| Popular Irishman, Ken
Doherty, achieved a unique place in snooker history in 1997
when he added the world professional title to the amateur one
he had won eight years. To date he is the only player to have
won both and for good measure he won the world Junior title
as well.
Although a football fanatic, it was at snooker that his talent
could be found. He first came to be noticed in 1983 when he
won the Irish under 16 title and retained it the following
year. In 1985 he was runner-up in the Irish Amateur and won
their under 19 title in 1986. He went to the world amateur
event that year but although he beat a young James Wattana,
he only finished 5th in his group. He won the Irish amateur
championship in 1987 which earned him another trip to the
world event where he did a little better finishing third in
his group. In 1988 he won the prestigious Pontins Open title
and the 1988/89 season saw him win a major under 19 open event
in London and he set a new junior record break in the home
internationals of 120. He regained the Irish amateur title
in 1989, was runner-up in the Pontins Open and in Reykjavik,
beat Jason Ferguson to take the World Junior (Under 21) championship.
He then moved on to the World Amateur championship in Singapore
and this time the title was his with an 11-2 victory over
England's Jonathan Birch. The professional ranks now beckoned.
A modest opening season saw him reach the Mercantile Credit
Classic quarter-final and qualify for the Crucible at his
first event. There he came close to beating six-times champion
Steve Davis in the first round but lost 10-8 and it would
be three years before he returned to that arena. He finished
his first season a satisfactory 51st in the world rankings.
In 1992/2 he reached two ranking semi-finals, the Strachan
Open and British Open and took the Benson & Hedges championship
gaining him a wild card for the Wembley Masters. He also had
an invitation to the Irish Masters where he went all the way
to the final eventually losing out 9-6 to Stephen Hendry.
His ranking went up to 21st and things went even better in
the next season. After losing out in the final of the 1992
Grand Prix, he took his first ranking title, the 1993 Welsh
Open. Consistent results in the other events took him into
the top 16 at number 11. On the way he won the Irish Professional
and Pontins Professional titles.
In 1993/4 he was runner-up in the Grand Prix and reached
the world quarter-finals. In the other ranking events he only
once failed to reach the last 16, whilst in non-ranking events
he won his first Scottish Masters and retained his Pontins
title. He was now seventh in the world. He retained his Scottish
Masters title in 1994/5 and was runner-up in the UK but his
ranking slipped back a couple of places. The next season saw
him reach two more ranking finals, losing both, but he picked
up his third Pontins title in four years and won the Matchroon
League. He was back up to 7th and arrived at Sheffield at
the end of the next season with three more semi-finals in
ranking events under his belt.
At the 1997 world championships he trounced Steve Davis 13-3
in the second round and beat the fast improving John Higgins
in the last 8. A comfortable semi-final victory over Alain
Robidoux took him into the final to meet Stephen Hendry who
had won the last five on the trot. It was to be Ken's day
and he won decisively, 18-12 to become the first, and so far
only, Irishman to lift that famous trophy. It is said that
all Dublin stayed in to watch with a dramatic reduction in
the crime figures that night. He was given a hero's welcome
when he brought the trophy home and received the acclaim of
his country's president. As a life long Manchester United
supporter, he was also thrilled to be asked to parade the
trophy around Old Trafford.
Back to the reality of the 1997/8 circuit, now ranked third,
he did manage three semi-finals and in non-ranking events
won the Irish Masters, Malta Grand Prix and, for the second
time, the Matchroon League. No one had ever retained the world
title at the Crucible after winning it for the first time
but Ken went as close as he could, losing in the final to
John Higgins 18-12. No titles came his way in 1998/9 but he
was still one of the most consistent players reaching one
semi and four quarter-finals. He was also runner-up in both
the B&H Masters and Malta Grand Prix. Nevertheless his
ranking dropped to 7th. In the next season he reached the
Malta Grand Prix final for the third time in a row. This year
however it was a ranking event and Ken won to give him another
ranking title. He also reached the Masters final for the second
successive year and lost to Matthew Stevens. In that final
he had the heartbreak of missing the final black when on course
for what would have been his first 147. He retained his ranking
of seventh.
2000/01 proved to be one of Ken's best ever seasons. He won
back-to-back ranking titles in the Regal Welsh and Thailand
Masters and came within a whisker of making it a hat-trick,
just losing out to Peter Ebdon in the Scottish Open final.
He rounded off the season with a world quarter-final and was
back up to fourth in the rankings.
Ken remains one of the most successful players ever with total
prize money in excess of £2m. He is admired for having
one of the best all round games amongst the top pros; not
outstanding in any one aspect but a player who never gives
in and one you would rather not have in your section of the
draw.
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