Premier League Snooker - Brought To You By Betfred

World ranking: 2
World ranking last five seasons: 6-7-6-5-4
Date of birth:17-09-69
Lives: Ranelagh, Dublin
Turned professional:1990
Premier Snooker League Wins:2 – 1996, 1998
Ranking tournament victories: 6 - Regal Welsh 1993, 2001; Embassy World Championship 1997; Rothmans Grand Prix 2000; Thailand Masters 2001, Malta Cup 2006
Last season's prize money: £83,575
Career prize money (up to start of 2006-2007 season): £3,044,035
Highest tournament break:145 – Daily Record Players Championship 2004

LAST season was one of the finest in Ken Doherty’s career. Not only did he win a ranking tournament for the first time in five years, but he also secured enough points to jump from sixth to second in the world rankings.

His performances in 2005/06 season have led to him being picked for the 2006 Betfred Premier League Snooker competition, although he has played in the tournament before and won it in 1996 and 1998.

In February, Doherty won the Malta Cup for the first time ever as he clinched the last four frames to seal an amazing fightback and a 9-8 victory against John Higgins.

Doherty said: “I was dead and buried at 8-5 and I thought I had blown it. But I just told myself to stick in there and I never say die.

“This was my most important tournament win since the 1997 World Championship. I never doubted my ability or that I would win a title again, but I'm not getting any younger and the longer time goes on the harder it gets.

"I've never lost my hunger and appetite for the game and I hope I've still got one world title in me."

Doherty reached the last eight of this year’s 888.com World Snooker Championships but lost 13-10 to an in-form Marco Fu.

In other ranking competitions in the 2005/06 season, Doherty lost in the semi-final of the China Open against to John Higgins and went out the Travis Perkins UK Championships in the quarter-finals.

Doherty turned professional in 1990 and assured himself of a place in snooker’s history book seven years later when he ended Stephen Hendry’s five-year unbeaten run at the Crucible with an 18-12 victory in the final. He became the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win the world title and the first person to have taken the world professional and amateur titles (he captured the latter in 1989).

More than 250,000 fans lined the streets of Dublin to give him a hero’s welcome when he brought the trophy home and Doherty was named Ireland’s Sports Personality of the Year. He was back in the final at Sheffield the following year, but went down 18-12 to John Higgins.

His third Sheffield final came in 2003 after a series of spectacular Crucible comebacks. He beat Shaun Murphy 10-9, Graeme Dott 13-12 and Higgins 13-8 then came from 15-9 down to beat Hunter 17-16.

In the final, he battled from 10-2 down to 11-11 against Mark Williams but fell just short of the glittering prize as the Welshman triumphed 18-16. “I’ve had some great matches and those will always be etched on my memory. I dreamed of winning it but it wasn’t to be,” said Doherty.

He has won five other ranking titles, including the Thailand Masters and Regal Welsh back-to-back in 1991.

Doherty is a huge Manchester United fan and enjoyed one of his proudest moments when he paraded the world trophy around Old Trafford in front of 55,000 fans. He also enjoys visiting art galleries and watching opera and is married to Sarah, an Australian psychiatrist.