Former world champion Peter Ebdon has failed to make it past the second round of the Coral Shoot Out in Watford. The Briton was the highest-profile casualty of the second round at the Watford Colosseum on Friday as he went down to a 37-16 defeat against world number 126 Sean O’Sullivan, who is now 66/1 to win the tournament outright.
The 47-year-old struggled to compete with his 23-year-old opponent in the single-frame sprint format and in the end was well beaten by his fellow Englishman, who advances into the next stage. Another past champion at the Crucible, Scotland’s Graeme Dott, did manage to move into the third round as he easily saw off James Cahill 54-0 while Wales’ Matthew Stevens just about overcame David Lilley 27-26. There were also wins for Barry Hawkins, who saw off Adam Davies 75-40, and Nigel Bond, who edged past Peter Lines 31-28, while Kurt Dunham, Ricky Walden and Martin Gould all also progressed into the last 16. The second round of the Coral Shoot Out continues on Saturday evening, with 16 more ties as players aim to join those already through to the third round in the quickfire format.
Among the stand-out ties are former world number two Ali Carter taking on Joe Swail while 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham plays Scott Donaldson. Gary Wilson will be hoping to see off world number 22 Joe Perry and 55-year-old veteran Jimmy White, now ranked 99th in the world, comes up against Billy Castle. Hawkins is the favourite win the Coral Shoot Out with Dafabet at 12/1. Mark Williams is on offer at 14/1, just ahead of Bingham (16/1).
Snooker Shoot Out odds available at Dafabet.