White - has ground to make up (Getty Images).
DIFFICULT TASK FACES WHITE
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Jimmy White has a mountain to climb on Wednesday if he is to remain in the Embassy
World Championship.
The six-times Crucible runner-up faces a 6-3 deficit against Thailand's James
Wattana.
And that represents a massive recovery for a player who won his one and only
ranking tournament match of the season in the Scottish Open earlier this month.
However, there is a glimmer of hope for the Whirlwind making his 23rd
appearance in the final stages of the game's most prestigious event.
He scored a remarkable 6-5 victory over world champion Peter Ebdon in the
Benson & Hedges Masters back in February after being 5-1 down.
And it is going to take something equally remarkable for the 40-year-old
Londoner to avoid a costly first round exit.
Two shots towards the end of the session summed up White's luck this season.
He showed plenty of resilience to come back to 4-3 from 4-0 down before
disaster struck.
Clearing up to obtain parity at 4-4, White suffered a 'kick' as he tried to
pot the final pink.
Wattana accepted the unexpected lifeline and knocked in the pink and black to
lead 5-3.
White, who prevented his Bangkok-born rival reaching the 1993 Embassy final,
should then have won frame nine.
His break of 55 was the highest of a nervous session and he should have gone
on to put the outcome beyond doubt.
Instead, he missed a simple red and world number 32 Wattana stepped in with a
superb 64 clearance to take the frame on the black.
Defeat for White would not only signal the end of his interest in the current
championship. It would also mean he drops out of the top 16 for next season.
The reality of that means he would have to qualify to reach the final stages
of the 2004 world championship.
He has done it before but it gets harder than ever. And his slim chances of
becoming world champion are receding with every passing year.
Wattana requires four of the remaining 10 frames to earn a last 16 meeting
against world number seven Stephen Lee.
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