Ken Doherty reached his fourth consecutive world ranking quarter-final with a 5-2 victory over Englishman Joe Perry at the China Open in Shanghai. The Dubliner will now meet Anthony Hamilton in the last eight of the £450,000 event following this morning's comprehensive win over Perry, who he also beat 5-0 on the way to appearing in the Regal Welsh Open final last month. Hamilton defeated Australia's Quentin Hann 5-3.
Runs of 43, 53, 56 and 65 helped Doherty build a 4-1 lead but Perry, on course for a place in the game's elite top 16 next season, threatened to mount a comeback when he fired in an 81 break in the sixth frame and led 50-1 in the seventh.
But when he missed a vital yellow, Doherty pounced with a 57 clearance to snatch it on the black and advance to the last eight. A delighted Doherty enthused afterwards: "I don't think I've done that very often in my career before but over the last couple of seasons I've been really solid. It was a good match, with quite a few big breaks, and it's always good to tuck frames away in a single visit."
Meanwhile, Leicester teenager Mark Selby, ranked 95th in the world, caused the biggest shock of the season so far by hammering former world champion Stephen Hendry 5-1 to earn a quarter-final match Ronnie O'Sullivan, who beat Jimmy White by the same scoreline.
Filed by Shane Murray
