Hamilton burns off Welding

ANDY HAMILTON put paid to the chance of any more heroics from last year’s giant-killer Gary Welding with a first-round victory at the Ladbrokes.com World Championship yesterday.

In the most appetising of the four afternoon matches, ‘The Hammer’ pounded to a 3-0 win against the man who beat world number one Colin Lloyd on his way to the quarter-finals 12 months ago.

It was a patchy display, especially on the doubles, by Hamilton, who burst on to the scene by reaching the last eight himself in Purfleet two years ago and has surged up the rankings since.