McMANUS EDGES PAST BOND
By PA Sport Staff
Seven hours after starting his first round match against Nigel Bond, Alan
McManus finally put the finishing touches to a 10-7 victory.
They took 61 minutes of extra time to settle the tie that had started
on Monday afternoon.
McManus led all the way through but got panicky as his Derbyshire rival kept
chipping away at his lead.
Indeed, Bond had visions of his 1994 Crucible achievement when he defeated
Cliff Thorburn 10-9 after being 9-2 behind.
This time Bond fought back to 9-7 before finally running out of steam.
The pair had been halted in mid afternoon with McManus 9-6 in front. They then
had to wait for a spare table to become available after the evening matches.
And they lasted longer than expected as Ian McCulloch pushed John Higgins to a
10-7 scoreline and Ronnie O'Sullivan trailed Marco Fu 6-3, including a 44-minute
frame.
"We both played like dogs," agreed McManus after his epic. "It was a real
struggle but the pressure out there can't be described.
"It's 10 times worse than any other tournament. Any player who says
differently is a liar.
"I'm just happy to have scraped through. I have given myself a chance to
improve in the next round.
"You have no chance if you are driving home and I feel like a huge weight has
been lifted off my shoulders."
"When you are watching Ronnie for five minutes making a maximum it's like
watching God. And yet he is 6-3 down. It's a funny old game."
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