SHOKAT Ali made no excuses after his fourth round exit in the £40,000 Benson and Hedges Snooker Championship at Mansfield yesterday.

The Accrington professional believed himself capable of reaching the last 32, but instead went down 5-2 against Welsh left-hander Darren Morgan.

"Darren played very well, he took his chances and I didn't deserve to win," said Ali who began promisingly enough with a break of 70.

"I was a bit unlucky not to be 3-1 up at the interval. I had a few chances but I kept breaking down.

"After the interval Darren played considerably better and he was good value for his victory," added the 32-year-old world number 34.

Morgan dominated the final three frames when the match resumed, making breaks of 39, 80 and 63 with Ali scoring only 52 points in reply.

Ali doesn't play again now until the New Year having failed to qualify for the final stages of the British Open and the UK Championship.

Justin Astley was left to regret a slow start in his Championship match with local boy Luke Fisher.

The Darwen professional was always chasing the game after dropping the first three frames to his 20 year old opponent.

"I couldn't get going at all," said Astley, who had knocked out Norfolk's Matthew McGrotty 5-2 in the previous round.

"He had a bit of luck in the first frame and then I missed game ball to make it 2-1."

Breaks of 37, 47, 94 and 59 brought Astley back into the match at 4-3.

However, Fisher compiled a run of 61 to kill off Astley's revival and set up a best of nine meeting with Thailand's James Wattana.

Preston's Ian McCullochmade a perfect start as he beat Nick Pearce 5-0.