The number one table for the previous 12 days had been repositioned and re-covered in the centre of the arena overnight.

Before the quarter-finals the unusual step had been taken of the two tables then in operation both being reclothed because of the slow running of the balls.

The opening frame was a nervy affair and lasted almost half an hour before a run of 26 to the final black eventually earned first blood for Hunter.

Hunter, who had managed just one victory at The Crucible before this year’s event, doubled his lead when an error by Doherty opened up the pack and a break of 62 was to prove decisive.

Doherty, in his first semi-final for five years, opened his account in the next with a 67 and Hunter did not come back to the table.

Hunter went into the mid-session interval with a two-frame advantage after compiling a 49 which left Doherty needing three snookers.

He extended that in the next but only after Doherty missed a straightforward black off his spot during a run of 33. Hunter, who had opened with a 38, took full advantage with a 52 to the final black.

The sixth frame was a marathon encounter, lasting 50 minutes with Doherty 50-10 ahead, Hunter clawing back to lead 62-57 only to over-cut the final pink and let in the Irishman to sink the final two colours to reduce his deficit to 4-2.

Doherty was first amongst the balls in the penultimate frame of the session but on 25 he missed a black off its spot and Hunter was able to restore his three-frame lead.

It was the same outcome in the next with Hunter’s early 38 break giving him an ascendancy that Doherty was unable to reverse.

The second semi-final will see tournament favourite Mark Williams do battle with Stephen Lee.

The 2000 champion Williams will go into the match already assured of having regained his number one spot in the world rankings.