Thursday 24 April 2008 at 11:44

Former winner Ken Doherty crashed out last night in the first round of the snooker World Championships to China's Liang Wenbo.

After his 10-5 victory the qualifier is now priced at 33/1 to win the title on his debut at the Crucible.

Doherty becomes the third previous champion to bow out in the first round, following Steve Davis and Graeme Dott out of the tournament.

After his victory, Liang said: "It's the best win of my career. I was not thinking about winning or losing, just trying my best, and beating Ken is a great boost to my confidence because this is the biggest event in snooker."

He held a 7-2 interval lead and after losing the first frame of the evening session Liang won two of the next three before holding on and sealing victory 10-5.

Tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan leads another Chinese player Liu Chuang 6-5 at the end of the opening session of their match.

O'Sullivan is still 11/4 with Paddy Power to win his third Crucible title.

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Win Tournament
Ronnie O Sullivan		3.75
Stephen Maguire		8.5
Mark Selby		10
Shaun Murphy		11
Ding Junhui		13
John Higgins		13

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