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Re: Past Champions - John Parrott

Postby PLtheRef

2011 will see ten past Crucible champions not competing at the Crucible this year; Spencer, Reardon, Griffths, Thorburn, Davis, Higgins, Taylor, Johnson, Parrott and Doherty.

Over the final days before the World Championship begins, I take a look back at each of them, in turn of their title.

Today we go back to 1991


JOHN PARROTT (1964-) Crucible Victory 1991
John Parrott came to the Crucible in 1991 as one of the top four seeds, all of whom were comfortably predicted to reach the semi-finals. Three of the four, White, Davis and Parrott would do so, whilst James upset the [party by eliminating Hendry 13-11 in the quarter-finals. Parrott’s record at the Crucible was steady, having never failed to win at least one match at the tournament each year. In 1989, he had reached the final, only exhausted by the emotional burden of carrying the city of Liverpool through some of its most emotional days, he lost 18-3 to Steve Davis. In 1990, by this time up to second in the rankings, he was again in the one table situation, before a 16-11 loss against Stephen Hendry would send him out.

Parrott, seeded third for the championship in 1991 would begin his campaign with a match against Nigel Gilbert. Breaks of 32, 34 and 131 helping to take a 3-1 lead at the interval, and after Gilbert reduced the gap to one frame, breaks of 95, 54 and 87 helped Parrott extend his lead to 6-3 at the end of the session. A break of 53 in the twelfth frame helped increase the lead to 8-4 after Gilbert had taken the opening frame. Breaks of 41, 52 and 30 helped the qualifier reduce the gap to two frames, and despite a 33 in the next, Parrott would able to move to 9-6 with a 43. Parrott from the three frame lead spent little time in securing the win to go through 10-6.

In round two, JP would meet Tony Knowles, who despite being ranked 2nd in the world five years ago had dropped down the ranking list and subsequently had been required to qualify for the tournament. A 10-8 win over John Virgo had taken him into the last 16, and the likelihood of returning to the last 16 in the rankings.

Parrott gave Knowles little room to manoeuvre throughout the match, a break of 79 quickly establishing a 2-0 lead, and though Knowles would be respondent with a 38, it would be his highest break as Parrott rattled in, 36, 64, 137 and 34 to go 7-1 up at the end of the session, and completed the rout in the second session with breaks of 57, 68, 36, 138, 40 and 69 to win through 13-1 and book his place in the later stages for the third year in succession.

His opponent at this stage of the tournament would be Terry Griffiths, now back to 6th in the world rankings. Terry had defeated two debutants to reach this stage, Barry Pinches 10-3 and Alan McManus 13-12. With confidence oozing after the performance in the last 16, JP moved 3-0 up with breaks of 79, 64, 32 and 60. After a Griffiths 49 helped get him onto the scoreboard, breaks of 30, 46, 42 and 30 would quickly extend the Liverpudlian’s lead to 5-1, before Griffiths closed the gap to 5-3 heading into Tuesday evening’s middle session. A 67 in the opening frame would make it 6-3 and though John looked set to go 7-3, a 51 from Griffiths would claw a frame back, the same happened in the next frame when a 47 helped Parrott look good for 7-4, only to now lead 6-5. A 94 helped restore the two frame lead at the interval but after the break, Griffiths breaks of 82 and 61 helped level the match up at 7-7. It would take breaks of 36 and 101 from the Englishman to restore the lead at 9-7 going into the Wednesday final session.

A break of 38 would give some breathing space, and a lead of 10-7 before breaks of 42 and 52 would take Parrott 11-8 up, despite a revival to 11-10 from Griffiths, breaks of 78 and 81 would be enough to see Parrott through to a third successive semi-final, a 13-10 winner. In the last four he would meet bogeyman Davis, now favourite for a 7th world title.

