Snooker: Gray defeat yet another black day for White

David Gray made it a black day for Jimmy White at The Crucible, Sheffield, as he sent the "Whirlwind" spinning out of both the World Championship and the all-important top 32.

White's 10-5 defeat means he has suffered the same fate as John Parrott in sliding down the rankings to a point where he will need to win two qualifying matches to secure a return to Sheffield next year.

The six-times runner-up trailed 6-3 overnight and yesterday Gray took the first three frames, two of them on the black. White stopped the run by making it 9-5, but a missed brown killed off his chances as Gray moved through to a second-round meeting with Peter Ebdon.

The defending champion, Shaun Murphy, took a 6-2 lead last night over Steve Davis in their second-round match, which was a replay of last year's quarter-final. Murphy was a 13-4 winner that day and a repeat would be no surprise on the evidence of the first session.