Ken Doherty booked his place in the semi-finals of the £250,000 European Open in Malta with a tight 5-4 victory over Stephen Lee last night. The Irishman remained cool under pressure after fearing he had blown his chance to set up a semi-final with seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry.
Trailing 2-0, Doherty engaged top gear as runs of 51, 80, 117 and 54 carried him 4-3 ahead. Doherty also led by 60 in the eighth frame but, on the threshold of beating Lee for the seventh time in nine pro-tournament meetings, he missed a vital red employing the rest.
Thrown an unexpected lifeline, Lee kept the contest alive with a gutsy 60 clearance to steal it on the black and force a sudden-death decider. Doherty coolly took the final frame with a 60 break.
"The eighth frame was unbelievable," said Doherty. "I was one pot away from winning and suddenly it was all square and I'd got to do it all again. I sat there between frames and just told myself that 4-4 was a fair reflection of how the match had gone considering I was 2-0 behind at one stage. My safety was really good. I made some decent breaks and I'm really happy with the way I held it all together at the end."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