The Thursday afternoon session saw Parrott open up a significant 5-2 lead, with a turning point being the third frame, won on a respot, and the fifth where an 80 break suddenly gave the 1989 runner up a 4-1 lead, a 44 helping round off the day nicely for the 26 year old. Parrott’s form improved in the second session, breaks of 40, 46 and 122 helping him go 9-2 up on the man who’d beaten him 18-3 in the final 24 months ago. A 52 set him up nicely for 10-2 but Davis replied with a 51 to go 9-3, and a 95 closing the gap to 9-4 but JP made breaks of 38, and 83 to ensure he held a 10-4 advantage entering the Friday evening session.
Breaks of 63 and 56 would help John increase his lead to 11-4, before the former champion responded, with runs of 59, 98 and 69 helping reduce the gap to 11-7. The interval coming probably at the right time for Parrott who moved to 12-7 with a 92 break and though Davis made it 12-8 with a 46, Breaks of 51, 34, and 79 would mean that Parrott would finish the session 4-4 and retain the six frame lead at 14-8. On the Saturday afternoon, Davis, now with a mountain to climb made breaks of 98 and 43 to close the gap to 14-10 but it was sensed he was awaiting the inevitable. Breaks of 86 and 64 allowing John to win 16-10 to go through to his second final.

His opponent in the final would be Jimmy White, who’d overcome Nick Dyson 10-3, Neal Foulds 13-12, Gary Wilkinson 13-3 and Steve James 16-9 to reach his third final. Many of White’s supporters were confident of victory declaring him the 1991 World Champion on the Saturday night. Most notably, White’s closest friend declaring that Parrott had no chance, not even with his best snooker.

Sunday afternoon saw John produce the session of his life, even with his admission that he’d hate to play himself in that sort of form. Breaks of 97, 75, 39, 43, 44, 88, 74 and 117 giving him the session 7-0 lead. White’ had scored 80 points in the seven frames, Parrott, 634. And White’s supporters firmly silenced.
Breaks of 44 and 43 of his own would finally get White off the mark but from 7-2 Parrott pulled away again, breaks of 33, 44, 70 and 88 increasing his lead to 10-2, leaving White to win 16 of the final 23 frames if he was to win the title at last. Breaks of 34, 71 and 55 would get White back to 10-5, but a 112, Parrott’s seventh century of the championship would ensure he went to bed with a commanding 11-5 lead overnight.
On the Monday afternoon, breaks of 34 and 92 would help Jimmy close the gap to 11-7, but when up and looking good to make it 11-8, a crucial miss would let Parrott in to steal the frame by a point to go 12-7, a 35 from White would make it 12-8, and 8 from 13 from 0-7 but it was commonly agreed he should have been 9-11 by now. A break of 36 capped off the next two for John at 14-8 before White made a 67 to close the gap to 14-9. P[arrott as he had in every session so far would have the final word, runs of 52 and 34 ensuring he levelled the session at 4-4 and retained a 15-9 lead going into the final session.

A 112, the eighth and final century from Parrott made it 16-9 before 45 and 58 helping the Whirlwind to go to 16-10. A 59 from JP would make it 17-10 before White would ensure the match went beyond the final session with a 38. However a break of 48 would ensure Parrott won 18-11, arguably securing the match with the seven frame advantage.

Parrott’s defence of the title in 1992 would begin with a 10-0 whitewash of Eddie Charlton, the only time in the history of the championship has been a 10-0 whitewash at the Crucible. A 13-4 win over Tony Knowles would take him into the last eight with only the third fewest frames dropped by a champion. Only Cliff Thorburn (two) and Stephen Hendry (three) – have dropped fewer – however in this case its important to remember that Thorburn played one match compared to the other’s two.

John’s last appearance at the Crucible would come in 2007, where a 10-9 win over Steve Davis before losing 13-8 to Murphy in round two. John’s retirement came at age 46 in 2010.

