Another sad result in Malta

Stephen Hendry, lost this afternoon from Alister Carter.

The play was not too good for Hendry, he had his chance in the th deciding frame but one slow ball was not showing any signs of kr to Stephen.

However Carter play was solid and he took the victory 5 frames to 4

Losers in Malta: Ronnie O'Sullivan, Matthew Stevens, John Higgins,

Michael Holt pulled off the best win of his career with a 5-3 win over Ronnie O'Sullivan to move through to the last 16 of the Malta Cup. Holt - who had never previously beaten O'Sullivan - held his nerve to move through to a clash against Mark King.

Ryan Day moved in to the last 16 of the Malta Cup with a 5-3 win over friend and countryman Matthew Stevens. Day, ranked 17 in the world, had moved in to a 2-0 lead before Stevens had even got going.

World number one John Higgins went crashing out of round one of the Malta Cup 5-3, after a fine display by Marco Fu. The Wizard of Wishaw began well having potted the black to win a tight first frame, but soon found himself 4-1 down to Fu.

Maguire sends Ding home

Ding knocked in a break of 68 in the first frame after the mid-session interval to bring the match to 2-3, but Maguire dominated the final two frames to progress.

Stephen Maguire booked his place in the last 16 of the Malta Cup with an excellent 5-2 victory over Ding Junhui. He meets Peter Ebdon in the next round after seeing off the challenge of the provisional world number five.