Gould’s Crucible hopes end at first hurdle

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Martin Gould’s bid to reach the World Championship ended in Wednesday’s first qualifying round with a shock defeat to amateur Adam Duffy.

The Pinner potter, who has reached the televised stages at the Crucible every year since 2008, failed to recover from losing six of the first nine frames and eventually succumbed 10-6.

Duffy, who has taken both Neil Robertson and Judd Trump to final-frame deciders in his last two tournaments, raced into a 3-0 lead, before Gould got on the board thanks to a break of 80.

But Duffy hit a superb 120 to go 4-2 in front and extended his lead in the next frame with a 75, as he led 6-3 at the end of the morning session.

Gould did make a break of 83 to reduce the deficit to 7-5 but Duffy remained in control with solid scoring, including a 70 in the final frame.

It marks a disappointing end to Gould’s season, the highlights of which were making the final of the Bulgarian Open in October and the last four of the Wuxi Classic last June.

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