PAUL Hunter was totally drained after giving the most determined snooker performance of his career to triumph over adversity in the Travis Perkins UK Snooker Championship in York last night.

Making a monumental effort and refusing to give in despite being physically shaky, he scored a dramatic 9-8 late night victory against Scot Jamie Burnett at the Barbican Centre for a place in the last 16.

The Leeds star suffers debilitating side-effects from medical drugs he has to take during his recovery from successful treatment to combat cancer.

He took the last three frames, sparked by a 107 break in frame 15, his first century in a ranking tournament since his comeback from illness.

The 27-year-old world number 19 battled back from 48-0 behind in the next frame to win it 70-48 and take the match to a gruelling decider.

That final frame duel lasted over 45 minutes and was full of tension. Hunter fought back from being 58-39 behind to win 63-58 with the aid of a superb snooker on the pink.

Despite feeling terrible, he then held himself together brilliantly to grab his last chance by potting the final two colours after Burnett had left an opening.

"I am drained. My legs are shaking, my head is shaking, but I wasn't going to give up," an exhausted Hunter revealed afterwards.

"I had been battling for three and a half hours out there tonight and no way was I was just going to give it up like that.

"I am totally relieved and happy to be in the television stages of the championship," he added.

He said that he still does not have a sense of proper touch in his hands, which is a side-effect of the powerful drugs he is required to take.

"I have good days and bad days," he explained. "I was not so good last week. I wasn't able to practice because I couldn't get off the couch.

"I was lucky this tournament was this Wednesday and not last Wednesday because I don't think I'd have been able to turn up."

He has three days to rest before he plays on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning against either Jimmy White or Chinese teenager Ding Junhui, whose second round match began this morning and finishes tonight.

Travis Perkins

UK Snooker Championship

(at York Barbican Centre)

Yesterday's results

First round: Nigel Bond bt Dave Harold 9-7.

Second round: Ken Doherty bt Marco Fu 9-8, John Higgins bt Gerard Greene 9-3, Peter Ebdon bt Dominic Dale 9-4, Paul Hunter bt Jamie Burnett 9-8.

Overnight scores (of second round matches to finish this afternoon): Alan McManus 2, Allister Carter 6; Mark Williams 7, Michael Holt 1; Joe Perry 4, Barry Hawkins 4; Graeme Dott 3, Mark Davis 5; Matthew Stevens 3, Stuart Bingham 5.

Tonight

Second round (start 7pm, playing to a finish from this morning's session): Steve Davis v Mark Allen, Jimmy White v Ding Junhui, Stephen Lee v Neil Robertson.

There is no play tomorrow because the arena is being rigged up for television coverage which starts on Saturday.

Updated: 11:39 Thursday, December 08, 2005