18.04.2010 Former Crucible runner-up Mark Selby had few problems in brushing aside 1997 winner Ken Doherty 10-4 to reach the World Championship second round. The two-time Masters champion led 6-3 overnight and won three of the opening four frames with breaks of 82 and 81. Doherty struggled to contain the world number seven as Selby secured the win after missing out on a 147 maximum. Earlier, Mark Allen beat debutant Tom Ford 10-4 to set up a tie with Mark Davis or Ryan Day. Selby was pleased with his first-round effort but rued his failure to finish off with a maximum. "The money's great if you get it but I was thinking about the history and being on the roll of honour, knowing that you've made a 147 at the Crucible," he said. "It would have been a massive achievement." Selby is confident he can clinch his first Crucible title if he finds his best form. "If I was to ask 150 people, not everyone's going to say I'm going to win the World Championship, but as long as in myself I believe I can win the World Championship that's the biggest thing," he added. "If I play my own game and play to my capability then I know I've got every chance." Meanwhile, Allen, the world number 11 from Northern Ireland, needed only two frames after Saturday's session - and he also just missed out on a maximum 147. Ford won three of the four opening frames with breaks of 77 and 71 but last year's semi-finalist kept his cool to come through. Allen produced a stunning performance on the opening day of the championship at the Crucible to grab an overnight lead of 8-1. After the 26-year-old Ford claimed his first frame of the tournament with a 107, Allen hit back to pot all 15 reds with blacks only to stop short on the green with a 122 break. It was an impressive battling display from Ford on Sunday morning but Allen, who dumped out Ronnie O'Sullivan in Sheffield last year, appears to be a serious contender for the trophy this year. However, Allen believes he needs to improve markedly in order to be considered among the front runners. "I never felt comfortable today - I felt flat after doing all the work yesterday and I relaxed too much," said the Antrim player. "Usually I can feed off the nerves but today there was nothing and everything went wrong. I'm pleased to just get over the line. "I need to be better than that. I never felt motivated today. If I played like I did yesterday I don't fear anybody though and think I'll have a chance to win the tournament. I need to cut out the slack session." On being five pots away from the 147, he added: "I was surprised I potted the balls because I thought my head was going to fall off I was shaking that much. It was a big moment for me." Ford was critical of his own performance and could not hide his dissatisfaction. "I'm disappointed - I wasn't expecting anything special but I missed a lot of balls and made it easy for him," he said. "I didn't want it to finish with a session to spare so I did that. Even at 8-1 down I still enjoyed it. It was a good experience." Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Marco Fu takes a 5-4 lead into the final session of his match against England's Martin Gould on Monday and Ali Carter holds a 7-2 advantage over Jamie Cope going into their final session. Fu was ahead 3-1 at the mid-session and hit a ton but back came Gould with his own century break, winning three out of five frames after the interval. |