Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player from Ranelagh in Dublin. He has won six ranking titles and was World Snooker Champion in 1997. In addition to his ongoing playing career, he works as a regular commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts.
After moving to London to pursue his snooker career, Doherty won the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship in 1989 and turned professional the following year. He reached the first of his 17 ranking finals at the 1992 Grand Prix, losing 9–10 to Jimmy White, and won his first ranking title several months later at the 1993 Welsh Open, beating Alan McManus 9–7 in the final. He first entered the top 16 in the 1993–94 world rankings and secured his only world title at the 1997 World Snooker Championship, where he ended Stephen Hendry's record 29-match winning streak at the Crucible with an 18–12 victory in the final. The only World Champion from the Republic of Ireland, Doherty is also the only player to have won world titles at under-21, amateur, and professional levels.
Doherty has been runner-up at two other World Championships. As defending champion at the 1998 event, he came close to breaking the Crucible curse but lost the final 12–18 to John Higgins. Facing Mark Williams in the 2003 final, he recovered from 2–10 behind to tie the scores at 11–11 but lost 16–18. In other Triple Crown events, he has been UK Championship runner-up three times (losing 5–10 to Hendry in 1994, 1–10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2001, and 9–10 to Williams in 2002) and Masters runner-up twice (losing 8–10 to Higgins in 1999 and by the same score to Matthew Stevens in 2000).
Doherty won his most recent ranking title at the 2006 Malta Cup, where he defeated Higgins 9–8 in the final; he achieved his career highest ranking of second in the 2006/2007 rankings. After 15 consecutive seasons within the top 16, he fell to 18th place in the 2008/2009 rankings and 44th place in the 2009/2010 rankings, after which he has never regained his top-16 standing. Since the end of the 2016–17 season, he has finished outside the top 64 in the world rankings multiple times, but has remained on the professional tour though invitational tour cards, the most recent of which was issued in June 2024 for the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons.[3] He also competes on the World Seniors Tour, where he won the 2018 UK Seniors Championship and has twice been runner-up at the World Seniors Championship, in 2020 and 2024. Since 2012, he has been a director of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association; he also served from 2021 to 2024 as inaugural chair of the WPBSA Players organisation.[4]
Early life
Born on 17 September 1969, Doherty grew up in a working-class Catholic family in Ranelagh, Dublin, with his three siblings, two older brothers and a younger sister. He first became interested in snooker when he started to watch the BBC programme Pot Black with his father at eight years old. At the time, Doherty particularly admired Alex Higgins. He received a miniature snooker table as a Christmas present, and soon afterwards began playing on full-sized tables at Jason's Snooker Hall in Ranelagh.[5] When he was 13 years old, his father died from a heart attack. Shortly afterwards, he won the Irish Under-16 Championship. After leaving school, he moved to London to pursue his snooker career, receiving free accommodation and practice time at Ilford Snooker Centre courtesy of Irish professional Eugene Hughes. He won the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship in 1989, and turned professional the following year.[6]
Doherty became only the third player from outside the United Kingdom (after Australian Horace Lindrum in 1952 and Canadian Cliff Thorburn in 1980) to win the World Championship when he beat Stephen Hendry 18–12 in the 1997 final, at the age of 27. He also reached the World Championship final in 1998, losing to John Higgins,[9] and in 2003, losing narrowly to Mark Williams. The latter run was noted for some outstanding comebacks, including final-frame wins over Graeme Dott and Shaun Murphy, a 13–8 win over Higgins in a match where Doherty raced ahead 10–0 but Higgins fought back to 10–7, and a semi-final fightback from 9–15 to beat Paul Hunter 17–16. In that championship, Doherty played more frames than anyone before or since. In the final, Williams led 11–4, but Doherty fought back to 12–12 and 16–16. In frame 33, Doherty missed the penultimate red with a clearance easily available. Williams won that crucial frame and the next to prevail 18–16.[18][19]
