POTTERIES potter Jamie Cope toasted sweet success yesterday when he secured his qualification for this month's Pukka Pies UK Championship.

The Longton ace bravely fought back from 3-0 down to clinch an impressive 9-6 victory over former world champion Ken Doherty in the final round of qualifying at the World Snooker Centre in Prestatyn.

And with his battling victory in North Wales, the world number 18 will now lock horns with former Masters and Welsh Open winner Mark Selby at this season's £625,000 BBC-televised tournament, which runs at the Telford International Centre 5-13 December.

"To beat a player like Ken is a great win for me, that's probably the toughest qualifying draw I could have had," admitted Cope.

"I was a bit low on confidence coming into the match and didn't have a great start, but I found some form and I'm delighted with that win.

"I know it's going to be tough against Mark, but we've played each other in practice and had some good games. If our practice matches are anything to go by the match should be good for the spectators.

Ahead 3-0 Doherty had Cope snookered and in all sorts of trouble, only for his opponent to find an escape and pinch the frame.

Cope levelled at 4-4 at the interval and then pulled away after the break to earn himself a first round clash with Selby this weekend.

"He [Ken] started off really well and I was in real danger of going 4-0 down, so to win that frame was massive.

It's hard to come back from 4-0 down," added Cope, twice a ranking event finalist. I'm just happy to have won because it was never going to be easy against Ken, he's such a great player.

"But the more I got into the match, the better I felt, especially in the second session."

Doherty pocketed breaks of 53, 50 and 87 to keep himself in the hunt for qualification, but Cope progressed thanks to runs of 82, 86, 45, 60, 42 and 39. "I'm very disappointed to be honest because I was really wanted to play at the UK [Championship] this season," reflected Doherty.

"It's a real shame because I had the chance to go 4-0 up, but I lost that frame and it was a real turning point in the match."

While there was success for Cope there was only disappointment for veteran Trent Vale potter Dave Harold.

The world number 19 slipped a surprise 9-5 defeat to Nottingham professional Anthony Hamilton in the final qualifying round.

Down 6-2, Harold fought back to only trail by one frame at 6-5 behind.

But Hamilton, the world number 33, held his nerve under the pressure and won three successive frames to deservedly progress and set up a first round clash with Romford cueman Mark King in Telford.

Harold pocketed breaks of 65, 58 and 39, but the former Asian Open champion was from his best form and Hamilton triumphed with match runs of 61, 55, 64, 82, 57, 56, 65 and 54.