April 20, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1427

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SHEFFIELD, April 19: Last year's losing finalist Matthew Stevens booked his place in the second round of the world snooker championship with a comfortable 10-5 win over Joe Swail on Tuesday.

“It was always going to be a tough match, so I'm pleased to have got it out of the way,” Welshman Stevens told journalists.

Swail was critical of the playing conditions following a series of 'kicks' during the match.

“I was disgusted with the table because it was an absolute joke,” said the Northern Irelander. “The last thing you want is to go into a shot worrying when the next kick is going to come. It's about time they got it all sorted.”

Earlier in the day, twice former champion Mark Williams completed a comprehensive 10-1 win over Anthony Hamilton.

Welshman Williams, who is ranked 10th in the world, soon sealed victory after resuming with an 8-1 overnight lead.

“It was an excellent start,” said Williams. “It's by far the hardest draw I could have got and I never thought I would beat him 10-1.”

World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan dominated the first session of his match against Dave Harold, compiling breaks of 139 and 106 on his way to establishing a 7-0 lead. Harold won the last two frames of the session to avoid an embarrassing whitewash, cutting O'Sullivan's advantage to 7-2.

Hong Kong's Marco Fu edged to a 4-3 lead over Alan McManus at the end of the opening session in their first round tie.

Qualifier Fu went 3-1 up in a slow-paced match, but McManus levelled at 3-3 with breaks of 71 and 62.

A scrappy seventh frame was clinched by Fu to give the 28-year-old a slender advantage going into the evening session.

First round results (best of 19 frames):

On Tuesday: Matthew Stevens (Wales) bt Joe Swail (Northern Ireland) 10-5 (74-26, 42-82, 76-52, 106-0, 69-18, 58-5, 40-56, 103-1, 22-80, 27-65, 51-79, 120-14, 54-49, 72-3, 72-64); Marco Fu (Hong Kong) bt Alan McManus (Scotland) 10-3 (73-21, 67-46, 28-85, 109-5, 22-132, 2-63, 73-34, 57-56, 62-19, 68-32, 75-7, 75-1, 64-25); Mark Williams (Wales) bt Anthony Hamilton (England) 10-1 (103-0, 74-26, 84-0, 75-9, 0-115, 78-26, 86-38, 72-48, 81-19, 73-4, 58-2).

On Monday: Ken Doherty (Ireland) bt Barry Hawkins (England) 10-1 (64-81, 73-29, 56-15, 71-37, 73-19, 62-35, 69-39, 69-1, 80-5, 52-33, 62-17); Stephen Maguire (Scotland) bt Mark King (England) 10-6 (90-33, 75-56, 14-64, 24-63, 0-91, 68-1, 73-32, 74-21, 71-15, 23-76, 82-16, 49-61, 77-18, 65-53, 41-74, 66-21); Neil Robertson (Australia) bt Paul Hunter (England) 10-5 (27-100, 95-34, 6-64, 73-13, 119-7, 68-6, 66-62, 70-42, 90-35, 60-39, 16-64, 9-65, 70-40, 8-61, 64-22).—Reuters