Snooker: Doherty leads by three frames

Doherty, the only man apart from Ebdon to have tasted success in two ranking events this campaign, is always a tough man to beat in this event and demonstrated his well-being with a break of 101.

Dyson pulled a frame back straight after the mid-session interval but it proved only a brief respite for the 31-year-old as the Dubliner then extended his advantage to 6-3.

Frame scores (Doherty first): 73-1 81-34 92-39 101-0 (101 break) 37-81 72-21 70-24 57-68 37-67.

This session has finished and will start again at 6.45pm.