John Parrott’s Crucible Record
1984 (Q) – Rd2 13-11 v Dennis Taylor
1985 (Q) QF 13-12 v Ray Reardon
1986 (Q) Rd2 13-8 v Jimmy White
1987 (Q) Rd2 13-11 v Jimmy White
1988 (13) Rd2 13-11 v Cliff Thorburn
1989 (7) FINAL 18-3 v Steve Davis
1990 (2) SF 16-11 v Stephen Hendry
1991 (3) WINNER 18-11 v Jimmy White
1992 (1) QF 13-12 v Alan McManus
1993 (2) QF 13-6 v James Wattana
1994 (2) QF 13-11 v Darren Morgan
1995 (5) QF 13-11 v Jimmy White
1996 (4) Rd1 10-6 v Rod Lawler
1997 (4) QF 13-10 v James Wattana
1998 (6) QF 13-11 v John Higgins
1999 (6) QF 13-9 v Ronnie O’Sullivan
2000 (5) Rd2 13-12 v Joe Swail
2001 (10) Rd1 10-6 v Michael Judge
2002 (Q) Rd1 10-7 v Mark Williams
2003 (Q) Rd1 10-5 v Quinten Hann
2004 (Q) Rd1 10-7 v Paul Hunter
2005 failed to qualify
2006 (Q) Rd1 10-3 v Graeme Dott
2007 (Q) Rd2 13-8 v Shaun Murphy

Tomorrow, in the final of our look backs, we go to 1997 when Ken Doherty shocked Stephen Hendry to win the title.

Re: Past Champions - John Parrott

Postby PLtheRef

2011 will see ten past Crucible champions not competing at the Crucible this year; Spencer, Reardon, Griffths, Thorburn, Davis, Higgins, Taylor, Johnson, Parrott and Doherty.

Over the final days before the World Championship begins, I take a look back at each of them, in turn of their title.

Today we go back to 1991


JOHN PARROTT (1964-) Crucible Victory 1991
John Parrott came to the Crucible in 1991 as one of the top four seeds, all of whom were comfortably predicted to reach the semi-finals. Three of the four, White, Davis and Parrott would do so, whilst James upset the [party by eliminating Hendry 13-11 in the quarter-finals. Parrott’s record at the Crucible was steady, having never failed to win at least one match at the tournament each year. In 1989, he had reached the final, only exhausted by the emotional burden of carrying the city of Liverpool through some of its most emotional days, he lost 18-3 to Steve Davis. In 1990, by this time up to second in the rankings, he was again in the one table situation, before a 16-11 loss against Stephen Hendry would send him out.

Parrott, seeded third for the championship in 1991 would begin his campaign with a match against Nigel Gilbert. Breaks of 32, 34 and 131 helping to take a 3-1 lead at the interval, and after Gilbert reduced the gap to one frame, breaks of 95, 54 and 87 helped Parrott extend his lead to 6-3 at the end of the session. A break of 53 in the twelfth frame helped increase the lead to 8-4 after Gilbert had taken the opening frame. Breaks of 41, 52 and 30 helped the qualifier reduce the gap to two frames, and despite a 33 in the next, Parrott would able to move to 9-6 with a 43. Parrott from the three frame lead spent little time in securing the win to go through 10-6.

In round two, JP would meet Tony Knowles, who despite being ranked 2nd in the world five years ago had dropped down the ranking list and subsequently had been required to qualify for the tournament. A 10-8 win over John Virgo had taken him into the last 16, and the likelihood of returning to the last 16 in the rankings.

Parrott gave Knowles little room to manoeuvre throughout the match, a break of 79 quickly establishing a 2-0 lead, and though Knowles would be respondent with a 38, it would be his highest break as Parrott rattled in, 36, 64, 137 and 34 to go 7-1 up at the end of the session, and completed the rout in the second session with breaks of 57, 68, 36, 138, 40 and 69 to win through 13-1 and book his place in the later stages for the third year in succession.

