MCCULLOCH KNOCKS OUT CHAMP EBDON
09/12/2007 20:25:00

Ian McCulloch completed a tremendous fight-back to send defending champion Peter Ebdon out of the Maplin UK Championship at the first hurdle.
Preston's McCulloch came from 5-0 down to win 9-8 to reach the last 16 at the International Centre, where he will face Stephen Maguire.

Left-hander McCulloch, ranked 28, has enjoyed some fine wins on the big stage during his career, including victories over Ebdon, Mark Williams and Graeme Dott at the Crucible.

But he rated today's win as "obviously my best ever. To come back like that against Peter is massive. These days you can't even come from 5-0 down against kids in the club."

Ebdon led 5-3 going into today's session and shared the first four frames despite breaks of 123 and 74 from 36-year-old McCulloch. The Lancastrian then won the next three to go 8-7 ahead.

World No 6 Ebdon, the Dubai-based cueman who beat Stephen Hendry in last year's final, levelled with a 63. But McCulloch dominated the decider, capitalising on his third scoring chance with a superb 84.

"I always practise against players who can cut your throat, that helps when you need to fight," added McCulloch, who reached the final of the last ranking event held in Telford, the 2002 British Open when he lost to Paul Hunter.

"At 5-0 down I felt relaxed because I had nothing to lose. Even if I had lost 9-8 I could have taken a lot of positives because of the way I came back."

Ebdon said: "I didn't do that much wrong, Ian was exceptional at times. He could hardly have played better.

"I wasn't as sharp as I would have liked and snooker is so tough these days that if you're not firing on all cylinders, you can get beaten. There's nothing I can do about it now, I would love to have retained this title but there's still a lot to play for this season."