Ken Doherty has hit out at Thailand Masters organisers in Bangkok after he was forced to play his second round tie with Joe Perry on a side table.
The defending champion, who recovered from 3-0 down to take the match 5-3, was asked to make way on the main table for Steve Davis and Dave Harold, a decision the Dubliner branded "a joke".
Doherty, ranked fourth in the world, triumphed over Stephen Hendry in last year’s final and expected to have top-billing for his match. Instead, the organisers handed the main table to Davis, ranked 21st in the world, leaving the Dubliner to fight it out in the wings.
"I know Steve Davis is a legend; a great ambassador who has done a lot for snooker in Thailand," said Doherty afterwards. "But he is 17 places lower down the rankings than me and I think it was a joke having the No 1 seed and defending champion playing on an outside table."
"I’m very disappointed that I wasn’t considered for the main match table. You work your backside off to get to the top of the game and are still not fit to play on the match table. What more can you do?"
Doherty, who has now beaten Perry three times in two months, was made to work hard against the Welshman after losing the opening three frames.
"I tried not to think too much about it when I was out there because I had a job to do," he told worldsnooker.com. "Joe could easily have won the fourth frame and at 4-0 down the match is all but over. Fortunately, I managed to pinch the fourth frame and I went from strength to strength after that.
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland's Joe Swail, who whitewashed Hong Kong's Marco Fu 5-0 in just over an hour, will now meet Scotland’s John Higgins in the next round.
