SNOOKER Irish Masters: Ken Doherty's first round match in the Fáilte Ireland Irish Masters was the snooker equivalent of a soccer six-pointer, so it was a good time to produce arguably his best performance of the season so far, writes Michael McMullan
While the Dubliner strives to retain the top-16 place he has held since 1993, Barry Pinches is trying to break into that bracket for the first time. And, when they met at Citywest in Dublin yesterday, it was Doherty who won 5-3.
Doherty was solid from the start, and looked like leading 3-1 when he got in first with a break of 50 in the fourth frame. However, a miss on a routine red let Pinches back in to run 75, and level at 2-2 going to the mid session interval.
On the resumption, though, Doherty took control with breaks of 63, 56 and 67 to move within a frame of victory.
Pinches prolonged the contest by compiling a 93 to win frame eight, but didn't pot a ball in the next as Doherty took two scoring visits to complete a display which had seen him make five breaks over 50.
"We both played really well, but I'm just relieved more than anything," said the former world champion. "I haven't being doing well recently so the confidence is low. But this is a big tournament for me, probably the biggest apart from the world championship, so all the hard work is worthwhile when you win a match like this."
Membership of the top 16 carries automatic entry to all the major events, and Doherty has enjoyed those privileges longer than anyone except Stephen Hendry and Alan McManus.
"I'm obviously very aware of the ranking situation, especially as Barry is only one place behind me at the moment," he explained. Doherty will play David Gray or Gerard Greene tomorrow for a place in the quarter-finals.
Paul Hunter was in danger of losing his eighth match in a row when he trailed 3-2 against Tony Drago of Malta, but cleared with 132 to square the contest and then added the next two frames for a 5-3 win.
"I wasn't going to come here because I've been unwell with what I thought was appendicitis" revealed the 26-year-old from Leeds. "The doctor said he doesn't know what it is, and that he can't find my right kidney, so we're going to check it again when I get back and I might need keyhole surgery."
