Northern Zhou 周
←   ← 557–581 →
Capital	Chang'an
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
- 557	Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou
- 557-560	Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou
- 560-578	Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou
- 578-579	Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou
- 579-581	Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
History
- Established	15 February[1] 557
- Disestablished	4 March[2] 581

Northern Zhou dish inspired by Western metalwork, 557-581.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: 北周朝; pinyin: Bĕi Zhōu Cháo) followed the Western Wei, and ruled northern China from 557 to 581. It was overthrown by the Sui Dynasty.

Northern Zhou's basis of power was established by Yuwen Tai, who was paramount general of Western Wei, following the split of Northern Wei into Western Wei and Eastern Wei in 535. After Yuwen Tai's death in 556, Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu forced Emperor Gong of Western Wei to yield the throne to Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin), establishing Northern Zhou. The reigns of the first three emperors (Yuwen Tai's sons) -- Emperor Xiaomin, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Wu were dominated by Yuwen Hu, until Emperor Wu ambushed and killed Yuwen Hu in 572 and assumed power personally. With Emperor Wu as a capable ruler, Northern Zhou destroyed rival Northern Qi in 577, taking over Northern Qi's territory. However, Emperor Wu's death in 578 doomed the state, as his son Emperor Xuan was an arbitrary and violent ruler whose unorthodox behavior greatly weakened the state. After Emperor Xuan's death in 580 (when he was already titularly retired emperor (Taishang Huang), Emperor Xuan's father-in-law Yang Jian seized power, and in 581 seized the throne from Emperor Xuan's son Emperor Jing, establishing Sui. The imperial Yuwen clan, including the young Emperor Jing, was subsequently slaughtered by Yang Jian.

Emperors of Northern Zhou[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 167.
2. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 175.
3. ^ In 580, after Emperor Xuan's death, the general Yuchi Jiong, believing that the regent Yang Jian was about to seize the throne, rose against Yang and declared a son of Emperor Wu's brother Yuwen Zhao (宇文招) the Prince of Zhao, whose name is lost to history, emperor, but as Yuchi was soon defeated, and nothing further was known about the emperor that he declared, that son of Yuwen Zhao is usually not considered an emperor of Northern Zhou.

References[link]

• Book of Zhou.
• History of Northern Dynasties.
• Zizhi Tongjian.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Northern Zhou

• Chinese history
• Southern and Northern Dynasty
• Chinese sovereign

Ding Junhui

Ding Junhui
Born	(1987-04-01) 1 April 1987 (age 25) Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Sport country	China
Nickname	Star of the East Enter The Dragon The Chinese Sensation
Professional	2003 – present
Highest ranking	4 (5 months)
Current ranking	11
Career winnings	UK£1,000,000+[1]
Highest break	147 (4 times)
Century breaks	221
Tournament wins
Ranking	5
Minor-ranking	1
Non-ranking	3

Medal record
Competitor for  China
Men's Snooker
World Games
Silver	2005 Duisburg	Individual
Asian Games
Gold	2002 Busan	Individual
Silver	2002 Busan	Team
Gold	2006 Doha	Individual
Gold	2006 Doha	Doubles
Gold	2006 Doha	Team
Silver	2010 Guangzhou	Individual
Gold	2010 Guangzhou	Team

Ding Junhui (Chinese: 丁俊晖; pinyin: Dīng Jùnhuī; born 1 April 1987 in Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Ding Junhui is China's most successful player ever, having become only the second teenager, after John Higgins, to win three ranking titles.^[2] As a prolific breakbuilder Ding has compiled more than 200 century breaks during his career.^[3]

In December 2006, he enrolled at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to study Business Administration and Management.^[4] He is a resident of England during the snooker season. He is good friends with fellow countryman Liang Wenbo and they are training partners in Sheffield World Snooker Academy.^[5]

Career[link]

Early life[link]

