Thailand's rank outsider Dechawat Poomjaeng was on Tuesday on the verge of a famous win in the first round of the snooker World Championship. The 24-year-old - ranked 70th in the world - led Scotsman Stephen Maguire 9-8 in the best-of-19-frame match. It was a much better performance against last year's semi-finalist from the engaging Thai than the crowd might have expected after an inauspicious start. He had got the entrance to the players arena wrong and then walked to the wrong table before the first session on Monday.

Hong Kong's Marco Fu reached his first major final since 2008 on Saturday and credited his run at the German Masters to becoming a father for the first time. The 35-year-old Fu defeated England's Barry Hawkins 6-4 to set up a final meeting with Ali Carter who beat Australia's former world champion Neil Robertson 6-2 in his semi-final. Fu's wife Shirley gave birth to their first baby, a girl called Alicia, on December 22 in London.