Hunter makes solid start

Paul Hunter, who has been battling against cancer, returned to action at the Travis Perkins UK Championship in York today as the big names entered the fray.

Despite recent newspaper reports of a dip in his health, the former three-time Masters champion made his second ranking-event appearance this season and ended the opening session of his match against Jamie Burnett trailing 5-3.

But his Scottish opponent, who enjoyed a fine win over world number 16 Ian McCulloch in the first round, could not have been too disappointed if the scoreline had been reversed for he had the better ‘run’ and Hunter missed plenty of chances.

Breaks of 59 and 60 before the interval showed the Leeds player – with a completely bald head following his cancer treatment – was in decent form as the first four frames were shared.

When the contest resumed, however, Burnett pinched a frame in which he was 60 points behind and then edged two ahead by potting pink and black before the Yorkshireman reduced his deficit to one.

Lack of concentration was Hunter’s downfall when he narrowly lost his opening match at the Grand Prix in October, and that looked the case again as he squandered opportunities to take frame eight which he conceded when still able to win, although he had left Burnett with a simple red.

Play was of a higher standard elsewhere and Grand Prix champion John Higgins continued the superb form he had shown in Preston by knocking in breaks of 114 and 85 to take a 6-2 lead against Gerard Greene.

Peter Ebdon and Dominic Dale also produced some high-quality fare as they ended their first stint level at 4-4, the Welshman impressing with contributions of 138 and 133.

It was also all square in the two other matches between Ken Doherty and Marco Fu, and the last of the first-round encounters in which Nigel Bond took on Dave Harold.