Hunter on the attack on Sunday.
HUNTER IN COMMAND
Paul Hunter has a first ever place in the Embassy World Championship
quarter-finals in his sights after dominating the start of his second-round game
with Matthew Stevens at The Crucible in Sheffield on Sunday afternoon.
The Leeds-based professional, looking to become the first Yorkshireman to lift
the trophy since Joe Johnson in 1986, gained a valuable 6-2 lead over his Welsh
stable-mate with another 17 frames to go.
Hunter looks in sparkling form, although he also had the rub of the green
baize against his Carmarthen-based rival.
Indeed, if he goes on to qualify for the last eight, he may well look back on
frame seven as a major turning point.
Stevens failed to take the frame in one visit after a break of 61.
But as Hunter came back into contention, he then fluked the final pink at the
end of a vital run of 69.
The last frame of the afternoon was more decisive and two further
half-centuries stretched his advantage to 6-2.
It was a high-quality session from the two pals who first faced each other as
in junior tournaments.
Hunter has a poor record at The Crucible and is only other appearance in the
last 16 resulted in a 13-5 hammering by Stephen Hendry two years ago.
In contrast, world number eight Stevens owes his high ranking to his
performances in Sheffield.
He has reached the quarter-finals every season since 1998, qualified for the
2000 final and for the past two years has been an unlucky semi-final loser to
John Higgins and Peter Ebdon.
However, it is Hunter in the ascendancy so far despite losing the opening
frame - at 26 minutes-easily the longest of the match so far.
For the next four frames Hunter was dominant. He levelled at 1-1 with a run of
55, knocked in 50 to lead 2-1 and then compiled an effortless 110 to gain a 3-1
mid-session advantage.
There was no respite for Stevens when the game resumed as 45 was pivotal in
helping Hunter move 4-1 clear.
Stevens, the only top-eight player never to have won a ranking event, stopped
the rot with 84 in frame six.
But Hunter added the last two frames of the day and resumes on Monday morning,
even with a chance of finishing the contest with a session to spare.
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