UK Championship - Day two - Dott comes out fighting to sink Gould

Poor weather conditions across the UK this week have without doubt contributed to low attendances at Telford on day one.

But with Ronnie O'Sullivan on show along with the classic match-up between Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White in store on day two, it was no surprise to see crowd numbers perk up.

And those fans who were prepared to pay a mere £25 for an all-day admission ticket, had a poll of 24 players that they could go and see play. That's 75 per cent of all the players in this year's UK Championship.

It's safe to say your average fan would have enjoyed the variety, but the quality wasn't to be sniffed at either.

In one of the day's early games, Graeme Dott would have been disappointed to leave his match against Martin Gould 5-3 down overnight. But just as I predicted, the Pocket Dynamo was never going to go down without a fight.

In fact, he blew the Pinner potter away. He won six frames on the bounce to complete an outstanding comeback and win the match 9-5. Gould will feel good fortune evaded him at key moments in their second session, but you cannot take anything away from Dott. He will be delighted with his win against a player many people tipped to be the tournament's dark horse.

Although Martin has been widely acknowledged as the most improved player on the circuit in 2010, this defeat does cap a miserable year for him at the sport's two biggest events.

At the Crucible in April, he famously surrendered an 11-5 lead against eventual champion Neil Robertson in round two, and here again, he's let a lead slip. While this comeback was never on the same scale, it will be interesting to see how he reacts moving forward.

One man who can be satisfied with his day's work is world number 25 Andrew Higginson, who became the first qualifier to make it past the first round so far. He beat Peter Ebdon 9-7 in a closely fought battle.

Ebdon, who won the UK title back in 2006, continues a bad run at Telford where he's only won two matches since lifting the trophy four years ago.

John Higgins made it safely through his return match to the last 16. After being level with Stephen Lee overnight, he ended up a 9-6 winner despite the world number 18 boasting an impressive 96 per cent shot success rate throughout the match.

The Wizard of Wishaw did well to hide any nerves he had of returning to the televised stages after his six-month ban from the game. But he was involved in a controversial moment in his 12th frame, where he asked the referee to re-spot the pink ball just before he played it. The official made a basic error, when in fact, he should have refused the request. Higgins though looks a real contender for the title.

World number one Neil Robertson was the other player to book his place in the last 16. He grabbed the two frames he needed to beat Rory McLeod 9-1. It's difficult to judge him in what was a very straightforward exercise.

There were another eight matches which played their first session today, and there's no prizes for guessing which one was most eagerly anticipated.

Two of the sport's biggest legends, Hendry and White, locked horns for the 57th time in their careers, and still the appeal hasn't dwindled. This famous old battle is most famous for Hendry beating White in no fewer than four Crucible finals.

You could see why this match had captured the snooker world's imagination after the first two frames. Both men made a century as the match raced to 1-1. But from that point onwards, it turned as many people predicted into a nerve-jangling tie. Both players struggled to get to grips with the pace of the cloth , with a series of poor positional shots. While a number of easy pots pots were missed by both, the pressure of the occasion was getting the better of them. The session ended locked at 4-4, although Hendry probably had more chances to come out in front.

Nonetheless, the scoreline has set up for a classic conclusion tomorrow.

The same can be said about the day's other main attraction. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stuart Bingham are tied at 4-4 overnight. But after a thoroughly entertaining first session, the Basildon qualifier will count himself unlucky not have opened up an advantage.

Bingham, who formerly practiced with Ronnie, showed no fear in this match as he went after his shots and looked to build big breaks, making three over 70 in fact. He led probably most crucially 4-2, but two fine breaks from the Rocket denied Bingham the chance to assume the driving seat.

You can't help but feel that Bingham may live to regret it when Ronnie inevitably ups a gear tomorrow.

One player who will have to up a gear tomorrow is Mark Davis. He trails one of the tournament's front runners, Mark Williams, 6-2. He faces an uphill struggle, and will have to take at least three of the first four frames to stand any chance.

Still with a shout of causing an upset though is world ranked number 60 Mark Joyce. He showed few signs of nerves to take 4-4 overnight against Ali Carter. Leading the match 3-1, he might be thinking what could of been though, against the world number three.

Another match still finely poised is Marco Fu against Barry Hawkins. The Hong Kong player won the last two frames to escape level.



BBC certainly missed a trick as Cope knocked in the high break of the tournament so far, with a clearance of 142.

Welshman Ryan Day has a handy lead as well. Qualifying for this event at all must have seemed a success alone, after the form he's been in. But after being handed a winnable first round match against Mark King, he seems to be taking his chance, and leads 5-3.

The day's last match to finish was between 2008 winner Shaun Murphy and the lowest ranked player in the competition, Patrick Wallace.  It wasn't the most entertaining match so far, and when I decided to go to bed ready for my 6am alarm, Murphy was 4-3 up in an even contest.