Doherty wins in Malta
Monday, 31 January 2005 22:23Ranelagh man Ken Doherty beat Ryan Day of Wales by 5 frames to 2 in the first round of the Malta Cup in Valletta this afternoon.
Elsewhere, Matthew Stevens finally won his first match of the season after suffering four successive opening round defeats to reach the last 16.
Stevens, the world number six, defeated Shaun Murphy 5-4 to register his first victory in a best-of-nine-frame match since the British Open of November 2003.
The Welshman's ranking position has been rescued by him winning the Travis Perkins UK Championship and reaching the last four of the Embassy World Championship, which are played over more frames.
Stevens, 27, came close to more disappointment after letting slip leads of 3-0 and 4-2 before compiling a crucial break of 53 to win the decider.
He said: "When I was 3-0 and 4-2 ahead I thought I was going to win but at 4-4 I was thinking 'here we go again'. It does play on your mind when you've been on a run like this. I'm looking to win matches and tournaments so it's been disappointing but hopefully I can kick on from this."
Tonight, Peter Ebdon completed a quickfire win over Michael Holt.
Ebdon, the 2002 world champion, is renowned as one of the circuit's more methodical competitors but wrapped up a 5-1 victory in less than two hours.
Ebdon, who defends his Irish Masters title next month said: "I missed a couple of balls but Michael didn't play as well as he can. I'm just pleased to be through to the next round."
Clink on the link below for today's results
