Snooker: White Flags

Jimmy White, attempting to secure a 26th appearance in the televised stage of the World Championship, trailed Jamie Burnett, the world No54 from Glasgow, 6-3 after the first session of their best-of-19-frames match in the penultimate qualifying round at Prestatyn yesterday. White, six times runner-up at The Crucible, compiled a 130 clearance to lead 3-2 but missed a routine black midway through the eighth, from which Burnett cleared to the pink to lead 5-3 before winning the last frame of the session.

White, 44, who has missed the final stages of the game's showpiece event once since 1981, has fallen to 34th in the rankings this year. John Parrott, who beat White 18-11 in the 1991 final, led Manchester's James Leadbetter 6-3. Andrew Higginson, the Welsh Open runner-up last month, lead 5-4 over Ricky Walden.