Ding started playing snooker at the age of nine, when his father took him to the Chinese national team training centre near Shanghai. His father persuaded his mother to sell their house in order for Ding to continue playing snooker as a career.^[6]

Ding shot to international prominence in 2002, when he won the Asian Under-21 Championship,^[7] the Asian Championship^[7] and the IBSF World Under-21 Championship (became the youngest ever winner of the World Under-21 Championship at the age of fifteen).^[7] He was unable to progress much in 2003, as both the Asian Championship and Under-21 Championship had to be cancelled because of the SARS virus crisis, but he was a semi-finalist in the IBSF World Under-21 championship,^[7] and was awarded a Main Tour concession by the WPBSA, which enabled him to turn professional in September 2003.^[7] In 2003, he became the number one ranked player in China.^[8]

2004–2006[link]

In February 2004, Ding was awarded a wildcard entry to the Masters in London, where, in the first round, he beat the world #16-ranked player, Joe Perry,^[9] before narrowly losing 5–6 in the second round to experienced top player Stephen Lee after holding a 5–2 lead over him.^[10] His performance favourably impressed many commentators, who since then rated him a likely future World Champion.

In March 2005, he celebrated his 18th birthday by reaching the final of the China Open in Beijing, along the way defeating world top-16 ranked players Peter Ebdon, Marco Fu and Ken Doherty. In that final he played against then world no.-3-ranked Stephen Hendry, whom he beat by 9 frames to 5, to score his first ranking tournament win. 110 million people watched the final against Hendry on China's national sports channel CCTV-5 – by far the biggest TV audience ever recorded for a snooker match.^[11]

In December 2005, he beat another crop of world top-16 players, namely Jimmy White, the late Paul Hunter and Joe Perry once more on his way to reaching the final of another major tournament, the UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York. This time he met the resurgent snooker legend Steve Davis, and defeated him by ten frames to six, in doing so becoming the first player from outside Britain or Ireland to win that particular title. Following this victory, his world ranking was provisionally raised from 60 (62 at the start of the season) to 31. At the end of the season, he was ranked 27th.

In the 2006 China Open he gave his home crowd a good run for their money, but lost 6–2 to eventual winner Mark Williams in the semi-finals.

On 19 August 2006, he beat Stephen Lee 6–1, and reached the final of the Northern Ireland Trophy, meeting Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final the following day. He beat O'Sullivan 9–6 to claim his third ranking tournament win,^[12] becoming only the third person ever to do so before his twentieth birthday,^[12] after O'Sullivan and John Higgins.^[12] This win pushed his provisional world ranking position up to fifth.

In December 2006, he won three gold medals at the Asian Games, winning the Single, Double and Team Snooker competitions. The following week, he reached, as the defending champion, the quarterfinal stage of the 2006 UK Snooker Championship,^[13] and subsequently lost to his practice partner and eventual winner, Peter Ebdon, by 9 frames to 5.^[13]

2007/2008[link]

On 1 January 2007, he narrowly defeated Cao Xinlong 5–4 to reach the final of the Chinese National Snooker Championship in East China's Yixing, Jiangsu province, his home town. The following day, he beat Xiao Guodong in the final by 6 frames to 2, in doing so becoming the national champion once again.^[14]

On 14 January 2007, Ding made a 147 break in the opening match of the Saga Insurance Masters against Anthony Hamilton.^[15] It was the first maximum in the competition since that of Kirk Stevens in 1984, which was also the only one up to then.^[15] Additionally, Ding is the youngest player to make a 147 during a televised session (a record previously held by Ronnie O'Sullivan),^[15] and became the first Chinese snooker player in the history of BBC's coverage to make a televised maximum.

