Campbell staves off Crucible whitewash

DUMBARTON'S Marcus Campbell avoided the ignominy of becoming only the second player ever to be whitewashed at the Crucible as a break of 62 while trailing nine frames to nil against Shaun Murphy saw him exit the World Championship with a 10-1 first-round defeat.

The Scot was 9-0 down from Saturday's first session but at least saved some face by taking the first frame of yesterday's session to delay the inevitable. Campbell wrote off the thrashing as "one of those things", saying of Murphy: "He just punished me - that's the way he can play."

The late Australian, Eddie Charlton, then 62, remains the only man to lose 10-0 in Sheffield after he was demolished by John Parrott in 1992. In-form Murphy, who is on a second-round collision course with Ronnie O'Sullivan if the enigmatic Essex man can overcome Dominic Dale, was slightly disappointed not to get the whitewash. "I'm a bit of a historian of snooker and I knew there'd only ever been one whitewash here, and opportunities to join that club are few and far between," said the 2005 champion. "I was really trying my hardest but didn't have a chance in the first frame today; Marcus took the balls really well."

Murphy is excited by the possibility of facing out-of-sorts O'Sullivan, if he manages to overcome Dale in a match which gets under way today. "I'm not sure it's a guarantee he's going to win his opening match," he said. "It's a long time since he won. If it's going to be O'Sullivan I'll have to play well but I am playing well. Potentially it's a great match."

The first big shock of the tournament came on Saturday when defending champion Neil Robertson lost 10-8 to Bristol youngster Judd Trump in the most eagerly-awaited tie of the first round. "I'm disappointed with the result but felt I played a good match," said the Australian. Stephen Hendry is well-placed to reach the second round as he leads Joe Perry 6-3 going into today's second session. The seven-time champion, whose place in the top 16 has come under threat, had breaks of 58, 56, 50, 133, 55 and 117. Fellow Scot Jamie Burnett looks to be heading out, as he trails Ding Junhui 8-1 after the first session, while Mark Williams beat fellow Welshman Ryan Day 10-5.

Dave Harold described himself as "the happiest first-round loser in the history of the Crucible" as his 10-3 loss to Ali Carter coincided with his beloved Stoke City reaching the FA Cup final. The 44-year-old received a 'good luck' card signed by the Stoke squad ahead of his match, while his wife and children opted to go to Wembley instead of the Crucible.