December 16, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 30, 1422

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YORK (England), Dec 15: An outrageous fluke on the last pink gave Ken Doherty a 9-7 win over Stephen Lee to reach his fourth ranking tournament final of the year at the UK championship.

At the end of an unbearably tense 16th frame, Doherty, who had missed a host of chances to close out the match, went for a long pink to the top-left corner.

It missed its target by several inches but bounced close to the centre pocket and trundled into a baulk corner.

The Dubliner was a long way short of his best, making just two breaks over 50, but looked to have found his form at the right time as he went 8-6 up from 6-6.

The pressure began to tell as uncharacteristic errors were made by both players, but eventually the luck of the Irish settled the contest.

Doherty will play his second UK final Sunday against either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Mark Williams. His first was in 1994 when he lost 10-5 to an inspired Stephen Hendry who knocked in seven centuries.

He won the first of the evening to go 6-3 up but missed several simple pots in the next three frames notably a pink to a top corner in the tenth frame and a brown to a baulk corner in the 12th allowing Trowbridge’s Lee to level the scoreline with runs of 73, 55 and 36.

A cracking red to the corner set Doherty up for a 23 to clinch frame 13 and a 106, the only century of the match, brought him close to the winning line at 8-6.

The 1997 world champion was in the balls four times in the next, but missed straightforward pots on each occasion and world No 8 Lee took it by doubling the final blue.

Doherty looked certain to clinch the match when he needed just brown and blue in frame 16, but he potted the brown but left the cue ball virtually touching the blue. Lee doubled the blue but missed a difficult cut on the pink to the centre and, after a brief bout of safety, Doherty produced the most timely fluke of his career.