26.10.09

WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO WEMBLEY

The race is on for a place in the Wembley Masters and Ken Doherty must be one of the front runners.

Last season, Doherty arrived at Pontin’s in Prestatyn having spent 15 years in the elite top 16.

It was a comedown and took some getting used to. The 1997 world champion must have been wondering how this could have happened so suddenly.

He didn’t get used to it last year but he has now and has won all four of his matches at the North Wales qualifying school so far this season.

Doherty, now 40, won the Masters qualifying event in 1991 when he was 22.

Much has happened in his career since but he still possesses great guile and, with his confidence high, he has a spring in his step at the moment.

He competed at Wembley for 17 successive seasons until 2008.

It was the tournament where he suffered his worst moment as a professional when he missed the black off its spot on 140 in the 2000 final against Matthew Stevens, thus missing out on a sports car worth £80,000 and a slice of snooker history 16 years after Kirk Stevens made the first Masters maximum.

Ken thinks he will be remembered for that shot. He won’t be. He’ll be remembered for being world champion but it’s also true that the likes of me invariably bring it up when writing about him in connection with the game's premier invitation event.

The Irishman starts out against Michael White, who beat him in one of the pro-am finals at Prestatyn recently.

If not Doherty for the title then who?

The likes of Ricky Walden, Jamie Cope and last year’s winner, Judd Trump, are always worth following as is Stuart Bingham, the only player to win this qualifying event twice.

And Matt Selt is yet to lose a match at Prestatyn this season so has to be fancied to do well.

How about an outsider? Well, experience can only be a help so Fergal O’Brien is my dark horse.

It’s nine years since he lost 10-9 in the final to Paul Hunter, the first of Paul’s three terrific comebacks.

Fergal tells me he has joined Lucan Harriers and is now running up to six miles at a time.

This doesn’t mean he is going to start storming back up the rankings but it suggests a positive attitude if nothing else.

59 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dave nooooo.... Ken - my favorite player)))))

Dave H said...

Well that went well!

Anonymous said...

lol @ Dave

Glad to see Ben W beating "cocky" Matthew Selt. Well done Ben!

Anonymous said...

First Matthew Stevens is a dark horse for the Grand Prix and now this! Stick to reporting and not predicting Dave ;)

mathsisfun said...

Did anyone see Jimmy's 73 break to go 3-1 up? Two reds were top cushion, one red tight on the side cushion and the blue was on the side cushion as well. Jimmy cleared to the pink.

Anonymous said...

Doherty lost.
Selt lost.
Please, Dave, don't say Fergal will win. Don't do that to him!

Greg said...

Ha ha... every time!

Janie Watkins said...

Oh dear Commentator's Curse Dave!!!

Janie Watkins said...

Yes I watched Jimmy's match - class clearance.

jamie brannon said...

Fergal could win this he looks in okay form, but dont write off Jimmy after his recent win. I saw on Twitter you want Ken I dont know if thats so Clive can commentate as I imagine he won't if Ken isn't playing. You do seem to have a soft spot for Ken. He seems a nice guy, but I wouldnt say he is one of the most exciting players to watch.

jamie brannon said...

Just saw the viewing figures for the grand prix 1.63 million for the final session, about as good as last year, but behind the figures for Peter Andre the next Chapter (1.77 million) so not all positive

Dave H said...

I wanted Ken to do well because I like Ken.

He's been involved in many exciting matches down the years, not least at the 2003 World Championship.

mathsisfun said...

I'm interested to see the viewing figures for 110sport.tv

jamie brannon said...

I have no problem with that but Ebdon has been in exciting matches down the years and he is one of the worse to watch. I reckon doherty reads this blog thats why you banned that comment I wrote about him! I dont know if you can shed any light on this but why do certain players on the main tour not take part in the Masters qualifying as surely all get invited? Is it a financial thing?

RichP said...

I'd have fancied Doherty before the off but don't know what his price was. Best of nines are bad enough to predict but these best of sevens are effectively a bit of a lottery. I don't think there's a lot of value in having a punt on the favourites in this format.

Anonymous said...

Jamie, the answer is obvioulsly to get Peter Andre to start playing snooker...

JAMIE O'REILLY said...

Oh my God, David. Just having read your statement, regarding Doherty and April,May 2003 at The Crucible, how the memories come flooding back to me. I have them all on tape also. Last 32, A 10-9 thriller on the final black over Shaun Murphy. Last 16, an equally titanic stuggle to beat Graeme Dott 13-12. As Clive Everton said a few days after his quarter final. in it, " After thhe euphoria of leading John Higgins 10-0, in the Quarter finals, he had to face the unthinkable prospect of defeat, when Higgins came back to 10-7, and nearly 10-8, before Doherty closed out the match, 13-8. Last 4 against Paul Hunter, Doherty is still, I think, the only player to convert into a win, a defacit of 6 down with 9 to play , at 15-9, going into the final session. Previously in the match, having trailed 6-2 and 11-5. From 15-9, 8 frames from the concluding 9 for the Dubliner enabled him to prevail 17-16. In the final, he trailed Mark Williams, 7-1 after 1 session, 10-2 at the interval of the 2nd. Overnight he trialed 11-5. He drew back to 11 all, 12 all, 13 all, 14 all, 16-14 down, 16 all, eventually losing 16 16. Clive Everton came out with a great statement, with which I totally agree, when that final was over. He said, " It's Williams's title. In many respects, it's been Doherty's championship." 132 out of a possible 137 frames were played with Doherty's participation. I believe this to still be a record. Fantastic memories for me as a snooker fan.

JAMIE O'REILLY said...

mu finger was to quick thereDavid. Doherty of course lost 18-16 to Williams in that roller-coaster 2003 Crucible final.

