Dott marches on at The Crucible

Gould stages late comeback against Fu.

SHEFFIELD:

Former champion Graeme Dott beat Mark King 10-7 in his first-round match after leading 6-3 in the opening session at the Crucible.

Dott started briskly against his English opponent and finished off an ultimately comfortable win, despite a late rally by King that saw him fighting back to make it 9-7 before the last year’s runners’ up wrapped up the final frame.

Meanwhile, Martin Gould beat Marco Fu 10-8 to set up a second round match with Judd Trump.

The 29-year-old staged a fine comeback, resuming 6-3 behind but won five frames in a row. World number 21 Fu then staged a fightback of his own to level the match 8-8. But a break of 69 took Gould to within a frame of victory and a missed pink into the centre pocket from Fu allowed him to close out victory.

Fu rued his inconsistent performance, blaming it for his unexpected loss.

“Some of the pots I made were good but I’m inconsistent,” said Fu. “It’s just frustrating.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2011.