Doherty narrowly failed to achieve a maximum break when he missed a routine final black off its spot in the 15th frame of the 2000 Benson & Hedges Masters final against Matthew Stevens, a match Doherty eventually lost 10–8. This one pot would have seen him win an £80,000 sports car. However, his 140 break at least brought him the consolation of the £19,000 highest break prize.[18][20] He did make a 147 break two years later though, when he won the Cue Club Pro-Am tournament in Killarney in 2002.[21] He made light of his prize on television shortly afterwards, which was allegedly €300, a BMX bicycle and a toy Ferrari car.[22] His first official maximum was compiled in 2012, during a first round win against Julian Treiber at the Paul Hunter Classic.[23][24]
In the 2005 World Championship, Doherty beat Barry Pinches in the first round 10–5, winning the last 8 frames,[27] but was knocked out in the second round by Alan McManus 13–11.[28]
Following an average start to the 2005–06 season, Doherty won the Malta Cup in February 2006, beating John Higgins in the final. Doherty had trailed 8–5 at one stage but managed a stirring comeback, winning four frames in a row. He called the victory, which bridged a five-year gap, his "most important tournament win since the World Championship".[29][30]
Doherty started brightly in the 2006 World Championship, winning his first match by defeating Barry Hawkins 10–1, then he beat Matthew Stevens 13–8, playing superbly to win the last five frames. He was the favourite in his quarter-final match against Marco Fu but lost 13–10. It was 8–8 as the final session started, but Doherty struggled despite winning a frame in which he required three snookers. Although he led 7–6, 8–7, 9–8 and 10–9, he could never quite take decisive advantage to win the match. Doherty admitted afterwards that he "blew it" but that he still had "a couple more years" to come back and win the title.[31] He ended the 2005–06 season as the world number 2, his highest ranking ever.
He made a solid start to the 2006–07 season by reaching the quarter-final at what is the closest thing to a home tournament for him, the Northern Ireland Trophy at Belfast's Waterfront Hall. He followed this up with a last-16 defeat at the Grand Prix in Aberdeen and the UK Championship in York. He reached the quarter-finals of the next two tournaments, the Masters and the Malta Cup. He lost in the first round of the World Championship and, although clearly disappointed, the Dubliner vowed to continue.[32] He was provisional world number 1 for most of 2006–07, but finished the season as 4th in the rankings.[33][34]
In October 2006, he won the invitational Irish Professional Championship for a second time, having previously captured the title in 1993. He beat Michael Judge 9–4 in the final. A year later he defended his title with a resounding 9–2 victory over Fergal O'Brien. He followed this up a week later by becoming the first Irishman to win the Pot Black Invitational tournament, beating Shaun Murphy 76–31 in the one-frame final.[35][36]
Doherty did not start the 2007–08 season well, winning only one match during the first four ranking tournaments. However, he did reach the semi-finals of the Masters with victories over Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy,[37] before losing to eventual champion Mark Selby. He then reached the final of the Malta Cup for a record fifth time, defeating John Higgins in the semi-finals, before losing to Murphy in the final. Unfortunately for Doherty, neither of these events are ranking events, meaning his performances did nothing to keep him in the top rankings for the 2008–09 season. Defeat to Liang Wenbo in the first round of the World Championship ensured that he dropped out of the top 16 after 15 years, and he started the new season 32nd on the provisional one-year list. A run of qualifying defeats saw him drop as low as 38th before the UK Championship.[citation needed]
Doherty's poor run of form continued during the 2008–09 season during which he won only two matches. For the first time since 1993, he failed to qualify for the World Championship, having been beaten in the final qualifying round by Gerard Greene.[38][39]
