Jimmy White bows out in qualifiers

Jimmy White let slip a 3-1 lead against Andrew Higginson as he dropped out of the Malta Cup qualifiers at Prestatyn yesterday.

The Whirlwind went down 5-3 to provisional world No 77 Higginson and has yet to qualify for a venue on the World Snooker Tour this season.

The former UK and Masters champion has slipped to No 51 in the latest rankings and this is a further blow to his hopes of getting back to the top end of the sport.

Breaks of 40, 48 and 43 helped 44-year-old White go 3-1 ahead at the interval. But Widnes-based Higginson hit back to take four frames on the spin, finishing with a 71, the highest break of the match.

He has now matched his best performance in a ranking event and faces David Gray today with the winner to progress to the final stages at the Hilton in Portomaso in January.

"I've looked up to Jimmy since I was 12 and I've always been in awe of him," said 28-year-old Higginson. "I saw him in his prime and I hope he gets back to where he was because he's a fabulous player and such a gentleman.

"I'd never met him before so I was nervous for the first few frames, especially as there were a lot of people watching. Then I told myself it's just another game, and after that I was relaxed and played better.

"To be honest it was scrappy match and I had a lot of the run of the balls. But to beat Jimmy is a dream come true."

Royal London Watches Grand Prix finalist Jamie Cope was brought back to earth with a 5-2 defeat to up-and-coming Chinese potter Tian Pengfei.

Stoke's Cope made just one break over 50 - a 72 in the third frame - as teenager Tian eased to victory with a top run of 100.