Posted Feb 13th 2007, 7:23pm

Stevens out of Welsh Open

MY KINGDOM FOR A BOW TIE!

Poor old Matt - anyway, my Welsh Open thoughts, from a piece on Sporting Life.com :

"Hometown favourite Matthew Stevens crashed out of the Welsh Open at the first hurdle on Tuesday afternoon.

And following his disappointing 5-1 defeat by Leicester's Mark Selby at the Newport Centre, he took a pot-shot at the organisers of this year's £225,000 event.

The Carmarthen potter has been suffering from the flu for the past week and so asked for permission not to wear his mandatory bow tie during his best-of-nine frame second-round clash.

However, organisers refused to grant the Welshman special dispensation - and he was not happy.

"I'm disappointed because certain people are allowed to take their bow ties off - and I wasn't," he said.

"It's the first time in my 10-year career that I've asked not to wear a bow tie, but it was a no-go I'm afraid. It's upsetting.

"I've got the flu and I've got bad ears, my balance has been all over the place.

"I've been ill for a while and at times I couldn't really see anything, but I was told I couldn't take my bow tie off.

"Mark played well, so I'm not making excuses, but it doesn't help.

"I went to the doctors a couple of days ago to get a doctor's note so I wouldn't have to wear a bow tie, but I was told [by the organisers] that I wouldn't be allowed to not wear one!"

Selby, who whitewashed Welshman Ian Preece in the first round yesterday, was in awesome form and a deserved winner.

It took the world number 28 just over an hour to send Stevens packing in front of his home supporters, averaging a staggering potting success of 98%.

Breaks of 65, 64, 133, 80 and 68 did the damage, with Stevens' best a run of 82 in the fourth frame to reduce his arrears to 3-1.

"Mark's a lovely guy and he's improved a lot in the last few years, so I hope he goes on and does well," added Stevens.

"He played really well, so I've got no complaints because he deserved to win."

A delighted Selby, who could play SAGA Masters champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32, said: "I didn't really give him [Matthew] any chances.

"I started off a little bit edgy, especially playing Matthew in front of his home supporters. I felt a bit of pressure, but I quickly settled and played really well.

"I'm hitting the ball really well and feeling confident. I've come here to win the tournament."

Meanwhile, former UK champion Stephen Maguire and fellow Scot Jamie Burnett won their opening matches.

Milton's Maguire cruised to a 5-0 whitewash of Bearsden's Alan McManus, compiling breaks of 121, 83 and 111 to win their second-round clash, while Hamilton's Jamie Burnett edged Gloucester's Robert Milkins 5-3 in their first-round meeting.

Milkins had breaks of 62, 41 and 53, but although Burnett managed a high break of just 43, it was enough for the world number 54 to book a last-32 showdown with Welshman Mark Williams, a two-time winner of the Welsh Open title."