What A Difference A Year Makes
Last year it was tears, but today it was smiles for Ken Doherty at he booked his place at the Crucible.
Ken Doherty turned in a totally professional performance to beat his close friend Joe Swail 10-1 and book his return to the venue where he lifted the World Crown in 1997.
"I'm just really over the moon", said the popular Irishman.
"It's been really hard to have to play both Jimmy [White] and Joe [Swail].
"They're two of my best friends off the table and if it hadn't been me I would have wanted them both to win through.
"But as Jimmy said to me, once you're on the table, it's business."
And Doherty 'did the business' in style.
After the first two frames were shared, Doherty took total control of the match and crucial breaks of 67, 49, and 74 helped him to an unassiable 8-1 interval lead.
Doherty resumed with an 81 and hard as Swail battled he couldn't prevent Doherty sinking the pink for victory in the next frame.
Doherty revealed just how low he'd felt as he plummeted down the rankings and missed out on the Crucible last year.
"I missed it so much last year. I was nearly in tears here after I lost.
"I just didn't know where I was going with my game.
"I kept losing first round matches and I was close to packing it in.
"I had no confidence. I was on the floor.
"Somehow I've turned it round. And it's great to be back.
"I've played well here and I've beaten two great players convincingly.
"That gives me a lot of confidence now.
"In a way dropping out of the top 32 helped me. It gave me an extra match to play before meeting a top seed.
"I've taken a lot of inspiration too from the likes of Steve Davis and Jimmy White, seeing them hang in there. They're both great players and great ambassadors for our sport.
Barry Hawkins booked his place in Thursday's Crucible draw with a hard fought 10-7 win over Ian McCulloch.
It was toe to toe, frame for frame until Hawkins burst clear from 3-3 to take a 6-3 morning lead. The Londoner rattled in 92 and 133 before snatching the last of the session on the blue.
McCulloch took the first on the resumption, but Hawkins put clear water between then with a run of 66 to lead 8-4.
McCulloch won two of the next three to keep in touch but an early run of 46 in the seventeenth frame did the damage and Hawkins eventually won frame and match on the blue.
"That was a ridiculous match", exclaimed Hawkins.
"It was a match and a half. It was a really hard battle all day and I'm total gone now, I'm just exhausted.
"I felt I was playing alright, but you just want to win so much that you tire yourself out.
"I qualified for China and now that is all the more enjoyable, knowing that when I come back I'll have the Crucible to look forward to.
"I've never won a match yet at the Crucible, but I'm not going to be too hard on myself because I've been edged out 10-9 a couple of times and last year's game against Graeme Dott was a classic.
"But I'd love to actually get through the first round, because after that anything can happen.
