Snooker: Nervous White savaged in front of new jungle friends

Jimmy White could not make the most of his wild card in the Masters as he slipped to a disappointing 6-2 first-round defeat last night at the hands of Mark King on a day of one-sided encounters at Wembley.

White was given a wild card following his exploits on reality television show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and was supported by a number of his fellow contestants from his time in the jungle. But he could do little to impress them as he struggled to keep control of the cue ball, looking a shadow of the player who became such a favourite with the London crowd.

White handed the first frame to King with numerous errors. The 47-year-old was on course to level at 1-1 until he overran position on the final black, but King gave him another chance which he took to the relief of the crowd.

However, King took the next with a break of 64 before going into the break with a 3-1 lead. White clawed one back after the interval with a run of 48 but from there on it was all King. He claimed the next three frames, the highlight a break of 85 in frame seven, with White unable to find any fluency among the balls. King will next face Stephen Maguire.

Earlier, Peter Ebdon booked himself a quarter-final meeting with either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Neil Robertson as he beat Marco Fu 6-2. Ebdon came storming back after losing the opening two frames, producing some outstanding form to win six in a row.

Mark Selby breezed through his second-round game with a 6-1 rout of China's Ding Junhui.

Selby raced out to a 5-0 lead and only missed out on a whitewash as he failed to pot the frame ball in the sixth, giving Ding a consolation frame before Selby finished the job in the seventh. Ding looked like giving Selby a good fight in a competitive opener and then opened with a break of 42 in the second, but a mistake on the blue let Selby back in and he did not look back with some outstanding snooker.

Selby will now go forward to face John Higgins or Mark Allen in the quarter-finals.