His opponent at this stage of the tournament would be Terry Griffiths, now back to 6th in the world rankings. Terry had defeated two debutants to reach this stage, Barry Pinches 10-3 and Alan McManus 13-12. With confidence oozing after the performance in the last 16, JP moved 3-0 up with breaks of 79, 64, 32 and 60. After a Griffiths 49 helped get him onto the scoreboard, breaks of 30, 46, 42 and 30 would quickly extend the Liverpudlian’s lead to 5-1, before Griffiths closed the gap to 5-3 heading into Tuesday evening’s middle session. A 67 in the opening frame would make it 6-3 and though John looked set to go 7-3, a 51 from Griffiths would claw a frame back, the same happened in the next frame when a 47 helped Parrott look good for 7-4, only to now lead 6-5. A 94 helped restore the two frame lead at the interval but after the break, Griffiths breaks of 82 and 61 helped level the match up at 7-7. It would take breaks of 36 and 101 from the Englishman to restore the lead at 9-7 going into the Wednesday final session.

A break of 38 would give some breathing space, and a lead of 10-7 before breaks of 42 and 52 would take Parrott 11-8 up, despite a revival to 11-10 from Griffiths, breaks of 78 and 81 would be enough to see Parrott through to a third successive semi-final, a 13-10 winner. In the last four he would meet bogeyman Davis, now favourite for a 7th world title.

The Thursday afternoon session saw Parrott open up a significant 5-2 lead, with a turning point being the third frame, won on a respot, and the fifth where an 80 break suddenly gave the 1989 runner up a 4-1 lead, a 44 helping round off the day nicely for the 26 year old. Parrott’s form improved in the second session, breaks of 40, 46 and 122 helping him go 9-2 up on the man who’d beaten him 18-3 in the final 24 months ago. A 52 set him up nicely for 10-2 but Davis replied with a 51 to go 9-3, and a 95 closing the gap to 9-4 but JP made breaks of 38, and 83 to ensure he held a 10-4 advantage entering the Friday evening session.
Breaks of 63 and 56 would help John increase his lead to 11-4, before the former champion responded, with runs of 59, 98 and 69 helping reduce the gap to 11-7. The interval coming probably at the right time for Parrott who moved to 12-7 with a 92 break and though Davis made it 12-8 with a 46, Breaks of 51, 34, and 79 would mean that Parrott would finish the session 4-4 and retain the six frame lead at 14-8. On the Saturday afternoon, Davis, now with a mountain to climb made breaks of 98 and 43 to close the gap to 14-10 but it was sensed he was awaiting the inevitable. Breaks of 86 and 64 allowing John to win 16-10 to go through to his second final.

His opponent in the final would be Jimmy White, who’d overcome Nick Dyson 10-3, Neal Foulds 13-12, Gary Wilkinson 13-3 and Steve James 16-9 to reach his third final. Many of White’s supporters were confident of victory declaring him the 1991 World Champion on the Saturday night. Most notably, White’s closest friend declaring that Parrott had no chance, not even with his best snooker.

Sunday afternoon saw John produce the session of his life, even with his admission that he’d hate to play himself in that sort of form. Breaks of 97, 75, 39, 43, 44, 88, 74 and 117 giving him the session 7-0 lead. White’ had scored 80 points in the seven frames, Parrott, 634. And White’s supporters firmly silenced.
Breaks of 44 and 43 of his own would finally get White off the mark but from 7-2 Parrott pulled away again, breaks of 33, 44, 70 and 88 increasing his lead to 10-2, leaving White to win 16 of the final 23 frames if he was to win the title at last. Breaks of 34, 71 and 55 would get White back to 10-5, but a 112, Parrott’s seventh century of the championship would ensure he went to bed with a commanding 11-5 lead overnight.
On the Monday afternoon, breaks of 34 and 92 would help Jimmy close the gap to 11-7, but when up and looking good to make it 11-8, a crucial miss would let Parrott in to steal the frame by a point to go 12-7, a 35 from White would make it 12-8, and 8 from 13 from 0-7 but it was commonly agreed he should have been 9-11 by now. A break of 36 capped off the next two for John at 14-8 before White made a 67 to close the gap to 14-9. P[arrott as he had in every session so far would have the final word, runs of 52 and 34 ensuring he levelled the session at 4-4 and retained a 15-9 lead going into the final session.

