MAUREEN McCarthy had 73 reasons to be cheerful last night despite suffering a 5-0 first round exit at the Benson & Hedges Snooker Championship in Malvern.

Two years after potting just two reds to gain an unwanted entry into the game's record books, snooker's Little Mo salvaged her reputation.

The 28 year-old Worcester based player's tally of 73 points against Southport rival John Wade included a top break of only nine!

But after her 1998 humiliation by Mike Dunn, McCarthy's performance at the Willie Thorne Snooker Club represented a step in the right direction.

"I'm happy to have done better than last time I played here," agreed McCarthy, watched by her coach and husband Dave.

"But there is still room for improvement. I played some stupid shots but I'm definitely not giving up.

"I'm going to continue practising and I'll be back next year to have another go," said McCarthy after her 82 minute involvement in the £35,000 tournament.

"My problem is that I don't get enough match practice. There's too much time between tournaments and I'm going to have to check out to see if there are any Pro-Ams in the area."

Despite the floods, McCarthy arrived in plenty of time to face world number 297 Wade. It wasn't long before she had exorcised the memories of two years ago trotting up 12 points in the opening frame.

She came closest to avoiding another whitewash in the second frame but eventually went down 72-31.

Wade then found his rhythm making breaks of 30, 37 and 36 to reach round two. He returns to action this afternoon for a match against Staffordshire's Troy Shaw while McCarthy returns to practice to begin preparations for the 2001 Benson and Hedges Snooker Championship.

Bewdley's Richard King, who hasn't won a match in the tournament since 1993, hopes to score a home victory later today when he cues up against Buckinghamshire's Scot Kearney.

Birmingham pensioner Jack Fitzmaurice, at 72 the oldest man in the championship, is also in action on day two when he tackles David McDonnell for a place in round three against former semi-finalist Nick Walker.