Ken Doherty and Drew Henry are through to the semi finals of the UK Championships after defeating John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan respectively tonight. Doherty secured a 9-6 victory against Higgins, who he hadn't beaten since 1997. He led 4-0 and 5-1 before Higgins, the fourth seed, fought back to level at 6-6, with breaks of 113 and 118 the highlights.
Doherty cleared yellow to black to reclaim the lead and breaks of 63 and 41 got him over the line and into the semi-finals for a second successive year.
"It's a great confidence boost to play so well against someone of John's calibre," said Doherty. "It's up there as one of the best displays of my career because even though I played very well, so did he."
Meanwhile O'Sullivan went down 9-6 to Henry and then vowed not to pick up the cue again until after the festive period following a disappointing performance that reminded O'Sullivan of why he has threatened to quit snooker so many times in the past.
"I didn't get going at all and basically got slaughtered," he said. "I bit the tip off so I wouldn't feel tempted to pick the cue up again until January. It's a strategy thing because I don't want to think about it.
"I'm not too disappointed that I lost because the performance I put in wasn't a surprise. I knew something like that was going to happen. When I lost in this tournament eight years ago I said I wanted to retire afterwards. It's something I've fought with and tried to put right but it's been very painful to deal with. I try to be optimistic but it's very hard."
Filed by Johnny Proby
