Mighty Mouse leaves Walden cheesed off
China's Andra Zhang produced a stunning finishing flourish with consecutive centuries to deny Ricky Walden a second Crucible appearance.
Eighteen year old Anda Zhang, who at only five foot four inches has been nicknamed Mighty Mouse by Mark King's father Bill, is the only player to have come right through from Round One to reach the Crucible.
And it will be his debut. Not only has Zhang never played there, he's never even been inside the Crucible.
When he was driven past the famous venue this week he didn't even recognise the building.
The match was high quality and high scoring throughout. Zhang opened a 2-0 and 4-2 lead before Walden three frames on the spin to trail 5-4 after the opening session.
On the resumption the pair traded frames right up to 8-8. Whatever one player did, his opponent immediately countered.
But at 8-8 Zhang, the former Asian under 21 Champion, compiled a flawless 134 break to move within one of victory.
Early in the next it looked as though Walden was going to send the match into a decider, but the Flint man broke down on 32 and a nerveless Zhang stepped in with 103 to scure a remarkable victory.
Zhang, a member of the Grove Leisure stable of players was immediately submerged beneath a delirous band of Chinese well wishers, amongst them fellow players Ding Junhui and Xiao Guodong.
Through an interpreter Zhang said that he hadn't really felt any nerves towards the end of the epic match, but had been so zoned into the match that he just took every shot as it came.
It was a bitter disappointment for Walden, whose season is now at an end and with it any chance of climbing into the Top 16.
But a player who does stand a real chance of reclaiming his place in the top echelons is Graeme Dott.
He came through a bizarre match to beat Jimmy Michie 10-5.
But all the controversy surrounded the table. They were drawn on a table that hadn't been used since last weekend's recover. And right from the start it was patently clear that something was radically wrong.
The table rolled both ways and eventually after Michie had struggled to a 3-1 lead the table was deemed unplayable.
With the other five tables still in play, Dott and Michie had to endure an aggravating and nerve wracking one and a half hour wait until a table became available.
Dott took an immediate liking to the second table, turning the 3-1 deficit into a 6-3 lunch time lead.
But it was to be a very long lunch break for the players as again they had to wait until a match finished before they could resume.
So onto the third table of the day! Dott stretched his lead to 7-3 before Michie overturned a 40 break by Dott with 50 to win the eleventh.
The next two were shared as Dott ran in 64 and Michie made 72. Dott closed out the match with 41 to secure his Crucible return.
"I can take no enjoyment whatsoever from the match", claimed Dott.
"All you're trying to do is get through.
Dott's reaction to the sub standard table was naturally scathing.
"It's horrible. It should never happen. I know it was the same for Jimmy, but at least he would have felt better being 3-1 up.
"I can understand the problem that Mike Ganley and his team were faced with, but the table should never have been that bad in the first place.
"The next table was so much easier to play on. It was like night and day. And then I realised it wasn't me playing bad, it had been the table making us look like we couldn't play.
"But I never felt comfortable all day. To come out at 6-3 up was massive. I'd have settled for being 5-4 down.
"The points are a big plus. I'm in China still and the World so I've still got a chance to get back into the Top 16.
"But I need to do something myself. I can't rely on other players. I need to gain points and get further in tournaments than players like Jamie Cope and the others around me.
"I'm a course and distance winner at the Crucible so I know what it takes to win the event.
"I don't care who I draw because I know I would have to beat all of them at some point to win the event.
Stephen Lee produced some superb snooker to brush aside Mike Dunn 10-2. Lee stroked in breaks of 64, 83, 67, 63 and 56 during his win.
Stuart Pettman raced to a 10-2 win over an out of sorts Stuart Bingham. It will be a third visit to the Crucible for Pettman who will be hoping for an easier draw, having played Mark Williams when he was World No. 1 and Stephen Hendry the following year.
