Doherty wins an Irish epic
Ken Doherty battled for four hours ten minutes before overcoming fellow Irishman Fergal O'Brien 5-4 to book a place in the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters
"I am so glad to get the season off to a good start", said a relieved Doherty."Fergal is such a tough player and we know each so well that it's always hard to play against him.
"I'm looking forward to Shanghai, but really I'm thrilled to have won a couple of matches here in Pontin's. I never won a match here last season."
There was never more than a frame between the two Irish stars. Breaks of 87 and 66 from O'Brien, 50 and 52 from Doherty took the score to 2-2.
O'Brien took the lead with 39 and 32, before Doherty responded to take the next two frames.
Again O'Brien gained the lead, helped by a 38 clearance, but that was cancelled out as Doherty compiled a 78 clearance to force the decider.
The final frame was a titanic struggle, which last just over an hour. Runs of 35 and 30 put Doherty in the driving seat and O'Brien needed four snookers.
But his never say die attitude saw him get three of them, before Doherty forced a foul from a snooker. Eventually the former world champion sank brown and blue to put the frame beyond doubt.
Marcus Campbell booked his ticket to China with a 5-2 win over Judd Trump, and now potentially faces Stephen Hendry, who he famously beat 9-0 in the UK Championship a few years ago.
"I'll look forward to that match", said Campbell, "but I'll probably have to play a wildcard first and that won't be an easy match."
Campbell controlled the match form the start, opening with 52. Trump knocked in 50 to level.
A run of 41 and a green to black clearance secured the third for the Scot and a classy 79 took Campbell 4-0 up at the interval.
Trump broke down on 47 in the fifth, Campbell counter with 42 and eventually claimed the frame on the pink.
A run of 105 kept Trump's hopes alive, but when he missed on 23 in the seventh frame, that gave Campbell the chance to close out the match.
Stoke's Jamie Cope flew through his match against Anthony Hamilton. The Shotgun fired in breaks of 73, 91, 67, 36 and 64 in a comprehensive demolition and goes through to face Joe Perry in Shanghai.
Mark King booked himself a match against defending Shanghai Master Ricky Walden, with a 5-4 win over Stuart Pettman in a high quality match.
King, normally ranked 16, had to drop back to the final qualifying round, because Walden is seeded number one for this event, so now it's ironic that the pair will meet in Shanghai.
Andrew Higginson followed up his win over Jimmy White, with a solid 5-2 win against Dave Harold and booked himself a match against Allister Carter in Shanghai.
Michael Holt edged out Jamie Burnett 5-4, with a run of 67 in the decider.
