A sensational comeback from Daithi Whelan topped off a fine day for the Irish as the world under-21 snooker championships got under way at the Ivy Rooms in Carlow yesterday. The Cork man trailed Denmark's Gilbert Albersten by three frames to nil at one stage but back-to-back breaks of 64 in the fourth and fifth frames followed by a 32 clearance in the sixth saw this group B game go right down to the wire before Whelan clinched it in frame seven to end a mammoth which lasted two hours and 39 minutes. Earlier Irish senior and European under-19 champion T J Dowling defeated Singapore's Tee Chee Leng Tee by a four frames to one.