Malta Cup: Dubliner Ken Doherty again emerged from the snooker wilderness last night and declared: "I'm convinced I've got one more World Championship left in me."
Few who were present at the Portomaso Hilton to watch Doherty battle out a dramatic 9-8 victory over John Higgins in the Malta Cup final would disagree with that.
Doherty could hardly contain his excitement having tenaciously fought back from 8-5 down to lift his first world ranking event since the 2001 Thailand Masters.
But the 36-year-old insisted that throughout the bad times he never lost faith in his ability to compete with the game's elite.
"Obviously, the longer I went without a title the harder it got," said Doherty. "I'm not a youngster anymore but I never stopped thinking positively. I didn't lose my appetite for the game or fall out of love with it.
"Even when I wasn't getting the right results I kept grafting, but if you keep knocking your head against a brick wall it's tough. That's why this is so important. Apart from when I won at The Crucible (in 1997), I think the win here means more to me than anything I've done in my career."
Doherty, up to fourth in the provisional world rankings, added: "Hopefully I can sustain this. I'll enjoy myself now and when I take the trophy home, but I won't get carried away. I've got another couple of tournaments, then I go to The Crucible. Everything's geared up for that."
And it was reliving past fightbacks at snooker's most famous venue that kept Doherty in a positive frame of mind as Higgins threatened to hand him another big occasion disappointment.
"When I went behind and needed to fight I just kept replaying all of my comebacks. Remembering magic moments helped me produce another," explained Doherty, renowned for his never-say-die attitude.
That was certainly tested to the limit as Higgins suddenly clicked into overdrive having exited the opening session 5-2 in arrears. The Scot, looking for his third title of the season after the Grand Prix and Saga Insurance Masters, edged the first frame of the evening on the pink before confident breaks of 55, 90, 114 and 96 helped secure six on the trot.
Down 8-5 and with Higgins at the table on a run of 43, Doherty was heading for defeat only to be thrown an unexpected lifeline when Higgins missed a straightforward penultimate red.
"I felt I had it won but I twitched on that red and everything just seemed to fall apart," groaned Higgins.
Doherty cleared to pink to keep the contest alive, drew level at 8-8 and with a 63 break, glued together in its early stages by a series of excellent pots, completed a revival that was both satisfying and unlikely in equal measure.
"When I potted the first red I said 'let's go for it'. That break was one of the best I've ever made in my life. It just happened for me, the pots kept going and going. It's a great feeling to dig it out because at 8-5 I was dead and buried."
Having waiting so long to re-enter the winner's circle, it did not concern Doherty that his financial reward was £18,000 - the smallest first prize for a ranking event since Thailand's James Wattana pocketed £12,500 at the 1992 Strachan Professional.
Higgins, who picked up £11,000 as he swelled his tournament earnings for the season to a money-list leading £213,500, took defeat graciously.
He said: "It was a crazy, crazy final and I'm numb. Mind you, I didn't deserve to win the tournament with the quality of performances I've put in this week. Ken was definitely the better player overall."