Snooker
A season full of promise for Jimmy White has gone pear- shaped for the Londoner.
White's appearance on the opening day of the relaunched Irish Masters ensured a near capacity crowd at its new home in a Dublin hotel.
However, White showed only glimpses of the form which took him to the final of the British Open in September and the semi-finals of the Grand Prix a few weeks later.
His 6-4 defeat by Glaswegian Alan McManus means White now has only next month's Scottish Open to play for after having failed to qualify for the final stages of the World Championship. ''I just want to go up to Aberdeen and get the season out of the way,'' said the Whirlwind.
''I love playing in Ireland but not qualifying for The Crucible made it difficult. I'm going on holiday as soon as the world championship starts because I can't bear to watch on television.
''However, if Ronnie O'Sullivan gets into the semi-finals, I will go up and watch him.''
McManus never looked back after having taken control of the early stages. He won a high-scoring first frame and took the second for a 2-0 advantage. White, who gained his only Irish Masters wins in 1985 and '86, flickered into life to capture frame three.
Then White's 51 was matched by McManus' half-century to leave the score 4-2 with five to play. The next two frames were shared until the Scot's contribution of 81 took him through to the quarter-finals of the #195,000 event.
Almost 11 months after losing to Mark Williams in last year's world championship final, Matthew Stevens has earned the chance to gain a measure of revenge. The world No.6 will face his friend and fellow Welshman in the last eight after scoring an impressive 6-2 victory over Fergal O'Brien.
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