White's hopes ended by Hull

Jimmy White lost nine of the last ten frames as he was put out of the UK Championship qualifiers by Finland's Robin Hull on Sunday.

The Whirlwind was off to a flying start at Prestatyn, taking a 3-0 lead over world No.50 Hull with a top break of 54. But White's form dipped sharply from that point and Hull ran out a comfortable 9-4 winner with runs of 102, 54, 53 and 52.

Pontin's has proved a miserable venue so far for the former UK and Masters champion and he has yet to qualify for the final stages of a ranking event so far this season.

Currently standing at No. 51 in the provisional rankings and sure to drop lower after this result, 44-year-old White faces a battle to turn his fortunes around.

"I really struggled after a good start," he admitted. "I let my lead slip and I'm very disappointed. Robin is a very good player, he punished me and he deserved to win."

Hull goes forward to the Barbican Centre in York next month, where he will play Nigel Bond.

"It was a poor match, we both played badly," said the man from Espoo near Helsinki. "It was just about getting the result.

"I'm a great fan of Jimmy, he's one of the reasons I started playing snooker. But once you're out on the table you don't think about who you are playing."

"I've had an up and down season so I hope I can find some consistency," added Hull, who has fully recovered from the life-threatening super virus which caused him to miss most of the 2003/04 season.

Vintage Walden

Ricky Walden was in scintillating form in a 9-1 defeat of Tony Drago. The Flintshire potter knocked in breaks of 58, 101, 102, 53 and 64 in taking a 7-0 lead. Drago pulled one back with an 89 but Walden soon completed victory, closing with an 85.

"That was the best I've played this season," said 24-year-old Walden, who beat John Higgins at the Barbican Centre two years ago before losing to John Parrott in the last 16.

"The venue is different class and I hope I can do some damage there again."