He went on to make the final of the tournament,^[16] becoming the second youngest player to reach a Masters final. In it he made a confident start by winning the first two frames. However, O'Sullivan went on to produce what many regard as one of the finest displays of snooker ever seen on television. His dominance, along with the boisterous and hostile nature of the crowd, left Ding in tears during the twelfth frame, trailing 8–3 in the best of 19 frames contest. The latter appeared resigned to defeat, taking little time to consider his shot selection, and after the frame shook hands with O'Sullivan, after which the two walked arm in arm to the dressing room area, but because it had only been the last frame before the mid-session interval, and so indeed not the very last frame of the match, no-one knew if he had conceded the match, believed the match was over or was just congratulating O'Sullivan on his formidable play. He ultimately lost the match on the next frame, and later claimed that he thought the match was indeed a "best of 17".^[17]

He was next bumped out of two tournaments in a row in the first rounds, losing 5–2 to Stephen Maguire in the Malta Cup^[18] and 5–1 to Jamie Cope in the Welsh Open.^[19] By 14 March 2007, however, Ding had qualified for the televised final stages of the World Championships for the first time by beating Mark Davis in the final qualifying round.^[20] However, his losing streak in ranking tournaments that season continued with a 5–3 first round loss to Barry Hawkins in the China Open and a 10–2 loss against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the World Snooker Championship, but he still ended the season ranked in ninth place, his highest ever ranking.

The following season was consistent, reaching the last 16 of all but one ranking event, but he failed to reach a single semi-final, causing him to slip down two places, to number 11 in the world rankings. At the Crucible he managed to reach the second round for the first time, beating Marco Fu 10–9 in a high quality match, but he was unable to progress further, going down 13–7 to Stephen Hendry.

However, he started the next season on a high by winning the Jiangsu Classic, beating Mark Selby 6–5 in the final.

On 16 December, in his Second Round match against John Higgins at the UK Championship, Ding scored a maximum 147 break in the third frame of the match.^[21]

Currently, Ding Junhui holds the record for the most unanswered points (495) in any snooker tournament. This was during the Premier League Snooker against Stephen Hendry.^[22]

2009/2010[link]

Ding started the 2009/10 season well. He reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters, and the final of the Grand Prix at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, where he defeated Matthew Stevens 5–4 in the first round, Stephen Maguire 5–1 in the second round, Peter Ebdon 5–2 in the quarter-finals and Mark Williams 6–1 in the semi-finals. He lost to Neil Robertson 9–4 in the final.^[23]

Ding reached the final of the 2009 UK Championship after defeating Mike Dunn (9–5), Shaun Murphy (9–3), Ali Carter (9–8), and Stephen Maguire (9–5).^[24] He went on to defeat John Higgins in the final (10–8) to claim his second UK crown.^[25]

After losing his next two matches against Mark Selby (1–6) at the Masters and Jamie Cope (3–5) at the Welsh Open, Ding found his form, scoring nine centuries on his way to the China Open final, where he lost against Mark Williams (6–10), despite leading 5–4 at the end of first session.^[26] At the World Championship he defeated Stuart Pettman 10–1, but lost 10–13 against Shaun Murphy in the second round.

2010/2011[link]

Ding started the season at the Wuxi Classic, where he lost 8–9 in the final, despite at one point leading 8–2.^[27] Ding reached the second round of the Shanghai Masters and the quarter-finals of the World Open, where he lost 1–5 against Jamie Cope and 2–3 against Mark Williams respectively.^[28][29] Ding failed to defend his UK Championship title, when he lost 8–9 against Mark Allen.^[30]

Ding reached his second Masters Final in January 2011, after beating Jamie Cope 6–3 in the semi-final. Ding went on to win the Masters for the first time, beating Marco Fu 10–4 in the first ever all-Asian Masters final.^[31][32]

