Snooker: Without doubt it was the afternoon session that fortified Ken Doherty and gave him equal standing in the match. It could not have been predicted, despite the determined nature he had demonstrated against Paul Hunter in the semi-final on Saturday.
As Doherty entered The Crucible trailing 5-11, thoughts had actually turned to the Irishman following Jimmy White in 1993, John Parrott in 1989 and Cliff Thorburn in 1983 as only the fourth player to lose a World Championship final with a session to spare. Given Mark Williams's form on Saturday evening, even the believers in Doherty's powers of regeneration had turned, at least fractionally, towards that way of thinking.
But once again the man they introduce as the "Darlin' of Dublin" before each session showed the durable and calculating ability that he had already so ably revealed when he returned to the final session to shock Hunter. At 15-9 down he fought back to win 17-16.
As necessity required against Hunter, seven out of eight frames, Doherty was asking himself to essay something similar in the hope of crawling back into contention. No one expected he would get up off his hands and knees and leap directly into the match.
A fractured, low-break first frame, the 17th, saw Doherty hit its highest break and also score off sniping, long-range shots, normally the domain of Williams. But his 52 saw him take the fame 73-10.
A good start in the next showed a similar pattern with the ball, as ever, ending up at the baulk end as both dexterously played safety after safety, Doherty putting together breaks of 9, 12, 26 and 15 to win two-in-a-row for the first time.
It was the third frame of the session that indicated the Irishman had abandoned any negative thoughts when a seamless 128, the 50th century of the tournament, crushingly responded to Williams's nine points for an 8-11 scoreline.
The last frame before the interval took on a distinctly Irish hue when Williams missed a simple red to a corner to let Doherty in for 27.
Although he broke down, so did Williams when he came in and Doherty added a 34 for four successive frames and a 9-11 scoreline.
It was more than anyone could have imagined, and when Doherty came out to jaw the brown on a 43 break and let Williams back in, it seemed straightforward. But the Welshman's inability to turn it into a one-visit finish let Doherty back in to pot a long brown in the longest frame of the afternoon, 35 minutes and 17 seconds, for 11-10.
Psychologically, it was important for Doherty to draw level. Again a strong sequence of modest breaks of 40, one, one and 18 gave Doherty a 60-0 advantage, and when he allowed Williams back to a receptive table with the balls nicely scattered, the world number one again declined to capitalise.
His foul on the blue at 39 put Doherty in with just the colours, and again his ruthless patience paid off, winning 70-39 for 11-11.
Another safety-dominated frame finally went Williams way, and although Doherty potted a 28-point high, it was the 28-year-old who finally got off the mark after nine visits to the table to lead 12-11.
Even then it had been an incredibly damaging session for Williams about to be made worse.
With a final, devastating flourish from Doherty, a 115 ended the session with the 33-year-old back in the match and Williams's swaggering confidence finally wavering.
