Snooker: Williams holds psychological advantage

Snooker World Championship: Positive frame of mind helps Welshman dominate opening day of final against Doherty

If Ken Doherty thought he had scaled a mountain to reach the final of the World Championship here, it will seem a mere foothill to the Eiger that confronts him today. The Irishman awoke this morning trailing Mark Williams 11-5 in the best-of-35 decider and even his two crumbs of comfort look flaky.

The first, that he avoided a possible landslide by rallying from 7-1 down after yesterday's afternoon session to remain six frames behind at the close of play is scant sustenance. The second, that he overcame a six-frame deficit in his semi-final against Paul Hunter on Saturday, is more substantial. But Williams, officially the world's best player, has been in unforgiving form and is unlikely to cede his advantage easily.

The Welshman started as he meant to go on, winning the first two frames yesterday, albeit scrappily. Doherty produced his biggest break of the afternoon – 76 – to make it 2-1 but Williams then took five frames in a row, mostly by capitalising on unforced errors.

Williams' best afternoon break of 75 in the eighth frame exemplified his mood. Doherty had overrun on a positional shot at 56-0. Williams stepped in and cleared up to stay firmly on course to pick up the £270,000 winner's cheque.

Doherty, the 1997 winner, edged the opening frame of the evening before Williams, triumphant three years ago, hit his stride, making breaks of 118 and 101 as he took the next three. Doherty edged the next two for 10-4, before the last two frames of the day were shared.

If nothing else, today's action should prove a compelling showcase of mental application. This year's finalists are just two of the circuit's leading players who have been using psychological assistance to improve their game.

Williams has been helped during a remarkable season by the self-confessed "amateur psychologist" Terry Griffiths. Doherty revealed after his comeback against Hunter that he has been using the services of a sports psychologist.

Quite what methods Griffiths, the champion here in 1979, has been employing on Williams is unknown. He said yesterday his counselling involved "one or two per cent" technical work with the balance being motivational chats. He said he was not an "ego feeder" and that he steered clear of telling Williams what a great player he was. "It's basically about facing up to what's in front of you, getting in the right frame of mind for any situation." he said. "Talking is a great gift in life."

Griffiths estimated that he has improved Williams' game by "about five per cent". In a sport where the best players are increasingly inseparable on pure ability, such margins matter. Griffiths then added that his role was "half dad, half friend, half coach". He immediately spotted that his maths didn't add up but with Williams in such form, whos counting?

Williams will return to the No1 spot in the world rankings regardless of what happens here. Two other landmarks are attainable. Only Steve Davis and Hendry have ever won more than one Crucible final. Whoever wins today will follow in their footsteps.

Success for Williams would also see him become only the third player to complete snooker's triple crown. Only Davis and Hendry have previously won the three blue riband events – the UK Championship, The Masters and the World Championship – in the same season.

Form clearly favours Williams today. His tightest match here so far, his quarter-final against Hendry, was clinched by a six-frame margin. He conceded just 19 frames to reach the final.

Doherty played 98 frames to reach the final, more than any previous finalist, and lost 45 of them. Three of his matches went to the wire including the astonishing semi-final against Hunter, which was eventually settled 17-16 after Doherty had trailed 9-15 and then 14-16. The Irishman's comeback evoked memories of Dennis Taylor's 1985 final triumph over Steve Davis from 8-0 down and Williams' 2000 win over Matthew Stevens after being 13-7 down.

"It was the most incredible match I've been involved in," Doherty said afterwards, before expounding on the value of his psychologist, Lee Morgan. "He's helped me to believe and to keep a positive frame of mind and keep dreaming that you can do it," Doherty said. "You have to keep believing you have a chance. I believed that I could come back and I visualised winning.mmmmmm"

Doherty, a die-hard Manchester United fan, said he also draws inspiration from his football heroes' never-say-die attitude. "If I could win the title and United take the Premiership it would be a great double and cap off a great year," he said. United have done their part. Over to the shrink.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Sheffield) Final: M Williams (Wal) leads K Doherty (Irl) 11-5. Frame scores (Williams' scores first): 24-85 118-4 (118) 76-1 101-0 (101) 0-79 69-70 75-0 51-60.