Doherty progresses in the Players Championship

Ken Doherty reached round three of the Players Championship this afternoon after knocking out Essex player Ali Carter 5-3.

Ken Doherty reached round three of the Players Championship this afternoon after knocking out Essex player Ali Carter 5-3.

The former world champion and 2003 runner-up is one of the players running into form before the world championship starts in Sheffield on April 17th.

"I think all the top players are feeling the adrenaline pumping with the championship just 12 days away," he said following a 5-3 victory.

"The world championship is special but you still want to do well in this tournament. If you win here you will feel the best of all the players going to the Crucible."

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Doherty has not been in a final this season but a run to the last four of the Irish Masters last month suggests he is on the right track.

"This was a game I could easily have lost a couple of months ago. But the matches I won in Dublin gave me a bit of confidence I have been lacking," he added.

He was joined by Jimmy White's, whose hopes of emulating Steve Davis by securing his place in the elite top 16 for next season received a timely boost in Glasgow today.

The 41-year-Londoner reached round three with a 5-3 win over an opponent 20 years his junior.

His victory over Shaun Murphy increases his chances of remaining in the game's upper echelon of professionals.

White feels if he can achieve his goal in the next few matches it will increase his chances of winning that first elusive world title.

"This is a massive result for me," said White, who started the season placed 29th on the one-year ranking list.

A run to the final of last month's European Open and a semi-final appearance at the UK Championship has lifted him up to 15th on the provisional rankings.

"There will be a lot of pressure off me if I can go to Sheffield guaranteed my top-16 place. It will be the first time in five or six years that is the case," he said. "It shouldn't be but it is."

White now plays Stephen Lee or John Parrott for a place in the quarter-finals.

Murphy, the world number 64 from Northamptonshire, made White work hard for his victory and his efforts did not go unnoticed by the six-time world championship runner-up.

"What a fantastic potter he is. I've not seen anyone knock in the long balls like Shaun did for a good few years," said White who compiled three half centuries and a brilliant 121. "He is definitely a class act."

However, Murphy showed his inexperience in what proved to be the final frame. He failed to pot a tough last brown and White cleared the final four colours for his place in round three.