Snooker: Doherty ends revival by Henry to reach final
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Your support makes all the difference.Ken Doherty reached his second successive PowerHouse UK Championship final in York last night, but Drew Henry made the former world champion work hard for his 9-5 semi-final victory.
Doherty, who will play Peter Ebdon, the world champion, or Mark Williams, the 1999 UK title holder, in the best-of-19 frames final on Sunday, resumed last night with a 6-2 lead. But Henry, the world No 22, playing in only his third ranking event semi-final, took the first three frames of the evening session in just 36 minutes.
Henry, of Glasgow, made breaks of 62, 93 and 43 to move to within one frame of Doherty at 6-5. Doherty scored just 29 points in that time, but his greater experience soon began to tell and he reeled off the next three frames to earn his place in the final. Doherty, who will hope to atone for his appearance in the final last year when he lost 10-1 to Ronnie O'Sullivan, had earlier dominated the opening session, despite a strong start from Henry.
For the first four frames, Henry, 34, looked capable of matching the 1997 world champion shot for shot. He had knocked out Jimmy White, Stephen Lee – on the black of a deciding 17th frame – and holder O'Sullivan without producing his best snooker. But for the first four frames he stepped up a gear as Doherty clung on.
Henry opened the match with a break of 89 and added 79 in the fourth frame after Doherty had jumped 2-1 clear. Henry made 43 in the fifth only to misjudge a swerve trying to pot a red. That let Doherty back in and his run of 72 proved decisive.
Doherty doubled his advantage with 85 in frame six and then won two scrappy frames to finish the session 6-2 up. Henry might have reduced his arrears in the eighth, but a missed black off the spot was pivotal and Doherty made the most of his good fortune.
Ebdon will be looking to join a select group of players to have achieved snooker's most sought-after double by capturing the UK title when he begins his semi-final against Williams today.
Victory would rank Ebdon alongside Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott, John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan as winners of world and UK titles in the same year. "I'd be delighted to be world and UK champion in the same year," the world No 3 said. "Winning this would also provisionally make me world No 1, and that would make it a fantastic Christmas."
Williams earned his semi-final berth with a 9-2 win over the five-times UK champion Hendry.
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