World Championship Day 3

Michael Wasley caused the one of the biggest Crucible shocks in recent history as head beat world number two Ding Junhui in a dramatic late-finishing final frame decider. The Gloucester man, a debutant at the Crucible, had to win four matches to even reach the main venue and fully took the match to the five-time ranking event winner this season. Ding had led 6-3 going into the final session but Wasley was quick to overturn that deficit winning three in a row, including a 135 clearance, to level at six a piece.

Ding won the next two to go 8-6 in front but Wasley hit back again, claiming the next two to go 8-8. Ding took the ninth but play was suspended as it was going to overrun into the evening session. The pair returned at almost 11:00pm that evening and Wasley hit a composed 103 break to force a decider. Ding led 51-46 but Wasley cleared up to the blue to leave the Chinese needing a snooker. He battled bravely on and managed to lay a couple but Wasley escaped from all of them, before eventually sinking the pink to seal his remarkable win.

Mark Selby also needed a decider to overcome qualifier Michael White. The Jester from Leicester started very brightly, going 5-1 ahead with top breaks of 88 and 78 but White finished the session on top, winning the final three frames to close to 5-4. Again Selby started the second session well with breaks of 74, 68 and 51 putting him 8-4 in front but White, who reached the quarter-finals here last year, rallied again and won four on the bounce to make it 8-8. Selby edged ahead again but breaks of 40 and 34 from Welshman White forced a decider. But despite his valiant comeback, Selby dominated the final frame and eventually won it to book a last 16 meeting with Ali Carter.

Joe Perry was another man to record an impressive comeback, as he won six successive frames to overhaul a 6-3 deficit and beat Jamie Burnett 10-7. The Cambridge potter made top efforts of 87 and 70 to go 9-6 up and although Burnett stopped the rot with a 111 break in the 16th, Perry knocked in a 81 break to seal the win. After the match a demoralised Burnett conceded he was no longer enjoying playing and said he wouldn’t be too bothered if he ended up falling off the tour.

The experienced Alan McManus played very well as he took a 6-3 lead out of his first session in an all-Scottish affair with John Higgins. McManus, Masters champion in 1994, came out into the arena sporting some fantastic tartan trousers although they were slightly baggy and he ended up having to borrow a belt from a member of the production team, to avoid a potentially embarrassing trouser slipping incident. Higgins won the opener but McManus went on a rampage as he won the next six without reply to lead by five. After previously running aground on 49 in a 147 attempt in frame six, Higgins was chasing another maximum in the next but missed a red on 80. He took that frame and the ninth to trail 6-3 ahead of their concluding session on Tuesday morning.