at only 9-7 down as he hasn’t been playing well.
Ken will be happy to be only 4-3 down. McManus looked much the better player for most of the 7 they played.[/QUOTE]
McManus should have been 5-1 up, but looked rattled at the end there and he’ll be the happier of the two with the ref pulling the plug on the session.
Selby has taken the first 3 frames of the final session and is 12-7 up and one frame away from a 1/4 final berth. Carter was on for a 147 in the last frame at one stage, then missed a simple black for the frame and the Jester stepped in with a magnificent total clearance of 69 to surely put this game to bed.
Ricky Walden has taken a 7-5 lead over Barry Hawkins on the other table.
Carter battling back by taking the next two frames. Selby really threw the last frame away and was on a 45 break in this frame before missing a simple black off it’s spot. The Jester is really starting to show nerves now.
Walden 9-6 up on the other table.