A 112, the eighth and final century from Parrott made it 16-9 before 45 and 58 helping the Whirlwind to go to 16-10. A 59 from JP would make it 17-10 before White would ensure the match went beyond the final session with a 38. However a break of 48 would ensure Parrott won 18-11, arguably securing the match with the seven frame advantage.

Parrott’s defence of the title in 1992 would begin with a 10-0 whitewash of Eddie Charlton, the only time in the history of the championship has been a 10-0 whitewash at the Crucible. A 13-4 win over Tony Knowles would take him into the last eight with only the third fewest frames dropped by a champion. Only Cliff Thorburn (two) and Stephen Hendry (three) – have dropped fewer – however in this case its important to remember that Thorburn played one match compared to the other’s two.

John’s last appearance at the Crucible would come in 2007, where a 10-9 win over Steve Davis before losing 13-8 to Murphy in round two. John’s retirement came at age 46 in 2010.

John Parrott’s Crucible Record
1984 (Q) – Rd2 13-11 v Dennis Taylor
1985 (Q) QF 13-12 v Ray Reardon
1986 (Q) Rd2 13-8 v Jimmy White
1987 (Q) Rd2 13-11 v Jimmy White
1988 (13) Rd2 13-11 v Cliff Thorburn
1989 (7) FINAL 18-3 v Steve Davis
1990 (2) SF 16-11 v Stephen Hendry
1991 (3) WINNER 18-11 v Jimmy White
1992 (1) QF 13-12 v Alan McManus
1993 (2) QF 13-6 v James Wattana
1994 (2) QF 13-11 v Darren Morgan
1995 (5) QF 13-11 v Jimmy White
1996 (4) Rd1 10-6 v Rod Lawler
1997 (4) QF 13-10 v James Wattana
1998 (6) QF 13-11 v John Higgins
1999 (6) QF 13-9 v Ronnie O’Sullivan
2000 (5) Rd2 13-12 v Joe Swail
2001 (10) Rd1 10-6 v Michael Judge
2002 (Q) Rd1 10-7 v Mark Williams
2003 (Q) Rd1 10-5 v Quinten Hann
2004 (Q) Rd1 10-7 v Paul Hunter
2005 failed to qualify
2006 (Q) Rd1 10-3 v Graeme Dott
2007 (Q) Rd2 13-8 v Shaun Murphy

Tomorrow, in the final of our look backs, we go to 1997 when Ken Doherty shocked Stephen Hendry to win the title.

Re: Past Champions - Ken Doherty

Postby PLtheRef

2011 will see ten past Crucible champions not competing at the Crucible this year; Spencer, Reardon, Griffths, Thorburn, Davis, Higgins, Taylor, Johnson, Parrott and Doherty.

Over the final days before the World Championship begins, I take a look back at each of them, in turn of their title.

In our final look back, we go to 1997, New Labour was in, and Katrina and the Waves won the Eurovision for the United Kingdom, the changing of the guard capped off that weekend on the baize.


KEN DOHERTY (1969-) Crucible Champion 1997
So then, Ken Doherty, the last of the former champions, the youngest of the former champions to be included in this line up, at 41 years old, younger than a few of the 32 runners and riders which will be jumping the 17 fences from 10am tomorrow. Doherty is the first Republic champion and the only one to date, in addition to being the first person to win all three single World Championships, Amateur, U-21 and the main one, the one that matters, Professional.

