YORK, Dec 13: Stephen Lee produced a magnificent display to thrash defending champion John Higgins 9-2 and reach the semifinals of the 2001 UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York Wednesday.

World No 8 Lee did the hard work in the first session by building a 7-1 lead and he took two of three frames this evening to take a major step towards his first UK final.

Higgins, the world No 3, admitted to being “embarrassed” by his “pathetic” performance after his heaviest defeat since he lost 9-1 to Stephen Hendry in the 1995 UK Championship.

The first frame of the evening saw Lee, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, knock in a 60 before running out of position after a kick on the black. Higgins fought back with 36 and 26 but went in-off the final pink, leaving it close enough to the centre pocket for Lee to pot.

The Scot pulled one back after doubling the final brown, but it was all over in the next as Lee made a typically fluent 87.

Experience told for Ken Doherty as he took the last three frames against Matthew Stevens to reach the semifinals with a 9-7 win.

The Dubliner said it could have been a “killer blow” to lose the 13th frame after Stevens had outrageously fluked yellow and green, but the former world champion refused to buckle and potted the key balls in the next three frames.

The world No 4 now plays Stephen Lee in the semis, with both players seeking their first UK title. Doherty has won seven of nine previous meetings — beating Lee 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the European Open the last time they played.

Welshman Stevens, ranked No 6, made a fast start to the final session with breaks of 117, 47 and 49 to win the first two frames and go 6-4 up. Doherty took the next with 40 and 38 and levelled by the interval.

The Irishman led by 30 points in frame 13 with just the colours left, but Stevens got the snooker he needed and two flukes before clinching the 47-minute frame on the black.

The 14th was also tight but Doherty knocked in excellent pots on the yellow and green to go to 7-7. A run of 45 put him in control of the next and he secured it with a long red.

Stevens was in first in the 16th but a missed red cost him the chance to force a decider as Doherty made a nerveless 69.

Quarterfinals results:

Stephen Lee (England) bt John Higgins (Scotland) 9-2; Ken Doherty (Republic of Ireland) bt Matthew Stevens (Wales) 9-7