Ken Doherty proved there was still life in the old dog as he
secured his first win at the Crucible since 2006, beating Stuart Bingham 10-5
on Easter Sunday. Despite trailing 5-4 overnight, the Dubliner dominated the
second session, winning six frames in a row to guarantee his spot in the last
16. He hit runs of 55, 60, 57 and 60 on course to victory.
Ryan Day is the second qualifier to make his way past a seeded
player at this year’s tournament, as he staved off a brilliant comeback from
Stephen Maguire to beat him in a decider. Pontycrymmer Potter Day led 6-3 after
the first session and looked fairly certain to take the victory in relative
comfort as the first four frames of the second session were shared, leaving him
8-5 ahead. But breaks of 134, 58, 74 and 91 saw Scot Maguire win four of the
next five to force a decider. However Day kept his nerve, an knocked in a 92 in
the decider to complete a dramatic win.
Another match to go the distance on Sunday night was Shaun
Murphy v Jamie Cope, with the Magician eventually prevailing. Cope came into
the session 5-4 up and the match continued in a tight fashion as the first four
frames of the session were shared, leaving Cope 7-6 ahead. The Stoke potter,
who once made a 155 break in practice, will have been kicking himself though as
he was on course for a 147 in the opening frame of the session, but missed a
fairly simple red, allowing Murphy to counter with a frame winning 75. Sale’s
Murphy then began to get a hold on the match, winning three of the next four,
to go within a frame of victory. However a top run of 49 from Cope forced a
decider which Murphy eventually clinched on the last few colours.
Ali Carter is also through to the second round following a
testing win over Chinese prospect Xiao Guodong. It was another tense match but
runs of 80 and 36 saw Essex Carter eventually complete victory over his tough
opponent.
Elsewhere, Ding won his first session against Crucible
debutant Michael Wasley 6-3. Wasley led 2-1 and 3-2 at points but Ding won four
on the bounce, including a top break of 136, to finish three ahead.
Jamie Burnett also leads his first round match 6-3, against
the seeded Joe Perry. Similar to the above mentioned match, Burnett won the final
four frames of the session with top breaks of 76, 61 and 94 to hold a three
frame advantage.
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