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SHEFFIELD, April 20: Peter Ebdon became the second former champion to lose in the first round at this year's snooker world championship after a 10-8 defeat by qualifier Ian McCulloch on Monday. Ebdon, the 2002 winner, lost the last three frames to follow 1997 champion Ken Doherty out of the tournament.
Another former champion, John Higgins, came back from the brink to record a 10-9 win over Ryan Day in the first round. Day, making his debut at the Crucible Theatre, looked set to cause the biggest shock of the tournament so far when he opened up a 9-7 lead.
But he missed a simple pink in the 17th frame to let Higgins in and the 1998 champion won the deciding frame with a 68 break. Higgins was confident of winning throughout the match. Joe Perry held off a spirited late comeback from Robert Milkins to set up a second round match against defending champion Mark Williams.
Perry looked to be heading for a comfortable victory when he established a 9-4 lead but Milkins won the next three frames to put the pressure on. Perry edged over the finishing line with a 53 break in the 17th frame to win 10-7.
After losing in the first round last year, Perry was relieved to survive the scare and book his place in the last 16.
First round results:
Ian McCulloch (England) bt Peter Ebdon (England) 10-8
Frame scores (McCulloch first): 91-24 9-92 0-88 70-32 91-45 38-95 67-61 19-100 1-69 78-42 17-102 102-18 5-95 72-20 60-61 70-36 84-1 69-34
John Higgins (Scotland) bt Ryan Day (Wales) 10-9
Frame scores (Higgins first): 97-9 63-10 52-55 67-51 139-0 21-115 68-75 42-73 29-72 1-128 84-8 57-38 28-81 9-112 70-25 58-71 67-58 68-0 68-50
Joe Perry (England) bt Robert Milkins (England) 10-7
Frame scores (Perry first): 78-8 56-65 5-73 89-0 73-19 67-53 33-75 66-59 139-0 45-72 93-22 72-46 58-34 0-70 14-80 33-71 77-3. -Reuters