Doherty's form saw an upturn in the 2009–10 season, with a rise back into the top 32 in the rankings, up from 44th to 30th; this was due to a quarter-final appearance in the 2009 Shanghai Masters, and a last-16 appearance in the 2009 Grand Prix. Doherty defeated six-time World Championship finalist Jimmy White 10–3, and two-time Crucible semi-finalist Joe Swail 10–1 to mark his return to the World Championship for the first time since 2008. In an amusing moment, Doherty got down on his knees and kissed the carpet upon his return to the venue. However, he lost his first-round match 10–4 to reigning Masters champion Mark Selby.[40]
Doherty had an excellent start to the 2011–12 season as he qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open, where he reached his first ranking event semi-final since 2006. He beat Mark Selby 5–3 in the quarter-finals, sealing the match with a clearance which he described as the best of his career. Doherty also stated that he almost quit the game in 2009, following his downturn in form which saw him drop to world number 55.[42] He failed to replicate his form in the semi-finals, however, as he was beaten 2–6 by Mark Williams.[43] In the remainder of the season Doherty qualified for the German Masters and the Welsh Open, but was defeated in the first round by Williams and Mark Allen respectively, without picking up a frame.[44] He also reached the final of the non-ranking Irish Classic, losing 2–5 to Fergal O'Brien.[45]
2012 Paul Hunter Classic
He was ranked 32nd in the world going into the 2012 World Championship qualifiers, where he faced Anthony Hamilton. The match went into a deciding frame with Doherty 40 points behind, but he profited from a Hamilton error to produce a match-winning clearance to win 10–9, and earned a first-round match against Neil Robertson.[46] He lost 4–10, and finished the season ranked world number 35.[47][48]
Doherty began the 2012–13 season by losing 4–5 to Stuart Bingham in the second round of the Wuxi Classic, and 3–5 to Martin Gould in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open.[49] He went on to reach the quarter-finals of the event, losing 0–4 to Mark Selby.[49] Doherty was defeated in qualifying for the Shanghai Masters and the 2012 UK Championship, and failed to advance beyond the wildcard round of the International Championship.[49] At the fifth European Tour Event, the Scottish Open, he saw off the likes of Luca Brecel and Ryan Day to reach the semi-finals where he lost 2–4 to Ding Junhui.[50] Doherty was eliminated in the first round of the German Masters by Peter Lines, but then had his best run of the season at the Welsh Open.[49] He beat four-time world champion John Higgins 4–1 and Tom Ford 4–3 to make it through to the quarter-finals.[51] He led Stuart Bingham 2–0, but a series of missed pots saw Doherty lose his confidence and he went on to lose 3–5.[52] His aforementioned run to the semi-finals of the Scottish Open helped him finish 16th on the PTC Order of Merit to qualify as one of the top 26 players for the Finals, but he lost 2–4 to Kurt Maflin in the first round.[53] Doherty almost pulled off one of his trademark comebacks against Matthew Selt in the final round of the World Championship qualifying, as from 4–9 down he levelled at 9–9, but he lost the deciding frame.[54] The result meant that this was the first season where Doherty had not featured in any of snooker's Triple Crown events. Doherty increased his ranking by eight spots during the season to finish it ranked world number 27.[55]
Doherty qualified for all but two of the ranking events in the 2013–14 season, but couldn't advance beyond the second round in any of them.[56] In April, he qualified for the World Championship after a 10–5 win against Dechawat Poomjaeng in the final qualifying round.[57][58] Doherty was the oldest player in the draw in his 19th Crucible appearance, and after trailing Stuart Bingham 5–4 in the opening session of their first round match, Doherty produced his best snooker to take all six frames in the next session and win a match at the Crucible for the first time since 2006.[59] He then lost 13–8 to Alan McManus, the second oldest player in the event.[60]
A 6–0 thrashing at the hands of Peter Ebdon ended Doherty's International Championship run at the first round stage, and he lost 6–3 to Mark Davis in the second round of the 2015 UK Championship, having whitewashed Tony Drago 6–0 in the opener. His best results in the season were a pair of last 32 exits at the German Masters and Welsh Open, losing 5–1 to Stephen Maguire and 4–2 to Joe Perry respectively.[65] His end of season ranking of 57 was the lowest of his 26-year professional career.[66] He had two last 16 showings during 2016–17, and would have dropped off the tour at the end of the season as he was outside of the top 64 in the world rankings.[67] However, the day before the 2017 World Championship started, it was announced that Doherty would receive an invitational tour card for the next two years.[68]
