Ken Doherty
Born: September 17th 1969, Ireland
Nicknames: the Darlin' of Dublin, Crafty Ken, Ken-do
Highest and Current Ranking: 2
Total Career Earnings: £2,960,460
Early Years
Doherty won the Under 21 World Snooker Championship in 1989 and in the same year he also won the World amateur championship and later became the first player to win both the amateur championship and the professional championship (1997) in Snooker.
Style
Doherty's game is very tactical with a notion that he does not always exploit all opportunities to score heavy breaks. Doherty's cautious approach has led to commentators calling him "Crafty Ken". In 2000, he narrowly failed to achieve a maximum 147 break when he missed a relatively easy final black off its spot in the 15th frame of the Benson & Hedges Masters final against Matthew Stevens. Doherty has also managed to compile 228 competitive centuries during his career.
Professional Career
In 1997 Ken Doherty became the second non-UK player to win the Snooker World Championship (after Cliff Thorburn in 1980). In the final of 1997 he beat Stephen Hendry 18-12. Ken reached two other World Championship finals, in 1998 he lost to John Higgins and in 2003 he lost to Mark Williams. In the 2005 Championship he was beaten in the second round by Alan McManus.
The 2005/06 season has been a record season for Doherty. He won the Malta Cup in February 2006 by beating John Higgins in the Final. In the 2006 Snooker World Championship Ken lost in the quarter final to Marco Fu 10-13 after a very close match (in which Ken even managed to lead 10-9). Ken finished this season ranked number 2 and made a solid start to 2006/07 by reaching the quarter final of the Northern Ireland Trophy at Belfast. Lately, in October 2006, he won the Irish Professional Snooker Championships, an invitational event, beating Michael Judge 9-4 in the final.
Personal Life
Ken Doherty won the World Championship of 1997 using a cue he purchased for £2. He resides in Ranelagh and is married to Sarah, who is of Australian descent. Recently, he started working on TV studio coverage on snooker matches with the BBC snooker coverage team, along with Steve Davis and John Parrott. Doherty is a huge Manchester United fan and he paraded his trophy at Old Trafford in front of 55,000 spectators following his World Championship triumph.
Career Highlights
Second non-UK to win the Snooker World Championship
First player to win both amateur and professional World Championships
Tournaments Won (Ranked)
World Championship: 1997
Regal Welsh Open: 1993, 2001
Malta Grand Prix: 2000
Thailand Masters: 2001
Malta Cup: 2006
Other Tournaments:
Scottish Masters: 1993, 1994
Malta Grand Prix: 1997
Irish Masters: 1998
Irish Professional Snooker Championship: 2006 |
