Stevens looks comfortable on his debut

Snooker

Matthew Stevens continued the Welsh revival by reaching the Benson and Hedges Masters second round at Wembley Conference Centre yesterday.

Stevens, ranked 236 in the world, marked his debut in the event with a 5-3 victory over the veteran Terry Griffiths just 18 hours after fellow Welsh teenager Mark Williams won the Regal Welsh Open title in Newport.

Griffiths, at 48 the oldest player in the tournament, won the opener with a break of 81, but could not maintain that consistency and was held 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

Griffiths comfortably won frame five to edge ahead at 3-2 but it was his last success as Stevens finished strongly to book a meeting with Alan McManus in the next round.