White: Shanghai bound

It's hard coming here, you have to get your hands dirty and get on with it, but fair play to Jimmy because he deserved to win.

Ken Doherty
Quotes of the week

Qualifying results:
J White (Eng) bt K Doherty (Irl) 5-1
A Hicks (Eng) bt M Judge (Irl) 5-2
D Harold (Eng) bt R Lawler (Eng) 5-1
A Hamilton (Eng) bt M Holt (Eng) 5-1
S Davis (Eng) bt G Greene (NIrl) 5-3
F O'Brien (Irl) bt I Preece (Wal) 5-3
J Trump (Eng) bt J Swail (NIrl) 5-3

Also see

• Snooker Schedule
• World Rankings
• Snooker DVDs

Veteran Jimmy White booked a second successive ranking event appearance by thumping Ken Doherty 5-1 on the Irishman's qualifying debut, while another golden oldie Steve Davis and Northern Ireland finalist Dave Harold also booked their places at the Shanghai Masters.

The Whirlwind, now 46, has hit the ground running at the start of this season after making it to the Northern Ireland trophy where he was beaten by Barry Hawkins.

White is six out of six though at the tough qualifying events in Prestatyn and he was obviously more settled in the environment that former world champion Doherty, who was qualifying for the first time after dropping out of the top 16 in the world last season.

The Dubliner could only muster one frame against a rampant White, who fell down to 65 in the rankings last season but will definitely be on the rise if he continues his current form.

"I played very well, I had to if I wanted to beat Ken," said former UK and Masters champion White.

Solid

"I was very solid today and it's great to have qualified for the first two events.

"I've got used to the conditions at Pontin's now, which is important as the guys who play here all the time have an edge.

"I'm looking forward to China because snooker is very popular there, although to be honest I'm enjoying the game so much at the moment it doesn't matter where I play."

Doherty admits he had a tough draw in his qualifying debut, but he knows he must toughen up quickly if he wants to make the big tournaments this year.

"It's a bad result, it was a baptism of fire for me," Doherty admitted.

"Jimmy got off to a flyer and I was always playing catch-up. It's hard coming here, you have to get your hands dirty and get on with it, but fair play to Jimmy because he deserved to win."

Veterans

Fellow veteran Davis joined White in the Shanghai Masters after beating Gerard Greene 5-3 in Prestatyn.

The six-time world champion hit breaks of 64, 50 and 54 to go 4-1 in front before Greene pulled it back to 4-3 - only for 51-year-old Davis to edge the eighth frame.

"Any win is a good win," said Davis. "I wasn't expecting too much and Gerard was probably favourite having played a match here yesterday. But he didn't play great today.

"It's funny to be here and see people like Jimmy, Ken, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens. I looked at the monitor where all the matches are listed and thought 'wow, there's some fantastic games on today'."

Dave Harold made a shock run to the final in Belfast, and he will be in Shanghai after beating Rod Lawler 5-1, while teenager Judd Trump also heads to China after a 5-3 win over Joe Swail.

Anthony Hamilton won his all-Nottingham clash with Michael Holt 5-1 to return to Shanghai where he made the final in 2002.

"I played solid, but a 5-1 scoreline was a hit flattering," admitted Hamilton.

"It could have easily been 2-2 at the interval, but I stuck in there and didn't give him many chances. It really wasn't as comfortable as 5-1 suggests, but you've got to win those scrappy frames. Once I'd won them I started to play a lot better."