BARRY POTTER DOWNS DOTT

25 Mar 2008 09:58:00

Graeme Dott's run of poor form continued as the defence of his Honghe Industrial 2008 World Snooker China Open title fell at the hands of Barry Pinches.

Norwich’s Pinches enjoyed a 5-1 success in his wild card match and produced another strong performance to oust the reigning champion by the same scoreline.

He opened with a break of 116 and then took frame two. Dott, who beat Jamie Cope in last year’s final, came back with a run of 56 to reduce his deficit.

The Scot has had a miserable run of form this season, his last victory was recorded in the Roewe Shanghai Masters in August.

The Norwich potter edged further in front with a 58 and after the interval knocked in a another half-century, a 52, to extend his lead as Dott struggled to find any rhythm. Pinches secured victory in the next and a last 16 match against Nigel Bond.

"I played pretty well, Graeme didn’t play well to be fair but I played some pretty solid stuff. You have to take one match at a time, any player can win any tournament if they have a good week and a bit of luck," said Pinches.

But he was sure that Dott would soon return to winning ways: "He’s been struggling this season but he’s a terrific player and I’m sure he’ll be back."

Dott, visibly emotional afterwards, said: "I was very bad. I wasn’t tired I just played rubbish. You are disappointed when you lose any game. I need to play better."

Ken Doherty, a finalist in the Malta Cup, progressed to the second round with a 5-2 win over Cleveland’s Mike Dunn.

Doherty claimed the opener with an early marker for the high break prize, a 140 before finding himself 2-1 down after Dunn made a 91 in frame 3. But the Dubliner has seen a resurgence in his form this year and he stormed back to take the next four frames with runs of 64 and 63 to seal his win.

"I’m very happy to win, it’s nice to make a century break in the opening frame. Then to go 2-1 down and win the last four frames was very good. There is always pressure in your first round match. You come a long way and nobody wants to lose in the first round," said Doherty.

"At the beginning of the season I got off to a bad start, I lost in the 888.com World Championship first round last season and didn’t play well. I had a chance of being World No 1 but I lost and I think that carried on this season.

"When you lose a couple of first round matches your confidence gets a little low, but since the turn of the year I’ve played an awful lot better. We’ve just had a baby and your perspective changes. You have to live life, enjoy life and not put too much pressure on," he said.

Stephen Maguire was also back to winning ways with a 5-3 victory over Irishman Fergal O’Brien in a repeat of the Northern Ireland Trophy final. Maguire was the third player to make a century in the first frame of the afternoon matches, a 126, and he added the second.

O’Brien came back with runs of 86 and 70 and looked odds on to make it three when he compiled a 62, but then missed the yellow allowing Maguire to dish the colours. The Maplin UK Championship runner-up then extended his lead to 4-2 with a 70.

O’Brien closed the gap with a 128 but it was Maguire who secured a place in round two.

"A win’s a win. I played well in patches and then Fergal played well so I’m really pleased with that," said Maguire. "They say if you practise you get results and I guess it has been my turn to get results this season."

Nigel Bond is also through courtesy of a 5-3 victory over Stephen Lee.

Lee, a finalist in the SAGA Insurance Masters, made a 52 in the first but saw Derbyshire’s Bond steal it by two points when he took the colours from brown to black.

They were level at 3-3 when Lee made another 52 but once again he couldn’t close out the frame and Bond went on to seal the victory.