Ding also had a career best run at the 2011 World Snooker Championship. He beat Jamie Burnett 10–2 in the first round, advancing to the last 16 of the World Championship for the 4th straight year.^[33] Facing Stuart Bingham in the second round, he was down 9–12 at one point with the opponent needing just one frame for victory, but Ding made a comeback, winning four straight frames to win 13–12 to reach the quarter-finals of the world championship for the first time in his career.^[34] In his quarter-final with Mark Selby, Ding led Selby 10–6 after the first two sessions of the match. Selby built strong momentum by winning the first four frames of the last session to level at 10–10, but Ding eventually held on to win 13–10 to set up a semi-final against Judd Trump.^[35] In their semi-final, Ding and Trump were level at 12–12 after the third session. In the last session, Trump was the first to build momentum and led 14–12, but Ding pinched the next three frames with a 138 break to tie Mark King for highest tournament break and a 119 break. Ding lost the next three frames to lose the match by a 15–17 scoreline.^[36]

2011/2012[link]

Ding started the season at the Wuxi Classic, where he lost 5–6 against Mark Selby in the semi-finals,^[37] and for the first time couldn't reach the final of the tournament.^[38] At the World Cup Ding and Liang Wenbo partnered up to represent China. They won the final, 4–2 against Northern Ireland.^[39] He then lost in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open 2–5 against Stuart Bingham.^[40] At the second event of the Players Tour Championship Ding reached the final, but lost 0–4 against Judd Trump.^[41] Ding was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2011 UK Championship by Neil Robertson, 6–2.^[42] He was defeated in the Masters by Ronnie O'Sullivan for the third time in his career, losing in the first round 4–6, meaning that he couldn't defend the title he won in 2011.^[43] Ding beat Mark Selby in the 2012 Welsh Open to win his fifth ranking tournament and a cheque for £30,000.^[44] Ding's form continued in claiming the 2012 Championship League tournament and a place in the 2012 Premier League^[45]. Ding reached the semi-finals of the China Open only to be put out by eventual winner Peter Ebdon, 3–6.^[46] Ding ended the season by going out in the first round of the World Championship, losing to Ryan Day 10–9 having been in the lead 9–6. After the match Ding criticised the condition of the tables at the event and the attitude of the audience, saying both were "rubbish".^[47] He finished the year ranked world number 11, meaning he had dropped 7 places during the season.^[48]

Achievements[link]

Ding Junhui has compiled more than 200 competitive century breaks.^[3] He has made four 147 maximum breaks in professional competition. The first at the 2007 Masters, which made him the youngest player to have made a televised 147 at the age of 19 years and 7 months. The second came at the 2008 UK Championship. The third came in the first round of the FFB Snooker Open in 2011.^[49] His fourth maximum came only two days after his third in a 4–1 victory against James Cahill.

In popular culture[link]

A 26-episode cartoon series Dragon Ball No.1 by Beijing-based D5 Studio, based on Ding's growth from a shy boy to a snooker star, was broadcast on TV in 2010.^[50]

Performance and rankings timeline[link]

1. ^ New players on the tour does not have a rankings.
2. ^ The event run under different name as LG Cup (2003/2004) and Grand Prix (2004/2005-2009/2010)
3. ^ The event run under different name as European Open (2001/2002-2003/2004)

Career finals[link]

Ranking event finals: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)[link]

