Pinches on the ropes

World number 18 Barry Pinches was in danger of a shock first-round exit as the Travis Perkins UK Championship got under way in York today.

The Norwich professional, who reached the quarter-finals of the season’s first ranking tournament, the Grand Prix in Preston, trailed 6-2 to Dominic Dale with nine frames required to book a meeting with Peter Ebdon in round two.

Dale’s fine start was perhaps not so surprising considering his performance in his opening match of last year’s event. On that occasion the Welshman hammered rising Chinese star Ding Junhui 9-3 before losing in a deciding frame to Steve Davis.

Now ranked number 34 in the world, Dale got off the mark with a break of 80 and eased clear by winning a series of scrappy frames as out-of-sorts Pinches failed to notch a half-century.

Their match will conclude tonight but one man, Gerard Greene, is already through to the last 32 by virtue of a walkover as Quinten Hann withdrew from the competition.

The Australian, who has courted controversy throughout his career, has not turned up for any match this season either at the Grand Prix or in the qualifiers for other tournaments, citing medical reasons.

However, the world number 22 is also facing an investigation in the new year into match-fixing allegations, and his absence automatically handed Greene a date with Grand Prix victor John Higgins.

The three other morning matches were all poised at 5-3 after the opening session with World Championship semi-finalist Ian McCulloch leading Jamie Burnett, Hong Kong’s Marco Fu ahead of Ireland’s Michael Judge, and Ali Carter on top against promising newcomer Jamie Cope.