Doherty in great comeback win

Ken Doherty survived a scare before finally ending a five-year wait for a ranking tournament title after beating John Higgins 9-8 in an exciting Malta Cup final at the Hilton last night.

Doherty, whose last ranking event success was the 2001 Thailand Masters, looked on course to secure an impressive victory after taking a 5-2 lead in the first session.

However, the affable Irishman fell in a crisis as Higgins won the opening six frames of the evening session and seemed on the verge of an astonishing comeback win himself.

But Doherty, 36, refused to buckle and managed to sneak the win in the decider to secure his sixth ranking event of his career.

It was also the third championship crown won by Doherty on Maltese soil and the second at the expense of Higgins. In fact, the Dubliner had beaten his Scottish rival in the final of the 1997 invitational Rothmans Grand Prix. Three years later Doherty returned and won the Grand Prix after beating Mark Williams in the final.

Doherty pocketed £18,000 for winning The Malta Cup and, more importantly, this victory lifted him to no.4 in the provisional rankings.

Doherty said: "It's absolutely a great feeling to be back as a winner of a ranking event. I almost forgot the feeling of winning a title.

"After such a positive start to the match, things seem to be pretty desperate for me when I was trailing 8-5. But I kept fighting hard and luckily I started to play better and better. With every frame I was winning the confidence was growing and in the decider I just felt that I couldn't miss out on the title."

"Malta is certainly a lucky hunting ground for me with three titles to my name.

"I can't hide the fact that I always look forward to play in Malta. The venue is fantastic, the atmosphere very friendly and I certainly hope to come back for many years to come."

The opening four frames were equally shared with Doherty drawing first blood with a 67 break. Higgins won the next two frames and Doherty, who earlier this season beat Higgins 9-6 in the UK Championship, regained his touch in the fourth frame, which he won with a run of 65. He then kept the upperhand by securing all three of the remaining opening session frames.

The match seemed heading to a complete turnaround at the start of the second session as Higgins finally clicked into top gear, winning the opening two frames 67-53 and 89-8. Doherty was suddenly struggling and it was all square in the 10th frame when Higgins rolled a 90 to make it five-all.

Doherty's safety game was losing water from every corner and the Irishman lost a fourth consecutive frame when he potted the cueball on the final brown to hand the frame to Higgins - 6-5.

Higgins compiled his first century of the match, a 114, to move two frames ahead before edging closer to victory after hitting a 96 to lead 8-5. He looked on course to seal the match in the 13th frame but missed a red and Doherty made the most of the opportunity to win his first frame in the evening session.

Doherty built on that momentum, winning the following frame with a run of 61 to cling on to the match before forcing the decider after winning the 16th frame 60-12.

There was no stopping Doherty who sealed the match with a break of 63 for a final 9-8 scoreline in his favour.

Malta Cup Final

J. Higgins vs K. Doherty: 8-86 (67), 69-49, 78-28, 53-71 (65), 28-76 (55), 27-105 (105), 56-75 (70), 67-53, (55) 89-8, (90) 90-23, 75-50, (114) 130-4, (96) 96-4, 43-64, 5-67 (61), 12-60, 0-69 (63).