Legend World Championship (0–0) UK Championship (2–0) Other (3–2) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2005 China Open Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry 9–5 Winner 2. 2005 UK Championship Davis, SteveSteve Davis 10–6 Winner 3. 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy O'Sullivan, RonnieRonnie O'Sullivan 9–6 Runner-up 1. 2009 Grand Prix Robertson, NeilNeil Robertson 4–9 Winner 4. 2009 UK Championship (2) Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins 10–8 Runner-up 2. 2010 China Open Williams, MarkMark Williams 6–10 Winner 5. 2012 Welsh Open Selby, MarkMark Selby 9–6 Minor-ranking event finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)[link] Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1 2010 Players Tour Championship – Event 5 Jones, JamieJamie Jones 4–1 Runner-up 1. 2011 Players Tour Championship – Event 2 Trump, JuddJudd Trump 0–4 Non-ranking event finals: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)[link] Legend Masters (1–1) Premier League (0–0) Other (2–2) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Runner-up 1. 2007 Masters O'Sullivan, RonnieRonnie O'Sullivan 3–10 Winner 1. 2008 Jiangsu Classic Selby, MarkMark Selby 6–5 Runner-up 2. 2009 Jiangsu Classic Allen, MarkMark Allen 0–6 Runner-up 3. 2010 Wuxi Classic Murphy, ShaunShaun Murphy 8–9 Winner 2. 2011 Masters Fu, MarcoMarco Fu 10–4 Winner 3. 2012 Championship League Trump, JuddJudd Trump 3–1 Team event finals: 1 (1 title)[link] Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1 2011 World Cup (with  Team China)  Northern Ireland 4–2 Pro-am event finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)[link] Legend World Series (1–1) Other (0–0) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2008 World Series – Warsaw event Doherty, KenKen Doherty 6–4 Runner-up 1. 2008 World Series – Moscow event Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins 0–5 Amateur finals: 3 (3 titles)[link] Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2002 ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship Janthad, PramualPramual Janthad 6–2 Winner 2. 2002 IBSF World Under-21 Championship John, DavidDavid John 11–9 Winner 3. 2002 ACBS Asian Championship E. Boon, KeithKeith E. Boon 8–1 Variant event finals: 2 (2 runner-ups)[link] Legend Premier League (0–1) Other (0–1) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Runner-up 1. 2010 Power Snooker Ronnie O'Sullivan [nb 1] Runner-up 2. 2011 Premier League Snooker Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–7

Notes[link]

References[link]

Sources[link]

• April 2007 Interview with Snooker player Ding Junhui by The Independent (UK)

External links[link]

• Official website (Chinese)
• Official iPhone App Website
• "Ding Junhui". WorldSnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 2007–2010 [copyright date]. "Players Alphabetical" section. http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/PlayersAlphabeticalArticle/0,,13165~2234708,00.html.  Official WPBSA player profile.
• Ding Junhui at CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database
• Player profile on Global Snooker
• Player profile on Pro Snooker Blog

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2011)

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (January 2011)

Ken Doherty

Doherty playing with the rest, at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1969-09-17) 17 September 1969 (age 42)
Sport country	Ireland
Nickname	"The Darlin' of Dublin", "Crafty Ken", "Ken-do", 'The Diamond of Dublin', "Comeback Ken"
Professional	1990– Present
Highest ranking	2 (2006/07)
Current ranking	35
Career winnings	GB£3,269,385[1]
Highest break	145 (2004 Players Championship)
Century breaks	277
Tournament wins
Ranking	6
Non-ranking	11
World Champion	1997

Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur (1989) and world professional champion (1997). He was also World Under-21 champion in 1989.

Career[link]

After two semi-finals in the 1991/92 season (his second as a professional), Doherty reached the final of the 1992 Grand Prix, narrowly losing 10–9 to Jimmy White. In the same event a year later, he lost 6–9 to Peter Ebdon. His first ranking title was the 1993 Welsh Open, enough to take him into the top 16 in the world, where he remained until the 2007/08 season. In the 1994 World Championship he reached the quarter-finals, his only run past the first round before 1997.

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. Ken also reached the World Championship final in 1998 (losing to John Higgins) 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 John 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 he 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 2nd to final red with a clearance there for the taking. Williams won that crucial frame and the next to prevail 18–16.

He is one of the few players to win back-to-back ranking events – the Welsh Open and Thailand Masters in 2001, also reaching the final of the following Regal Scottish Open.^[2]

In 2000, he narrowly failed to achieve a maximum break when he missed a routine final black off its spot in the 15th frame of the Benson & Hedges Masters final against Matthew Stevens, which he eventually lost 10–8. This one pot would have seen him win an £80,000 sports car. However, at 140 he did at least have the consolation of the £19,000 highest break prize.

In the 2005 World Championship, Doherty beat Barry Pinches in the first round 10–5, winning the last 8 frames, but was knocked out in the second round by Alan McManus 13–11.