Ken’s career began in 1991, when he pushed Steve Davis 10-8 in the First Round on his debut, despite appearing in TV finals at the Rothmans in 1992, it would not be until Ken entered the top 16, and thus was at the Crucible without having to qualify. A quarter-final appearance in 1994 was followed by disappointing showings, ;losing 10-7 to Mark Davis in the first round in 1995, along with a 13-5 defeat against Darren Morgan in 1996. Coming to the Crucible as the number 7 seed for the 1997 tournament, few gave him hope of reaching the one table set up, given the firm belief amongst the games elder statesmen of retired players that he was a talented player who wasted his talent.

His first round match would be up against Mark Davis, the same man who’d beaten him in the first round of 95, arguably more aware of Davis’ abilities to turn him over if he didn’t show up his main game, Doherty started well, breaks of 71, 42, 49 and 94 helping him go 3-0 in front and when pegged back to 3-3, breaks of 46 and 35 would ensure that he held an overnight lead of 5-4. In Sunday’s final session a break of 84 restored Ken’s lead when Mark levelled at 5-5, going into the interval at 7-6, Davis again levelled to go 7-7 before Doherty made breaks of 92, 46 and 35 to go 9-7 in front. A 37 from Davis would make it 8-9 before Ken secured the match, with a break of 40 in the 18th frame.

In round two he would meet 10th seeded Steve Davis. Steve’s lowest ranking since the 1981 World title success when 13th. Obviously an outsider for the title but a 10-2 victory over David McLellan in round one had firmed up assurances that he was in good form, and that the Masters win in February had not been a fluke. Doherty, realising the need for good form set off immediately, breaks of 51, 104, 101 and 47 helped him take a 5-0 lead, and despite making tidy runs in the next two, only the 56 in the final frame of the session would secure a 6-2 lead when a fairer scoreline could have been 7=-1 or 8-0. Confidence high after this showing Ken punished Steve from the off again on Sunday night, Breaks of 71, 62, 65 and 96 helping him to 10-2 by the interval, and breaks of 66, 31, 54 and 68 would take him 12-2 up before Davis took the 15th frame. However a break of 41 in the final frame would send Ken through 13-3 with a session to spare, Doherty in the sixteen frames had made 16 breaks of 30+.

In the quarter-finals, Doherty would meet Davis’ successor as World number two, John Higgins had com[pleted routine wins 10-6 over Graham Horne and Dominic Dale 13-5 to reach the last eight for the second time. Higgins, seeded higher went 3-0 in front early on before Crafty safety from the Dubliner helped him in making runs of 58, 33, 41 and 65 to level at 3-3, with a 42 at the end of the session to level at 4-4 at the end of Tuesday’s play. A 91 in the opening frame of the Wednesday morning helped Ken go 5-4, along with runs of 68 and 35 helping him regain the lead on his way to a 9-6 advantage, John won the final frame of the morning to go 9-7 but having won nine of the last thirteen, the momentum was with the Irishman.

A break of 72 helped John pull another back before Ken forged ahead to 11-8, and though John would take the last before the interval, breaks of 67 and 116 would give the match to Ken 13-9. Setting up a Semi-Final with Alain Robidoux who had not played a top 32 player en route to the last four, beating Brian Morgan (49th) 10-8, Stefan Mazrocis (81st) 13-9 and Lee Walker (189th) 13-8 to reach the semi-finals from a quarter of shocks. This match would be over the best of 33 frames, the longest semi-final format for 18 years.
Beginning the match on the Thursday afternoon, Ken made a 66 to go 1-0 up, and breaks of 35 and 60 to level at 2-2. Breaks of 32 and 75 would help Doherty come from behind twice more in the session to come out of it, level at 4-4. On Friday morning, Doherty upped the standard, and given Robidouxs relatively simpler run to the last four he had no answer, breaks of 43, 54, 43, 30, 34, and 33 would take Doherty to 9-4, and though Alain, the first Canadian in the last four for nine years, won the next, Doherty would make breaks of 36 and 50 to finish the session 11-5 to go into the midpoint of the match needing six of the remaining 17 to go through.

