PETER EBDON recorded his second victory over Ken Doherty in less than a week in Birmingham yesterday morning as he took another step towards erasing the memory of a pre Christmas crisis.
World number three Ebdon, beaten in four successive matches at the end of 1996, advanced to the semi finals of the Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge by eating Ken Doherty 5-2.
"Those defeats have given me a ,new lease of life in terms of dedication and commitment. l suppose it was the short, sharp shock treatment but they certainly made me extremely annoyed.
"Perhaps it's unfair to say I was getting complacent, but I now realise I wasn't working as hard as I should have," said Ebdon.
After a slow start, Ebdon began to pile up the points. Successful on six of his previous eight meetings with the Irish number one, he lost the opener but never looked back after snatching the second with a well constructed green to black clearance.
Ebdon then ripped the heart from Doherty's hopes of progress by storming into a 4-1 lead with ,breaks of 55, 47, 120 and 49.
Doherty comfortably won the sixth but any thoughts of a comeback were dispelled when Ebdon cleared the colours for his second black ball steal of the match.
Ebdon now faces John Parrott or defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan today for a place in Sunday's final. Meanwhile, Alan McManus edged out fellow Scot John Higgins yesterday to clinch another of the semi final places on offer.
McManus, previously beaten on six successive occasions by his World Cup winning team mate, avoided a seventh defeat as he turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 win after Higgins stalled on the brink of victory.
But Higgins, runner up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year's event, had runs of 76 and 48 to lead 3-2 before he cheekily doubled a respotted black into a baulk pocket for a 4-2 advantage.
McManus admitted he had feared the worst when Higgins then raced 49-8 ahead in the seventh. But surprisingly, Higgins lost ideal position, missed a difficult red and McManus eventually seized the frame with a 63 to stay alive.
McManus easily won the eighth frame and was always in control of the decider after opening the scoring with a 57 break.
Higgins, the 21 year old world number two, described himself as "disgusted" with the way he allowed potential victory to slip through his fingers. He has been beaten in similar style on several occasions over the last 12 months.
McManus now faces Nigel Bond or Stephen Hendry in the last four.
