UK No. 2 Steve Knight took sweet revenge for his 9-0 whitewash at the 2000 World Pool Championships when he defeated 1998 World Champion Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan to advance through to the quarter-finals here at Lakeside Shopping Centre.

London-based Knight, 27, spends a couple of months a year in the United States playing in money matches and gaining himself a pool education and it certainly paid off against a player who many fancied to go all the way in this tournament.

Knight had the run of the balls early on to go into a 3 - 1 lead but several errors allowed Takahashi back in the Japanese star took advantage to win the next four and leave Steve looking decidedly shaky at 5 - 3 down.

Knight, though, is nothing if not a fighter and he gritted his teeth to take the initiative and win the next four to take the match 7 - 5. He now meets Tony Drago in quarter-final three at 2.00 Saturday afternoon.

Commented Knight, " Let's face it, I played below par today and I was lucky to beat a player who I thought played a better match than me. I was so glad to beat him though because of Cardiff.

" I made a lucky safety shot at 5 - 3 down and from then on I stepped the pace up a bit to win the match. Drago's a good player and the problem for me is that I mustn't let him dictate the pace. He plays very fast and today he dragged Marcus Chamat into his speed zone and look what happened to him.

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