Ken Doherty, Joe Swail and Patrick Wallace are all currently in action in this afternoon’s quarter-finals in Sheffield as the Embassy World Championship moves towards the closing stages.
Doherty, as forecast,is embroiled in a tough battle with Scotland’s John Higgins and is presently shading the contest by just one frame.
The duo, both former world champions, have made no secret of their desire to take claim a second title, and with Doherty holding a 3-2 lead the best of 25 frame match, the outcome is very much in the balance.
Doherty drew first blood in the contest, taking a tight first frame by eleven points. Higgins was quick to bounce back in the second but could do nothing as Doherty stamped his class on the contest in the third, amassing an unanswered 114 break.
A further break of 91 helped the Irishman to a three-one lead at the mid-session interval. Higgins came out fighting after the short break and immediately grabbed a frame back to close the deficit to one frame.
Meanwhile, on the Crucible’s other table the surprise package of the tournament, Dungannon’s Patrick Wallace, has moved into a two frame lead over fellow Northern Ireland player Joe Swail.
Wallace has appeared fearless up to this point in the championship and immediately set about taking a two frame lead, winning both of the first two frames. Swail did register a frame on the scoreboard in the third but Wallace reestablished the two frame cushion in the final frame before the interval.