Runs of 59, 38 and 32 would help Robidoux close the gap to 12-7, however from there, Doherty pulled away, breaks of 36, 76, 49, 74 and 73 took him to 17-7 and through with a session to spare for the second time in the championships. His final opponent would be Stephen Hendry, chasing the seventh title.
Considering Stephen’s usual pedigree in his world title successes, it makes one wonder whether or not Ken’s victory was such a surprise as previous;ly suspected, Stephen eliminated Andy Hicks 10-6, Mark Williams 13-8, Darren Morgan 13-10 and James Wattana 17-13 to reach the final again.

Hendry however would open the final with two centuries after losing the first to go 2-1 up, however, Doherty, arguably much fresher considering he’d dropped 27 frames to Stephens 37 en route, plus that he’d won two matches with sessions to spare, made breaks of 40, 69, 43, 32 and 59 to go 5-2 up before Hendry made a 122, his third century to win his third frame, to trail 5-3 at the end of Sunday afternoon. A break of 43 would make the score 5-4 but from there Doherty scored the heavier, breaks of 48 and 41 making it 6-4, a respot win in the 11th making it 7-4, breaks of 38, 42 and 85 would help make the score 10-4 before Stephen won the 15th with a 44, when Ken had been first in with 47, a 52 would help Doherty finish Sunday night with an 11-5 lead. Hendry, tipped to win the title still by many, given his experience of winning from six down in 1992, would have to become the first person to win from 5-11 down the night before.

A break of 58 would make it 11-6 before a 70 from Ken made it 12-6, a 92 from Stephen in the nineteenth was succeeded by breaks of 35, 46, 52 and 33 to go 15-7 in front, Hendry would make breaks of 137, his fourth century of the final, and 43 to close the gap to 15-9, Doherty would now be favourite, but with Hendry finishing the Monday afternoon the stronger, many wondered how Doherty would respond if Hendry could get near him, given the need to ideally win the first session 4-0, 3-1 at worst to have any slight chance.

Breaks of 51 and 110 would help Stephen make it five frames on the bounce to make it 15-12, but a 61 in the final frame before the interval would ensure that Doherty, at the most vulnerable anyone had seen him in the 17 days previous;ly. However, breaks of 61, 50 and 43 would take the Dubliner home 18-12 to win the title. Famously, Dublin police station received 0 calls between 7 and 10 on the Monday night.
Ken’s defence in 1998 is the second best ever seen, following a 10-8 win over Lee Walker in round one, victories over Stephen Lee, Matthew Stevens and Mark Williams would take him into the final where he would meet John Higgins losing 18-12, his third final appearance in 2003 is arguably the most memorable, wins over Shaun Murphy 10-9, Graeme Dott 13-12, John Higgins 13-8 (from 10-0 and 10-7 up) – and Paul Hunter (from 15-9 down) 17-16 would set up a showpiece encounter with Mark Williams, who won 18-16.

Ken Doherty’s Crucible Record
1991 – (Q) Rd1 10-8 v Steve Davis
1992-1993 failed to qualify
1994 (11) QF 13-10 v Jimmy White
1995 (7) Rd1 10-7 v Mark Davis
1996 (9) Rd2 13-5 v Darren Morgan
1997 (7) WINNER 18-12 v Stephen Hendry
1998 (1) FINAL 18-12 v John Higgins
1999 (4) QF 13-9 v Mark Williams
2000 (7) Rd2 13-12 v Anthony Hamilton
2001 (7) QF 13-6 v John Higgins
2002 (4) QF 13-12 v Stephen Hendry
2003 (5) FINAL 18-16 v Mark Williams
2004 (6) Rd1 10-5 v Joe Swail
2005 (7) Rd2 13-11 v Alan McManus
2006 (12) QF 13-10 v Marco Fu
2007 (3) Rd1 10-7 v Mark Allen
2008 (4) Rd1 10-5 v Liang Wenbo
2009 failed to qualify
2010 (Q) Rd1 10-4 v Mark Selby


And thats the lot, on the word doc at home 40 pages and 23,298 words.


   

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