Snooker: Shaw sees off Thorne

The veteran Willie Thorne suffered his second defeat in two days when he was knocked out of the Thailand Masters qualifying competition in Plymouth yesterday. Thorne, beaten in the first round of the German Open on Thursday, again fell at the first hurdle, when he lost 5-4 to Troy Shaw.

Joe Johnson, the 1986 world champion, suffered the same fate, coming off second best in a deciding ninth-frame shoot out against Sean Storey, from Grimsby.

Thorne, who dropped out of the seeded top 32 players on the world rankings at the end of last season for the first time in 22 years as a professional, fought back from 3-1 and 4-2 down to level at 4-4.

However, a winning comeback proved beyond the 43-year-old from Leicester and Shaw won a low-scoring decider to advance.

Meanwhile, Johnson, 45, established a 4-2 advantage but Storey then began to capitalise on the mistakes of his fading opponent and runs of 98, 50 and 42 gave him a surprise victory in the last frame.