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. Doherty called the victory, which bridged a five-year gap, his "most important tournament win since the World Championship".^[3][4]

In the 2006 World Championship, Doherty started brightly winning his first match and defeated Barry Hawkins 10–1 and then he beat Matthew Stevens 13–8, playing superbly to win the last 5 frames. He was 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 3 snookers. Although he led 7–6, 8–7, 9–8 and 10–9, he could never quite take a 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.^[5] He ended the 2005/06 season as the world Number 2, his highest ranking ever.

He made a solid start to the 2006/07 snooker 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 defeats 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.^[6] He was provisional world Number 1 for most of 2006/07 but finished the season at Number 4.

In October 2006, he won the Irish Professional Snooker Championships for a second time (having previously captured the title in 1993), an invitational event, beating 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.

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,^[7] 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 16 for 2008/09. 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.

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.

Doherty's form saw an upturn in the 2009/2010 season with a rise back into the top 32 (at 30) in the rankings up from 44th. This is thanks to a quarter final appearance in the 2009 Shanghai Masters, and a last 16 appearance in the 2009 Grand Prix. Doherty defeated 6 times World Championship finalist Jimmy White 10–3, and two time Crucible semi-finalist Joe Swail 10–1 to mark his return to the World Championships 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.

The 2010/2011 season proved to be a mixed campaign for Doherty, who made the last 32 of the 2010 World Open, yet missed out on qualifying for the 2011 German Masters, 2011 Welsh Open (snooker) and crucially, blowing a 6–3, losing 10–6 Jimmy Robertson in the final stage of qualifying for the 2011 World Snooker Championship, meaning he has only reached The Crucible in 1 of his last 3 attempts.

The 2011/2012 season started well for Doherty as he reached the Semi-Final of the Australian Open. He lost this match against Mark Williams 2-6. He was ranked 32 going into the 2012 world snooker championship qualifers he faced Anthony Hamilton and after the first session he held a 6-3 advantage. Doherty then led 9-7 before Hamilton brought it back to 9-9. In the decider Doherty was 52 points behind but profited from a Hamilton error to produce a match-winning clearance, to earn a first round match against Neil Robertson.^[8]

Doherty had an excellent start to the 2011/2012 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.^[9] He couldn't replicate his form in the last 4, however, as he was beaten 2–6 by Mark Williams.^[10] In the remainder of the season Doherty qualified for the German Masters and the Welsh Open, but was defeated in the first round to Williams and Mark Allen respectively, without picking up a frame.^[11] He also reached the final of the non-ranking Lucan Racing Classic, losing 2–5 to Fergal O'Brien.^[12]

He was ranked 32nd in the world going into the 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 earn a first round match against Neil Robertson.^[13] He lost 4–10 and finished the season ranked world number 35.^[14][15]

Playing style[link]

Despite being most renowned as a clever tactician, he is a heavy scorer when in around the balls at close quarters and has compiled over 250 centuries to date, making him one of only thirteen players to compile over 200 centuries.^[16] This relatively cautious approach has led to the nickname "Crafty Ken".

Doherty's early career had begun with practice in Jason's of Ranelagh, Dublin, where he used to play handicap snooker tournaments on Saturday mornings before moving on to national level. This club closed in 2006 and he now practises in a Dublin hotel. In his first national event, an U-16 ranking tournament, Doherty lost in the final but would come back a month later and beat the man who had beaten him in the Irish U-16 National Championships.

Doherty has played his entire career with a warped cue randomly selected from the cue rack in his local snooker club, Jason's. Doherty humorously revealed that the club manager originally wanted £5 for it but Doherty haggled him down to £2. Ken Doherty explains, "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.^[17]

Media work[link]

Doherty has started working on TV coverage on snooker matches with the BBC snooker coverage team.

He became a regular commentator for the BBC starting with the 2009 Masters Tournament, following the sidelining of veteran expert Clive Everton.

