Snooker: Doherty's stunning fightback

Ken Doherty, the 1997 champion, incredibly won eight of the last nine frames to inflect a crushingly disappointing 17-16 defeat on Paul Hunter in one of the most dramatic semi-finals the Embassy World Championship has seen in its 26 years here in Sheffield.

For Doherty, married to a psychiatrist and also consulting Liam Morgan, a sports psychologist, it was his strength of mind which brought him through. "You have to believe," said Doherty, who started the day 15-9 adrift. "As long as I could keep him on 15 I felt I had a glimmer of a chance."

Breaks of 73 and 93 gave him the afternoon's first two frames and when Hunter missed a straight frame-ball yellow for 16-11, the Dubliner cleared the colours. Hunter was also on the verge of capturing the next frame but ran out of position on 52-0 and Doherty, with a clearance to the pink of 60, closed to only one behind.

Tension intensified. Hunter, normally a prolific break maker and with two Masters and three world-ranking titles to his name no stranger to major occasions, could manage only three 30s all afternoon. The 24-year-old Yorkshireman did go two-up with three to play after Doherty had missed the brown with the rest with the frame and parity at 15-15 there for the taking. "Under that extreme pressure you can miss anything," he said afterwards.

The Dubliner was indebted to a fluke blue to secure a frame of 37 minutes and was able to keep his rising excitement under control in the two remaining frames as Hunter's customary coolness continued to dissolve in the heat of the Crucible.

So tantalisingly close to the fulfilment of his long-held dream of a world final – and perhaps the title – the prospect of having this snatched away from him was ultimately too much for him. Doherty acknowledged "everything went my way in the final three frames".

Having beaten 20-year-old Shaun Murphy only 10-9 on the final black, Scotland's Graeme Dott 13-12 and in the quarter-finals John Higgins 13-8 after his 10-0 lead had been reduced to 10-7, Doherty's reserves of energy are surely running low after his most remarkable victory of all. "I've been to the well a few times and I just need to do it once more," he said, looking forward to the final.

Mark Williams, already certain to regain the top place in the official rankings, has not been involved in much drama here because he has been winning so comfortably, 10-2, 13-2 and in his quarter-final against Stephen Hendry, 13-7.

Resuming 10-6 up on Stephen Lee Williams progressed to 14-6, assisted by his opening 78 break. The world No 7 took two of the next three frames to avoid the indignity of losing with a session to spare but the Welsh left-hander's 80 left him at 16-8, and he then won the first of the evening's nine frames to book his date with Doherty in the final.