Ebdon Vows To Give Best Shot

World number 18, Peter Ebdon has made a promise to his fans that despite his normal preparation for this season's Shanghai Masters affected by his wedding this weekend, he will be giving it his best shot to come through qualifying.

In a statement released through World Snooker, Ebdon said, "I would like to make it known that I consider that I will not be in a position to play to the best of my ability in my Roewe Shanghai Masters qualifying match in Sheffield next week.

"This is down to personal circumstances, including the fact that I am getting re-married in Hungary this weekend. Since playing in a recent tournament in Thailand I have not been able to practise, and by the time the qualifiers come around I will not have played for ten days or more.

"I know just how bad I can be when I don't feel properly prepared as I am the type of player who needs to practise hard in order to play to a reasonable standard.

"As always, I will be doing my utmost to win what is a very important match for me but in truth, my levels of expectation will not be very high."

There is a recognised term in golf, "Beware the injured golfer", where players have performed well despite nursing an injury.  It is thought that the reduced level of expectation, can release stress normally experienced and results improve. 

With Ebdon's expectations lowered, he could become a dangerous opponent in the season's opening ranking event.