NORTH FACES WEST

RICHARD NORTH smashed in 10 180s as he produced a brilliant fightback to set up the ‘Compass’ derby with Steve West at the William Hill World Championship yesterday.

North beat Germany’s Robert Marijanovic 3-2 at Ally Pally, having trailed 2-0. Marijanovic opened the

Wright, 48, is in no hurry to revisit the sleepless nights and sheer fatigue, let alone the searing agony, of gallstones.

He said: “I didn’t sleep for days on end and if it woke me up in the night, I would be walking around like a zombie at 3am, putting the kettle on just for the sake of it.”

Reigning world champion Rob Cross has just gone above Wright to No.2 in the rankings.

A winner’s cheque for £500,000 on New Year’s Day would soon reverse that. match with a 107 checkout before then landing a brilliant 147. But North hit back to take the match on double top.

Max Hopp, Germany’s 2015 world youth champion, booked his place in round three with a 3-0 defeat of the Netherlands’ Danny Noppert .