Ken Doherty had been full of praise for himself as he marched through a tight duel and into the Champions League final group stage. The 1997 world champion waxed lyrical about his stunning 139 break which he described as a very incredible moment in his lengthy career at the top.
His final group match against Jordan Brown was a must win or at the very least, a draw. Drawing the game would have put him in a difficult situation where he would have had to overhaul Thepchaiya Un-Nooh’s high break of 135 to scrap any hopes of making it through to the last-eight. Did he win or was a draw enough?
The odds were against the 51-year-old for the most parts of the game. After two frames, he was tied with Jordan Brown and was at the risk of losing out. However, the evergreen veteran rolled back the years in style, beginning with a break of 139 to draw Brown at 2-2. However, his clearance of 139 was enough to place the world number 114 ahead of Un-Nooh, world number 16 on the Group tables.
The six-time ranking event winner also drew the game with Un-Nooh himself and edged past Xiao Guodong by a 3-1 score line to better his chances of qualifying. Un-Nooh on the other hand also drew Guodong while he beat Brown by a 3-1 score line after four frames.
Doherty mused at how tricky the chances of qualifying were and how it could be likened to walking on thin ice.
“It was incredible,” said Doherty. “I knew if I got a 2-2 draw I had to beat the 135 high break, so when I was on the break I was doing the maths. The pink ended up on the brown spot but I wanted it back on its own spot. I got it back there and managed to hold myself together. It was exciting.”
Kyren Wilson had a fairly easy way into the next round after pummeling his opponents with two centuries to top Group F.
He ran riot over Mark King with a 3-0 win, forced a 2-2 draw with Scott Donaldson before recording a whitewash 3-0 win over David Gilbert.
Written by: Roland Arum
