Snooker: White's dark side revealed in display of bad temper

Jimmy White's highly strung temperament was evident in a rare act of petulance as he fell 6-2 behind in the opening session of his Embassy World Championship second-round match against Matthew Stevens here last night.

The "Whirlwind" was suffering as the sixth-seeded Stevens produced some of the form which carried him to the final at the Crucible in 2000 and the last four a year ago. White's frustration boiled over in the last frame of the session when he spurned one of a number of chances he had been given to compile a sizeable break.

After missing a black off the spot, the 39-year-old Londoner's temper got the better of him and he lashed out at the cue ball, which struck the black again and sent it careering off the table.

White turned to Stevens and shook his hand to signal the end of the session, conceding the frame even though he trailed by only 13 points with three reds still on the table.

Stevens had earlier missed out on a possible maximum 147 break in the opening frame of the session. He potted 14 reds, but then failed to sink the next black after suffering a "kick" as he tried to gain position on a tricky last red. It was still a break of 105 and the Welshman added further contributions of 84, 113 and 95 as he added to the misery of the out-of-form White.

In a first-round match which was completed yesterday, the 12th seed, Alan McManus of Scotland, who had trailed 6-2 to Anthony Davies overnight, fought back to 8-7 down and made a 134 break in frame 11. But while McManus continued to try to stave off defeat, he had ultimately given himself too much to do and Davies, making his first Crucible appearance since 1995, got home 10-7 by taking two 35-minute frames. Davies now looks forward to a second-round meeting Stephen Hendry.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, the defending champion, made a convincing start to his second-round match against the world No 54 Robert Milkins as he opened up a 6-2 lead.

After potting the first ball of the match, O'Sullivan went on to make a 110 break, following up with a 132 on the way to a 3-0 advantage. But Milkins dug in and pulled back to 4-2 before the world No 2 edged further clear, finishing off the night with a run of 94.