SNOOKER - Irish Masters: Ireland's Ken Doherty faces Stephen Lee in tomorrow evening's Irish Masters quarter- final at Citywest hotel, Dublin.

Lee used just 10 of the 11 frame match to beat UK Masters winner Paul Hunter 6-4 in the opening first-round match of the tournament, Doherty coming straight in at the quarter-final stage as a seeded player.

Lee, from England, left his biggest break to the last 12-minute frame, an 88 which closed out the match after the two went into the contest sharing the last 10 matches they had previously played.

There was little to separate them for the first four frames before the interval, Lee posting an 86 break in the third frame but the match remaining level at 2-2. Hunter added the fifth frame before Lee responded with two in succession with 29 and 69 breaks to take him one ahead.

The 23-year-old claimed the eighth to level at 4-4 before breaking down on 14 in the ninth to allow Lee in for a 72 and the game. Just one visit to the table for a brisk 88 in the 10th put Lee on course for Doherty, now ranked fourth in the world.

"I've played Ken before here and I've beaten him and he's beaten me every time in England, so no I don't think the home support is a factor," said Lee afterwards. The world number eight admitted to struggling early in the match on the Citywest baize.

Having recently returned with most of the other players from Thailand and China, where humidity is high, the Dublin table played relatively much faster.

"I struggled early in that match. For some reason I felt quite nervous. I had to get used to the table. I'm just back from overseas and it was heavy going over there," he said.

The first century break of the tournament in the sixth frame set up Peter Ebdon for a quarter-final meeting with world number one Mark Williams tomorrow afternoon. Ebdon's 120 break for 4-2 and 81 break for 5-2 critically held Ireland's Joe Swail to just one point over two frames and paved the way for a 6-2 victory.

Today the 1985 and 1986 winner Jimmy White plays his first-round tie against Matthew Stevens. White has not missed an Irish Masters since 1983 when he lost to Alex Higgins 5-2 in the quarter-final.

The more attractive evening pairing sets local hero Fergal O'Brien against three-times winner of the event and seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry.

FIRST ROUND: S Lee (Eng) bt P Hunter (Eng) 6-4; P Ebdon (Eng) bt J Swail (NIrl) 6-2.