Judge holds his nerve to overcome rattled Dott
Michael Judge piled on the agony for woefully out-of-form Graeme Dott by edging past the 2006 world champion 5-4 to reach the last 16 of the Welsh Open in Newport last night.
Judge who, after qualifying for the event last month, beat ex-Crucible finalist Nigel Bond 5-4 in the first round on Monday, again held his nerve when it mattered after trailing 4-3.
The result was another bitter blow for Dott, who since appearing in the semi-finals of the season opening Shanghai Masters in August, has failed to win 12 consecutive matches.
"You could see Graeme was struggling. He was making silly mistakes and it was obvious that he's lacking confidence. Still, though, he's always a hard man to beat," said Judge.
"I've got a real chance of breaking back into the top 32 this season, so results like this do me no harm at all."
Judge led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, thanks to a 78 break in the fifth frame, but Dott looked to have found his range when, assisted by runs of 60 and 78, the Scot moved 4-3 ahead.
Scrappy
However, Judge battled through a scrappy eighth frame on the colours before keeping his cool in the decider with a match-clinching 61 break.
He now plays Stephen Lee or Andrew Higginson, who surprised all and sundry by firing in a 147 en route to a totally unexpected place in the final 12 months ago.
Ken Doherty, hammered 9-3 by Shaun Murphy in the Malta Cup final on Sunday, bids to join Judge in the last 16 this afternoon. Doherty takes on Alan McManus.
Meanwhile, in tennis, Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova powered past Luxembourg's Anne Kremer 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday to earn a second round meeting with world No 1 Justine Henin at the Diamond Games.
Pironkova, who came through two qualifying matches, made easy work of her opponent and will face the home favourite tomorrow.
Sixth seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary was shocked by Russian qualifier Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-3 while American Julie Ditty overcame Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, ranked 83 places above her, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Italy's Karin Knapp came from behind to defeat Russia's Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to secure the first quarter-final berth at the Antwerp event.
- Phil Yates
