Gutsy Lee holds off Carter charge

Lee held his nerve towards the end

Stephen Lee survived a courageous fightback from Ali Carter to secure his berth in the second round of the World Championship with a 10-8 win.

Carter, who started the day 6-3 down, lost the first frame of the session but won the following five to go 8-7 ahead, including a 135 in the 15th frame.

Lee, who won this season's Welsh Open, went for a quick break before winning the next two with breaks of 61 and 62.

Carter missed a long red in the 18th, to let Lee back in for the win.

On Saturday, Lee and Carter went into the first mid-session interval at 2-2 after a tense four frames.

Carter, 25, ended that session on a high with a 112 break, but his opponent then cruised to the next three, with his safety play proving frustrating.

Lee took the eighth, although Carter bounced back to claim the ninth.

The victor paid tribute to opponent Carter after the match.

"Ali played some good stuff to attack me but I found a bit of concentration when I had to. You either do that or you collapse," he said.

Lee also joked about his new haircut which he unveiled during the match.

"It was meant to be white but instead it's yellow!. I'll have to get it sorted out," said the Trowbridge star.

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S Lee (Eng) 10-8 A Carter (Eng)
29-63 63-27 59-50 16-112 67-27 (58) 94-1 67-60 79-52 23-71 88-0 (79) 8-84 (75) 28-76 (69) 1-64 50-57 4-135 (135) 90-0 (61) 76-0 (62) 82-28