Doherty dumped out of World Championships
Saturday, 23 April 2005Alan McManus reached the quarter-finals at the Crucible for the first time since 1993 with a 13-11 success against 1997 champion Ken Doherty tonight.
The 34-year-old Glaswegian seized control of the match from the outset and although the Dubliner fought back to lead 10-8 tonight, McManus refused to let it slip from his grasp.
His next opponent will be either maximum man Mark Williams or Ian McCulloch.
McManus was remarkably indifferent about his triumph, insisting the enjoyment he derives from playing the game outweighs whether he wins or loses.
"It's nice to go through but I'm not a massive results kind of person," he said.
"I just like to do myself justice and if I have done that I'm okay with whatever the outcome is. Now I get another chance to try to perform the way I know I can.
"But it's nice to win a match over such a long distance, which I haven't done for a long time. I gave it everything I had.
Doherty said: "At 10-8 up I thought I might pull away, but Alan played pretty well and his safety was excellent. He is one of the best safety players around.
"It would have been nice to have taken it to the wire but I missed a black off its spot in the last frame and it wasn't to be. Good luck to Alan - he made some good breaks out of nothing.
"I thought if I could get through this match I could have moved up another gear. It's been a tough couple of days against a tough player who performed better than I have seen him do for a long time."
Shaun Murphy, making his debut appearance in the second round, took time to settle in his match against 1998 champion John Higgins and lost the opening three frames.
But then the 22-year-old, based in Rotherham, got into his stride and displayed commendable composure to draw level at 4-4, the highlight of his evening being a 129 break in frame six.
