Ken Doherty clinched the final frame against Wales to see Ireland though to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup to be held tomorrow in Bangkok, Thailand. The Irish have had mixed results all week and a 3-2 victory for Pakistan today meant that the Irish duo of Fergal O’Brien and Ken Doherty had to get at least two frames from their final match, against high flying Wales.
Wales had walked though the group winning all three of their opening group game matches and they started strongly against Ireland. Williams opened the match with a 76-49 win over Ken and when Matthew Stevens beat Fergal 77-56 it was looking ominous for the Irish lads.
A 58-4 victory in the doubles match gave the lads some hope but when Williams beat Fergal in the next it meant it was all down to Ken in the final frame. Lose and Pakistan would go through as the only amateur side in the quarter finals. Ken however rallied and pulled out a 62-6 point win to send the Irish through.
Originally there was a pre made draw on the World Cup website but it has now mysteriously disappeared and presumably there will now be a seeded draw. We will now have to wait to see who Ireland will face tomorrow and we will also have to figure out how to watch it.
Eurosport’s coverage will stop at 9.30am tomorrow morning and they wont be showing the final until Monday due to prior commitments but with the Australian open starting Monday also there’s surely a lot of snooker on TV this time of year.
