Ken Doherty finds form to book English Open spot

Ken Doherty secured a place at the English Open this afternoon with a 4-1 victory over Robbie Williams in Leicester.

The Dubliner spoke to RTÉ Sport last week about how he felt he could still compete with the game's best, but that he just needed a few wins to gain some momentum.

"If you get a few wins under your belt you never know," he said after losing his Northern Ireland Open qualifier.

"Something might spark up again. I wouldn't discount anything, I'm not going to put myself down and say I've got no chance."

And he seemed to find that bit of form this afternoon, as he never trailed, and knocked in a break of 82 en route to a spot at Essex's Brentwood Centre in December.

It marks the end of a busy month for the 1997 world champion, who has also qualified for November's Scottish Open in Edinburgh after a 4-2 win over Dominic Dale a couple of weeks ago.

Fellow Dubliner Michael Judge in is action later where he'll face Michael White, while tomorrow Fergal O'Brien and Aaron Hill, who beat Judd Trump in Belfast last week, are set to face Chang Bingyu and Liam Highfield respectively.