Snooker update
Ken Doherty won all four frames before the mid-session interval against Paul Hunter to play his way back into contention (13-15) for a place in the Embassy World Championship final.
Hunter went into the session at odds of 1-100 on to see off the challenge of the Dubliner after holding a 15-9 overnight lead.
But crossing the finishing line is proving more difficult as Doherty produced a ruthless and clinical display to move to within two frames of his opponent in the best of 33 frames semi-final.
Hunter looked as if the pressure of the occasion was beginning to affect him after appearing so cool and composed during the past fortnight.
Doherty had to produce a performance akin to his 8-0 session whitewash of John Higgins earlier in the tournament if he was to have a chance of achieving one of the greatest comebacks in Crucible history.
The 1997 champion certainly started in a positive vein at Sheffield with a break of 73 and Hunter did not trouble the scorers. It was a similar scenario in the next with Hunter breaking down when 19-1 ahead and a clearance of 93 by Doherty further reducing his deficit.
Doherty made it three frames in a row after Hunter missed the frame ball - the final yellow - when leading 62-36.
The 33-year-old held his nerve to clear the colours and nick the frame 63-62 to cut Hunter's lead to 15-12.
There were signs of the Yorkshireman being affected by nerves - he had won only one match in four previous visits to The Crucible - although he made a decent enough start to the final frame before the interval with a 44 break.
But, when leading 52-0, he snookered himself on all the colours after potting a red and gave Doherty a lifeline.
He cleared the last five reds and the only problem ball was the brown which Doherty drilled into the black pocket on his way to a 60 clearance to the pink.
The winner of this match looks certain to be up against Mark Williams in the final after he extended his lead over Stephen Lee to 16-8 to leave himself needing only one frame in today's evening session.