Former champion Ken Doherty staged a stirring comeback from 5-3 down to beat Barry Pinches 10-5 in the world championship first round on Monday.

Doherty, who won the title in 1997, struggled to find his form in the first session and was trailing by two frames. But the gritty Irishman reeled off seven frames in a row in the evening to avoid a shock defeat by qualifier Pinches.

''In the morning session I was looking like I couldn't make 30 or 40,'' said Doherty. ''In the evening, I was like a completely different player. The way I played was the old Ken Doherty and I haven't been like that for two years.''

Another former champion, John Higgins, is 5-4 up in his first round tie against Crucible debutant Mark Selby. Higgins was 4-3 down but won the final two frames of the session, finishing with a century break, to take a narrow lead.

Earlier on Saturday, fourth seed Paul Hunter spoke of his battle with cancer after suffering a first round defeat at the hands of qualifier Michael Holt.

After losing 10-8, Hunter said: ''I've been in shock because it's not every day you hear you've got cancer at the age of 26. Hopefully I'll be back here next year.''

Hunter, who bravely decided to compete in the tournament after being diagnosed with the disease, was touched by the welcome he received from the Crucible crowd.

Shaun Murphy beat Chris Small 10-5 and veteran Jimmy White stormed to an 8-1 lead over Ireland's Fergal O'Brien at the end of the opening session in their first round match.