REGAL MASTERS SNOOKER:
TEENAGER Alan Burnett will be rubbing shoulders this week with
snooker's top men in the Regal Masters in Motherwell's Civic Centre, but
do not expect him to be over-awed.
Burnett will attempt to stay at the table as much as possible, knowing
that there is nothing to fear so long as his opponent -- whoever he may
be -- is confined to sitting in a chair.
The 17-year-old from Cumnock earned a wildcard place by virtue of his
5-2 victories over professionals Neal Foulds and Andy Hicks in Sunday's
four-man play-offs. Burnett is the world under-21 champion and his
all-round skills are accompanied by a good temperament.
The play-off exercise followed the withrawal of James Wattana, who was
scheduled to open against Peter Ebdon tomorrow afternoon. Instead,
Burnett will line up against the world No.10.
The #165,000 event begins this afternoon with world No.4 John Parrott
in action against Darren Morgan, with Steve Davis, still ranked world
No.2, awaiting the winner.
There will be even greater interest tonight for the all-Scottish
encounter between Alan McManus and John Higgins. ''I've hardly played at
all in the past couple of months,'' said Higgins, who at least has been
keeping his eye in by playing in local pro-ams. ''I don't know how Alan
is playing,'' added Higgins, who will be seeking revenge for a 10-3
defeat in the first round of the world championship earlier this year.
Whichever Scot emerges victorious will have a battle on his hands in
the quarter-final against Higgins' contemporary Ronnie O'Sullivan on
Thursday night.
Burnett and Ebdon will be playing for a place against Dubliner Ken
Doherty, who has won the event in the past two years. In fact the world
No.9 has yet to lose a match at Motherwell, although a 6-0 defeat by
Nigel Bond in a recent overseas event explains why he has been seen so
much at the practise table in the past few days.
A surprise finalist in the world championship, Bond opens tomorrow
night against Jimmy White. The greatest player never to have won the
world title, White has slipped to No.7 in the rankings and could drop
further unless he improves on last season's results.
Bond could spring a surprise but most people will be hoping that he
does not. On their minds will be the prospect of a quarter-final between
White and world champion Stephen Hendry on Friday night. If White is
flowing there is no more exciting sight at the snooker table.
But everything will depend on Hendry. He is possible the greatest
player of all time. But Hendry Hendry has a motive spurring him on
because victory would move him a step closer to his ultimate goal of
beating Steve Davis' record 70 big-time titles.
''I have decided that I have got five more seasons left and when I
quit professional snooker, I want to be known as the greatest player of
all time,'' said Hendry. ''One way to achieve that dream would be by
overtaking Davis in the all-time winners' list.''
Hendry has already achieved 55 major titles and has his eyes firmly
set on more before he bows out. ''If I can win the Embassy world title
again this season, then I would have equalled the modern-day record of
six world titles set by Davis and Ray Reardon. That would certainly be a
special landmark for me.''
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