Snooker: Doherty trails at the Crucible

Ireland's Ken Doherty trails Stuart Bingham by five frames to four in the first round of the Embassy World Championships at the Crucible.

Bingham almost joined an exclusive club when he was just two shots away from a maximum 147 break.

Ironically, his opponent Doherty suffered a similar experience in the final of the Masters two years ago when he missed a black off the spot which would have earned him £20,000 and a sports car worth around £90,000.

Bingham’s near-miss appeared to play on his mind for he sat in his chair looking rueful as Doherty, world champion in 1997, took the next two frames with little fuss to go 4-3 ahead.

But the Basildon professional regrouped and regained the lead at 5-4 to give himself plenty of hope that he can shock another major star.

One big name already through to the second round is Matthew Stevens, although the Welshman was detained longer than he might have expected by Redcar’s Mike Dunn.

The sixth seed led 7-2 overnight and it looked like he could polish off the match in a matter of minutes. But instead Dunn, winner of five qualifying rounds, dug in and hauled himself back to 9-6 before Stevens wrapped it up.

‘‘Mike went for everything tonight because he had nothing to lose and it wasn’t that I missed much,’’ said Stevens, who now meets compatriot Dominic Dale or Jimmy White.

‘‘He did brilliantly for his first time on television and is a potential top-32 player. I’m cueing well and just glad to get over the line.’’

Stevens watched Bingham’s maximum attempt during his mid-session interval and sympathised with his plight.

‘‘I’m gutted for Stuart,’’ said the 24-year-old. ‘‘Obviously there’s a lot of pressure and he was two inches away from £167,000 if you include the highest-break prize.’’

Joe Swail, semi-finalist for the last two years, became the first seed to fall after letting slip a 5-4 overnight lead against Joe Perry, who had trailed despite recording two century breaks in the opening session.

But it was only a minor upset as world number 27 Perry has secured a place in the top 16 for next season after a fine campaign in which he reached the final of the European Open in Malta.

Cambridgeshire professional Perry took today’s first four frames helped by contributions of 78, 49 and 66 before the Ulsterman pulled one back with an 82.

There was to be no comeback for Swail in the manner of his amazing second-round success over Mark Williams last year, however, for Perry clinched a meeting with Peter Ebdon or Michael Judge by triumphing 10-6.

‘‘I’m well pleased with my performance,’’ said the 26-year-old from Chatteris. ‘‘I played really well last night when I outscored Joe and just needed to keep my composure today.

‘‘If I play like that in the next round and score heavily again I’ll take some beating because I know I can compete with the best players now.’’

Swail admitted he had no answer to the form Perry produced as his terrific run in Sheffield came to an end.

‘‘I always tend to struggle in the first round here and usually I manage to get over it, but not this time,’’ said the 32-year-old.

‘‘I prepared well, practising for nine hours a day, and it’s very frustrating. I made so many mistakes and got punished for them.’’

Graeme Dott’s first-ever victory in the televised stages of the World Championship was tinged by tragedy.

The Scot reached the second round for the first time in four visits to the Crucible with a 10-6 win over Robin Hull.

On leaving the arena, Dott was escorted to the press conference where the 24-year-old revealed he had been battling with his emotions having learned on Friday that May Lambie, wife of his manager Alex, had been diagnosed with cancer.

Dott’s girlfriend is the daughter of the Lambies and the Glaswegian is naturally very close to the family.

But after he left the media room, it emerged that while he had been playing, the news was kept from Dott that Mrs Lambie had died this morning.

No decision on Dott’s continued participation in the tournament has yet been disclosed but he is not due to start his second-round match against John Higgins or James Wattana until next Sunday.

World number 13 Mark King also moved through to the last 16 by avenging his Regal Scottish Open defeat to David Gray earlier this month when he prevailed 10-5 in a largely scrappy encounter.

Gray had beaten King on his way to the final in Aberdeen, but this time the tables were turned as the 23-year-old from Surrey failed miserably to reproduce the form he had shown north of the border.

‘‘To play not so well and still win 10-5 is a great feat for me,’’ said King, whose victory earned him a

meeting with either Doherty or Bingham on Friday.

‘‘I didn’t score too heavily but my safety was good, and I’ll have to play a million times better to go any further in the tournament. If I play like that again I’ll be going home very early.’’

Gray was disgusted with his performance and could not put his finger on why he had played so

badly after his great run in Scotland.

‘‘I played terribly from start to finish,’’ said Gray, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round at the Crucible two years ago.

‘‘My mind wasn’t on the game perhaps I’m still drained from Aberdeen. I missed so many pots, including four or five blacks off the spot.’’

Seven-times former champion Stephen Hendry opened his quest for the title by racing 6-1 ahead of 19-year-old Shaun Murphy, but the youngster gave himself some hope for tomorrow’s deciding session by reducing his arrears to 6-3.