Congratulations to Ken Doherty who has won the second Pro Challenge event of the 2009/10 season with a 6-2 victory over Martin Gould in today’s final. Click below for more…
Ken Doherty 6-2 Martin Gould
0-34, 37-9, 38(38)-28, 37-16, 35(35)-23, 0-56(27,27), 38(37)-0, 41-1
The last couple of seasons have been far from easy for Ken Doherty but today he has continued his recent revival and taken his first silverware since the 2007 Pot Black Trophy staged in Sheffield.
Having made into into the last eight with relative ease, Ken picked up where he left off yesterday with another straightforward win, 5-0 against Scot Marcus Campbell to set up a tie with Atthasit Mahitthi. Despite losing the second frame, this would turn out to be another comfortable match, though he will have been disappointed to have missed out on a 6-Red ‘maximum’ of 75 in frame six when he missed the final black. Still, he soon put it to the back of his mind and closed out a 6-1 victory in the next frame.
His opponent in the final, Martin Gould, had a much more stressful day however as following two 5-0 victories yesterday, as well as a 5-1 success over Fergal O’Brien, his semi-final was to go the distance. His opponent was Nottingham’s Anthony Hamilton, a player needing a good season as he attempts to reclaim his place in the top 32. Despite a total clearance of 69 in frame seven as well as another break of 64 though, it was to be Martin who came through 6-5 to move into the final.
Whether this match took something out of Martin or whether Ken was just too good I do not know, but having taken the opening frame Martin was able to add one more as Ken marched to victory. Still it has been a good couple of days for the Pinner Potter and he takes home £1,500 for his efforts.
For Ken though it will be a sweet triumph as while he has taken home far larger cheques than the £3,000 he has won today, to win even a 6-Red event at a venue which was something of a nightmare for him last season will certainly feel good. Combined with his good form in the first Pro Challenge event in Leeds as well as the Shanghai Masters qualifiers, his situation appears to be much more positive than it was at the end of 2008/9.
Finally some of you may be wondering what happened to top seed and tournament favourite Ryan Day. He was dispatched 5-1 by Anthony Hamilton in his quarter-final, a surprising result. Still he has got a few competitive matches under his belt now and will head to Shanghai looking to continue his excellent record in China.
For the results in full, please click here.