JOHN Higgins and John Lardner may share the same practice facilities
at the Masters Club in Dennistoun, but until yesterday that's where the
similarities ended.
Higgins has the snooker world at his feet after defeating Dave Harold
last Sunday to claim his first major championship at the Skoda Grand
Prix.
Lardner would appear to have the world on his shoulders following
three unproductive years on the professional circuit.
However, despite a ranking of 209 Lardner remains cheerful and his
appearance in the #30,000 Benson and Hedges Snooker Championship
yesterday gave him good cause for optimism.
''I got a buzz walking through the club doors,'' he said after
whitewashing Lancastrian Ian McCulloch 5-0 at Edinburgh's JP Leisure
Centre.
Twelve months ago a similar result put him on the road to a surprise
final slot where only Ronnie O'Sullivan denied him a wildcard entry to
the Masters at Wembley next February.
''Maybe the score is an omen,'' he said, and by another strange quirk
his next opponent will be Harold, defeated by Higgins at Derby and
beaten by Lardner in last year's B & H semi-final.
Wishaw-based Higgins also breezed into round two without dropping a
frame.
''The tournament is wide open because the pockets are a lot more
generous than we're used to,'' said the 19-year-old, ''and that means
any one of 20 or 30 players could win here.''
There was disappointment though for Glaswegian rookie Andrew Duff,
beaten 5-2 by Jason Ferguson, of Mansfield, while Scott Bigham, from
Irvine, went down 5-3 against Barry Pinches, from Norwich. Other results
involving Scots:
R McDonald (Scotland) beat S James (England) 5-4, M J Williams (Wales)
beat P McPhillips (Scotland) 5-4.
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