Doherty clinches World Cup quarter-final slot

Snooker: Ken Doherty beat Matthew Stevens in the final frame to ensure the Republic of Ireland picked up the two frames required…

Snooker:Ken Doherty beat Matthew Stevens in the final frame to ensure the Republic of Ireland picked up the two frames required to make the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Bangkok.

Wales won the clash 3-2 but had already qualified after Pakistan were only able to beat Egypt 3-2, while Poland’s doubles win over the second Thailand team ushered Scotland through before their match against Hong Kong began.

They won 3-2 in any case John Higgins beating Marco Fu and Fung Kwok Wai, with Stephen Maguire also victorious against the latter and that result also sent their opponents through as group runners-up.

England and Northern Ireland had already qualified before their closing Group C meeting, which also went to a deciding frame.

READ MORE

Mark Selby put England ahead by beating Mark Allen but Gerard Greene responded with a scrappy win over Ali Carter and Northern Ireland also won the doubles with a break of 110.

Selby levelled with breaks of 41 and 70 against Greene and a half-century helped Carter seal top spot for England and a quarter-final against Hong Kong, with Northern Ireland facing Scotland.

The Australia pairing of former world champion Neil Robertson and amateur Steve Mifsud earlier made it through with a 4-1 win over the United Arab Emirates, Robertson’s edgy closing win over Mohammad Al Joaker staving off the threat of a play-off.

China’s Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo went into their match against Thailand One needing three frames to qualify in second place and took a 2-0 lead by beating James Wattana and Dechawat Poomjaeng respectively.

The Thai pair hit back in the doubles but Liang beat Wattana to clinch a last-eight place and Ding eased past Poomjaeng to guide his team to top spot and a meeting with the Republic of Ireland, leaving Australia to face Wales.