A YOUNG snooker player's dream moved closer to reality last night. Ken Doherty from Ranelagh, Dublin, confounded the expectations of Scotland's Stephen Hendry whom the pundits reckoned to have an easy road into snooker history.
At the best of 35 Embassy World Championship final at the Crucible in Sheffield last night, Doherty put in a magnificent performance, going into today's deciding sessions with a lead of 11 frames to five. A further 19 frames are scheduled to take place today.
The 27 year old Dubliner stands on the threshold of becoming the most successful Irish sportsman, from a financial point of view, in the history of snooker.
At an early stage of the final, Doherty did not seem to have much chance against Hendry, who is still chasing the dream of being the first man to win the world title seven times.
In the last six years, Hendry has dominated the snooker scene and he is, Doherty notwithstanding, still in line to win his sixth world title in succession.
Doherty's lead gives him an important tactical advantage. The first session today begins at 2 p.m. with eight frames. If Doherty were to win seven, he would become the world champion and the first snooker player from the Republic to win this most prestigious of titles.
He has been preceded in an Irish context by Alex Higgins from Belfast in 1972 and 1982, and Dennis Taylor from Dungannon in 1985.
Last night Taylor, who spends most of his time commenting, expressed his delight.
"This is a wonderful situation. Ken is playing extremely well. His safety play is excellent. He went into this evening's session leading by five frames to three, and the three frames for Hendry were all won with century breaks."