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| February 6, 2002 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 22, 1422 |
Surprise win for O’Brien over Doherty
LONDON, Feb 5: Last year’s runner-up Fergal O’Brien recorded a surprise 6-3 victory over Dublin friend Ken Doherty at Wembley Monday to set up a quarterfinal tie with Alan McManus in the Masters.
World No 16 O’Brien, who came from 5-2 down to beat Steve Davis 6-5 in the first round Sunday, lost 5-3 to Doherty in the last eight of the Regal Welsh last month but gained sweet revenge with a typically tenacious show.
Doherty threatened a fight-back when he recovered from 4-0 to 4-3, but his practice partner held his nerve to add the two frames he needed.
Doherty looked set to win the first frame until he missed a simple yellow, allowing O’Brien to pinch it 54-52.
A planted red to the top left corner set 1999 British Open champion O’Brien up for a 57 to clinch the second. He was in full flow before the interval with runs of 75 and 70 to make it 4-0.
Doherty finally registered on the scoreboard in frame five as a timely fluke on a red allowed him to play an attacking safety which led to a decisive 40.
The 1997 world champion appeared to have found his feet and breaks of 96 and 49 enabled him to close his deficit to one frame.
But another miss on a straightforward yellow proved costly in the next, which O’Brien claimed by potting the last red.
Both players had clear chances in the ninth frame, but Doherty’s last mistake was a miss on the last red to a baulk pocket along the side cushion. O’Brien cleared to the pink to delight the large gathering of friends and family among the Conference Centre crowd.
Jimmy White delighted his Wembley fans with a 6-1 thrashing of Matthew Stevens to reach the quarter-finals.
The 39-year-old Londoner, roared on by a vociferous crowd at the Conference Centre, gave a performance reminiscent of his hey-day. His victory kept alive the possibility of a mouth-watering clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan on Friday — the Rocket must beat Joe Swail on Wednesday.
World No 11 White was clinical in the opening two frames, knocking in a fine long pot to a baulk corner on the penultimate red in the first and clearing to the black, then securing the second on the yellow after No 6 Stevens had missed a tricky last red along the side cushion.
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