Snooker: Ken Doherty's fightback failed to stop Steve Davis advancing 9-7 to the semi-finals of the UK Championship at the Barbican centre in York last night. Davis remains on course, at the age of 48, to become the second oldest winner of a major title in the modern era.
Ray Reardon won his last world ranking title at the age of 50, the now defunct Players Championship, and Doug Mountjoy his second Championship when he was 46.
After his dramatic 9-8 defeat of the defending champion Stephen Maguire, who is primarily a potter and break builder, Davis showed immense discipline in adopting an entirely different style of play in wearing down Doherty, whose game is more evenly balanced between caution and aggression.
After the exhilaration of the Maguire match Davis boxed clever against Doherty, keeping his man at a distance while patiently waiting for the opportunity to land a telling punch. It took Davis 52 minutes to win the opening frame and two hours to lead 4-0.
An 81 then made it 5-0. The edge of his potting having been blunted by a lack of opportunity, Doherty did fluke the tie-break black to win the sixth but was kept scoreless in the remaining frame of the afternoon.
Stephen Hendry became the first man into the semi-finals with a hard-fought win over Ali Carter.
The number four seed had led 8-4 at one stage, but then suffered a spell of twitchiness and errant potting, allowing Carter to close the gap to 8-7.
But with his back against the wall in the 16th frame, the five-time winner of the event produced a polished break of 64 to close out the match 9-7.
Hendry led the world number 19 5-3 at the halfway point of their clash, with the talking point of the first session being Carter's spurned 147 attempt.
The Essex man rattled the jaws of the pocket with the 14th black, ruling himself out of the running for the £26,000 prize fund on offer for a maximum.
Despite eventually crossing the finish line, Hendry was nowhere near as fluent as he was in the third-round match against Mark Williams, with the 76 he made in frame one his highest score.
The highlight of today's quarter-final matches will be the clash between rising Melbourne star Neil Robertson and Chinese sensation Ding Junhui.
The other contest pits Joe Perry, who fought back from 6-2 down to record a 9-6 win over Mark King, against in-form Stuart Bingham.
Quarter-final: Steve Davis (Eng) bt Ken Doherty (Ire) 9-7 (Frame Scores: 56-82 4-85 (54) 44-77 48-85 4-92 (81) 66-59 0-101 (56) 68-16 (60) 57-73 (57, 73) 74-30 70-9 (56) 44-81 (51) 126-0 (61) 79-41 (79) 88-38 (68) 67-70.
Today's Order of Play (prefix denotes seeding) (1.30pm and 6pm): (15) Joe Perry (Eng) v Stuart Bingham (Eng), Ding Junhui (Chn) v Neil Robertson (Aus).
The Chinese prospect Ding Junhui will start his World Championship campaign next month at the Pontin's holiday centre in Prestatyn against Stuart Mann.
The 18-year-old Ding, who has been tipped to win the tournament in due course, could then face Brian Morgan, Drew Henry and Barry Hawkins before the final stages in Sheffield.
