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Williams suffers shock Crucible exit

Michael White was in fine form to inflict defeat on Mark Williams © Getty Images

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Crucible debutant Michael White shocked fellow Welshman and two-time world champion Mark Williams with a 10-6 victory in the first round of the World Championship.

White led 5-4 going into Sunday's afternoon session, but Williams levelled the scores after taking the first frame.

The 21-year-old White potted breaks of 65 and 72 as he moved 8-5 ahead, before Williams cleared up from the remaining red to reduce the deficit to two frames. However, White remained unfazed to knock in further breaks of 90 and 96 to advance to the last 16.

"It is hard to take it all in at the moment," White told worldsnooker.com. "It is an unbelievable place to come and I was really pleased with the way I coped with it all out there. To play that well and get a win against Mark is an unbelievable feeling.

"It is just something that you can dream of. So for me to actually do it, I cannot put it into words. I will be back on the practice table tomorrow and hopefully if I can put in another performance like that who knows what can happen.

"It means everything to me. I always looked up to Mark and it was a privilege to play him and to play as well as I did. I have always believed in myself and I knew that my game was good enough when I was 16 or 17 years old."

Williams was quick to praise the potential of his opponent, and admitted that it had been a season to forget.

"He is one of the best young lads coming through," Williams said. "People mention Jack Lisowski but I think this kid could be even better. He got a century break as a nine-year-old in a competition whereas I didn't get one in practice until I was 13.

"He is still only 21 and if he can continue to play like that then he will be dangerous for anybody. I just hope that he goes and plays like that in the next match and does himself justice.

"For me it has been a season that I can't wait to forget. I will go back and have a couple of weeks off and try to get myself ready for next season."

In Sunday's evening session, Shaun Murphy cruised to a 10-5 victory over Martin Gould while Barry Hawkins saw off youngster Jack Lisowski 10-3.

Four-time world champion John Higgins is facing a first round exit after trailing Mark Davis 6-3 at the end of Sunday's afternoon session.

Higgins took an early 2-0 lead, but Davis made breaks of 69, 85 and 96 to win six of the next seven frames and take a commanding lead into Monday's afternoon session.

Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon only managed to play eight of the nine scheduled frames in Sunday's morning session, with Dott finishing 6-2 up including a break of 70. The pair will resume on Monday morning.

Elsewhere, Ricky Walden enjoyed a 10-1 rout over Michael Holt to win his first ever match at the Crucible.

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