Doherty played against Ronnie O'Sullivan, the defending champion, in the second round of the 2018 UK Championship. Doherty was sharp throughout the first half of the first session, leading 3–1, then he extended his lead further to 4–1, but O'Sullivan fought back to win the next 4 frames. Doherty was able to force a decider, but ultimately just one error from him was enough for his opponent to finish the frame, to prevent Doherty from causing a considerable upset in the tournament where many seeds fell to lower-ranked players already,[69] and more would follow. Doherty would be the only player that came close to defeating the eventual champion, as the other matches, with the exception of the final, produced very one-sided results.[70]
Doherty's loss in the 2020 World Championship qualifying meant that he finished the season outside the top 64 and fell out of the tour. However, he was given an invitational tour card to continue playing professional snooker in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons.[71] The same occurred at his loss in the 2022 World Championship qualifying, for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons,[72] and at the end of the 2023–24 season, when Doherty had dropped to 79 in the world rankings, but was able to remain on the World Snooker Tour after being given a further two-year invitational card by the governing body.[73]
Playing style
Despite being most renowned as an intelligent tactician, he is a heavy scorer as well when amongst the balls at close quarters.[74] This relatively cautious approach has led to the nickname "Crafty Ken".[75][76]
Doherty has played his entire career with a warped cue randomly selected from the cue rack in Jason's, a club where he practised. He humorously revealed that the club manager originally wanted £5 for it, but Doherty haggled him down to £2.[77] In his words, "It's warped. I must be one of the few professionals playing with a warped cue, but I wouldn't dream of changing it. I have got used to holding it in a certain way, with my eye trained on a piece of grain.[78]
Media work
Doherty works on TV coverage of snooker matches with the BBC snooker coverage team. He became a regular commentator for the BBC starting with the 2009 Masters, following the side-lining of veteran expert Clive Everton. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he began working on ITV's snooker coverage.
Doherty guested as a presenter on the Morning Show on East Coast FM. He presents a sports programme on Sunshine 106.8FM on Saturday mornings.[79]
Personal life
Doherty married his wife Sarah, who is originally from India, in December 2001.[80][81] The couple resided in Rathgar, Dublin, and have a son, Christian, born in 2007.[82] In 2022, Doherty revealed that he and his wife had separated amicably.[83] He now lives in England.[84]
Doherty was nearly blinded in 2002 in a bathroom accident; after slipping, he struck an ornament, which narrowly missed his left eye. However, the distinctive scar on his right cheek dates back to his seventh birthday, when he fell off a shed roof onto a metal dustbin.[78]
Doherty and his family are of Roman Catholic faith, with his mother, Rose usually praying while Ken was playing matches.
In May 2007, Doherty appeared on RTÉ's spoof show Anonymous, heavily disguised as a priest.[85] Ostensibly he was a beginner at snooker and received some tips from Alex Higgins, who was initially fooled by the make-up and Doherty's hopeless play. However, as "Fr Donoghue" began to clear the table, Higgins' suspicions were aroused and Doherty was eventually rumbled. Doherty's disguise was enough to fool his mother and his wife.[86] In 2020, Doherty made a cameo appearance along with Jack Lisowski and Liang Wenbo in the snooker movie Break.[87]
Doherty has been a WPBSA player director since 2012.[88]
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References
↑ Having won 9–3, Ronnie O'Sullivan was subsequently stripped of his title and disqualified from the tournament, for failing a drugs test. Doherty was awarded the title.
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