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Ken Doherty lines up a pot in the Sunday session. Anna Gowthorpe

Ken Doherty reaches second round after stunning Crucible comeback

The Irishman got off to a flying start in the morning session of his first round encounter.

Updated 12:40

KEN DOHERTY GOT off to a storming start in his second session against Stuart Bingham to clinch his first round encounter 10-5.

Doherty, who trailed 3-0 and 5-3 at different stages of the match, reeled off seven frames in a row to advance to the next round for the first time since 2006.

The Dubliner won all four of the morning frames available and, going into the mid session break, was two frames away from a place in the second round. Having won a scrappy first frame, the 44-year-old compiled a break of 55 to go ahead for the first time in the match.

Another solid break put him 7-5 up and he went 47 ahead of Bingham with 43 remaining on the table to stretch his lead to three frames. Bingham, who was well snookered, took the odd decision not to play his way out of trouble, conceding the frame with a rap of the knuckles on the table.

Doherty’s break of 57 in the first frame of the afternoon session saw him go 9-5 up. The deciding frame was a fraught affair as Doherty missed a red along the cushion that would have sealed the match. He traded snookers with Bingham for 10 minutes before finally edging out another 12 points to make his lead unassailable.

Doherty — world champion in 1997 —  follows world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan into the second round and is hoping to go much further. If he keeps up his potting success of 90% he has every hope of going deep into the tournament.

First published at 11:56

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Patrick McCarry
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