Personal life[link]

Doherty resides in Rathgar and is married to Sarah, who is Australian. Their first child, a son named Christian, was born on 30 November 2007.^[18]

Doherty was nearly blinded in 2002 in a bathroom accident; after slipping, he struck an ornament, which narrowly missed his left eye. However, his distinctive scar on his right cheek dates back to his seventh birthday, when he fell off a shed roof on to a metal dustbin.^[17][19]

Doherty is a Manchester United fan and he paraded his trophy at Old Trafford in front of 55,000 spectators following his World Championship triumph. It is also said that Ken is a follower of Barnsley after attending Barnsley's pre-season friendly against Manchester City in 2009. The stadium announcer was heard saying at half time that there was a celebrity fan sitting in the upper East Stand at Oakwell and later revealed that it was Ken.

Although he has never made a 147 break in tournament play, Doherty did make one in a public exhibition in Ireland, in 2002. He made light of his prize on television shortly afterwards, which was allegedly €300, a BMX bicycle and a toy Ferrari car.

In May 2007, Doherty appeared on RTÉ's spoof show Anonymous, heavily disguised as a priest. 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. Still, Doherty's disguise was enough to fool his mother and wife.

Doherty currently represents Irish poker site 'VCPoker.ie', appearing on radio commercials, and regularly playing in tournaments where the players on the site receive a bonus for knocking him out.

Career finals[link]

Ranking event finals: 17 (6 titles, 11 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1992	Grand Prix	White, JimmyJimmy White	9–10
Winner	1.	1993	Welsh Open	McManus, AlanAlan McManus	9–7
Runner-up	2.	1993	Grand Prix (2)	Ebdon, PeterPeter Ebdon	6–9
Runner-up	3.	1994	UK Championship	Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry	5–10
Runner-up	4.	1995	German Open	Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins	3–9
Runner-up	5.	1996	Thailand Open	McManus, AlanAlan McManus	8–9
Winner	2.	1997	World Snooker Championship	Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry	18–12
Runner-up	6.	1998	World Snooker Championship	Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins	12–18
Winner	3.	2000	Malta Grand Prix	Williams, MarkMark Williams	9–3
Winner	4.	2001	Welsh Open (2)	Hunter, PaulPaul Hunter	9–2
Winner	5.	2001	Thailand Masters	Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry	9–3
Runner-up	7.	2001	Scottish Open	Ebdon, PeterPeter Ebdon	7–9
Runner-up	8.	2001	UK Championship (2)	O'Sullivan, RonnieRonnie O'Sullivan	1–10
Runner-up	9.	2002	Welsh Open	Hunter, PaulPaul Hunter	7–9
Runner-up	10.	2002	UK Championship (3)	Williams, MarkMark Williams	9–10
Runner-up	11.	2003	World Snooker Championship (2)	Williams, MarkMark Williams	16–18
Winner	6.	2006	Malta Cup	Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins	9–8

Non-ranking wins[link]

• Benson & Hedges Championship: 1991
• Scottish Masters: 1993, 1994
• Premier League Snooker: 1996, 1998
• Malta Grand Prix: 1997
• Irish Masters: 1998
• Irish Professional Championships: 1993, 2006, 2007
• Pot Black: 2007
• Irish Classic: 2008

Other Wins[link]

• Pro Challenge Series – Event 2: 2009

Amateur wins[link]

• IBSF World Amateur Championship: 1989
• IBSF World Under 21 Championship: 1989

Performance timeline[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Doherty, Ken (2011). Ken Doherty – Life in the Frame – My Story. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84358-504-6. 

External links[link]

• "Ken Doherty". WorldSnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 2007–2010 [copyright date]. "Players Alphabetical" section. http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/PlayersAlphabeticalArticle/0,,13165~2233698,00.html. Retrieved 7 September 2011.  Official WPBSA player profile.
• Ken Doherty at CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database
• Profile at Global Snooker
• Profile at Pro Snooker Blog