Williams 'unmoved' by loss

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Mark Williams crashed out of the Citywest Irish Masters 5-2 to Anthony Hamilton and admitted: "I just didn't care whether I won or lost."

The out-of-form world champion becomes a father for the first time next month and said: "I'm looking forward to that more than winning any snooker match."

Hamilton said: "Mark's not in the best of form, but this is a great result."

In other games, local hero Ken Doherty brought the first round to a close with a 5-1 victory over Stuart Bingham.

The former world champion's season has been every bit as disappointing as that of Williams.

But like Hamilton, he finished with a flourish to set up a meeting with Scottish Open champion David Gray.

Doherty delighted his home crowd with breaks of 97 and 99 late on in the game.

"There was a lot of pressure out there, particularly after my results in the last few tournaments," admitted the Irishman.

Peter Ebdon, world champion in 2002, qualified for the last eight with a 5-3 win over 1995 Embassy finalist Nigel Bond and now plays defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan or Brian Morgan.

White has had a tough week

Jimmy White's difficult week continued with a disappointing 5-3 loss to Mark King.

White, who was arrested on suspicion of possessing a Class A drug on Wednesday, scored 66 points more than King.

But he was still denied a quarter-final place when King won four frames on the black to reach the quarter-finals.

"I love playing in Ireland and I've had great support here," said White: "I'm sick about losing because I slung a few frames away."

Former champion John Higgins was relieved after fighting past Hong Kong's Marco Fu.

Higgins won 5-3 after surviving a mid-match wobble in which he lost two frames on the black, one of which took a marathon 47 minutes.

The world number four meets Quinten Hann in the quarter-finals after the Australian edged world number five Stephen Lee 5-4.