NEWBRIDGE'S Lee Walker slumped out of the Embassy World Championships qualifiers in Blackpool last night, writes Gary Baker.

And now it's the turn of his old practice partner to keep the Gwent bandwagon rolling to the Crucible - Darren Morgan.

Walker won enough points to keep his place on snooker's main professional tour by winning his first match against Jason Weston on Tuesday.

But he could not match rookie Martin Gould yesterday and found an afternoon deficit of 7-2 far too much to claw back.

Walker managed to win the first three frames of the third round qualifier in the evening session to get to 7-5 behind but that was it for the Western Valley ace.

Gould roared through with the next three frames for a 10-5 victory that stopped 26-year-old Walker in his tracks as he bid to emulate his charge through the tournament in 1997 when he reached the quarter-finals.

Walker said: "I've never played him before and he played some shots that I thought no-one could play - and he got them in."

Walker will now make his way back home with his snooker season over until the next batch of qualifiers in August. And, although he has won some cash from his efforts, it will mean a lot of spare time to get on the practice table.

However, he hopes to keep his cue arm in match practice in the summer albeit in a different discipline. Walker won through the qualifiers of the World Nine-Ball Pool Championships last year, with the finals held at the Cardiff International Arena.

He said: "I'll probably have a go for them again this year."

But Fleur-de-Lys' former Crucible semi-finalist Darren Morgan starts his bid today when he takes on tough Irishman Shaun Murphy.