Anonymous said...

Its usually an up and coming player who wins this, Doherty didn't fit the bill although I understand how wonder hindsight can be.
Someone like Martin Gould for me.

Dave H said...

The one thing I didn't factor in regarding this event - and should have done - is that there are no ranking points so the players are a little more releaxed

I also forgot it was best of 7s

Anonymous said...

not having a good day at this office, dave

;)

Anonymous said...

Janie said ‘Commentator's Curse’.

I really can’t understand: why do commentators feel compelled to make predictions? More often then not, they are wildly and hilariously wrong both in ‘predicting’ the shots in a game and in ‘predicting’ the results. What is this? Masochism? Self-Ego-flagellation? Informed(Hahaha!) theoretical gambling?

Dave H said...

Yeah, I didn't actually make any prediction.

I said Ken was one of the front-runners, which was true even though he lost today.

Anonymous said...

So if Ken had of won this you would have been shouting from the roof tops, he gets beat and you say "Yeah, I didn't actually make any prediction"
So what was this comment all about then "If not Doherty for the title then who?" this comment sound like you was predicting Ken.

Dave H said...

What was it Eric Morecambe said to Andre Previn?

Anonymous said...

"I am playing all the right notes....but not necessarilly in the right order."

lol Dave

Ruthie said...

Mr. Preview surely?

Anonymous said...

Mr preview,
freeview,
whatever next on this great blog :o

jamie brannon said...

So the fact there is no ranking points, is that why some players dont show up Dave?

Dave H said...

Yes, and that the prize fund is miniscule

Dave H said...

You''ll notice 'dark horse' Fergal O'Brien lost as well

I'm leaving the country

Anonymous said...

leave the blog open...

David Caulfield said...

You're still not as bad as Mark Lawrenson making Premiership predicitons

jamie brannon said...

Yes i see ist round losers get 105 quid, so with travel and hotel costs they would be making a loss. I would still play though as the Masters is one of the big 3 events.

Anonymous said...

honestly jamie...

some of these players do other things to make money...

taking time off can be at a premium

that coupled with the unlikely chance to qualify, they choose to make the decision to focus on ranking events.

yes, wed all love a chance to be able to, but in reality the chance isnt as lucrative.

sometimes i think you just post on here to wind folk up and to see your name.

Anonymous said...

Dave can you add an ignore button to this blog please, so we can all put Jamie on it. I get the impression hes just an attention seeker.

Anonymous said...

<< Dave H said:
You''ll notice 'dark horse' Fergal O'Brien lost as well
I'm leaving the country >>
well, maybe it's right decision.... Russia is ready to welcome you.... In this case Jimmy White has a chance to win )))

Anonymous said...

Rory McLeod conceded just 42 points in a 5-0 whitewash over Daniel Wells - is that some sort of record?

Dave H said...

Let's all try and get along

No it isn't a record: in this very event Maureen McCarthy once scored only two points, thus earning her the rather unfortunate nickname 'binary'

Anonymous said...

To Jamie O'reilly: You mention you have tapes of 2003 world championship ,any chance you could upload them to make available for downloading ? Anyone else have any torrent sites where we could access some recorded snooker ?

thanks

Anonymous said...

What a surprise, Trump loses again. Has there ever been a player who's had more predictions of glory and failed so spectacularly to live up to them?

Dave H said...

Apart from winning it last year you mean?

Anonymous said...

For some reason someone on here has it in for Trump.
If losing yesterday was significant, why does it not reflect on his already impressive CV that he won the thing last year?
His performances in winning the Championship League and his subsequent form in the Premier League show what a great talent he is.
And in short, I can think of 30 or 40 players who have been hyped up and achieved less than Trump who is still only twenty years old.
There seems to be much local rivalry in his part of the world, the match between Trump and Stephen Lee in the final world qualifier was a feisty affair.
Its a Trwobridge/Bristol thing maybe, the rest of us would never understand.

Dave H said...

Trump has problems at Prestatyn at the moment, three defeats from three matches this season.

However, he has already achieved more in the game than Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy did at his age and they are currently 2nd and 3rd in the world respectively.

Players mature at different ages. That's not to say Trump will be a world beater: nothing is certain.

But why would anyone take pleasure in someone else's failures and disappointments?

jamie brannon said...

I write on here as I am passionate about snooker. I dont understand why Dave puts up those posts about whether or not im winding up people it has nothing to do with snooker. People in snooker have their favourites so will bask in their glory and the people they dont like enjoy their failings it is a sad fact of sports supporting.

jamie brannon said...

The Whirlwind out sadly but Hamilton through and Wattana is still fighting against Stevens. Come on the Thaiphoon!

Anonymous said...

Like I say, I believe it to be a local thing David.

Dave H said...

Yes you may be right about that. I recall Stephen Lee making some rather ungracious comments about Trump after he beat him in the qualifiers.

jamie brannon said...

We say it was ungracious but at the same time Journalists love that sort of quote. To be honest I sort of like a bit of needle it creates rivalries and can add tension. I didn't agree with Ronnie's comments in 2002 before the Hendry World semi, but it sure made it more exciting, I think Willie said in commentary that he never anticipated a snooker match as much as this one. I personally think that next time Trump and Lee play it will be more exciting than what was said. Lee was not offensive in his comments he just started talking a bit like a boxer would. Trump and Mark King have had ftiction so maybe it is something to do with 'Golden Boy'. I actually think for the record though Trump will be a top eight player , but not an all time great. The truly great players of the last 20 years all won a ranking event as a teenager.

Dave H said...

You're not entirely right: some of what Lee said wasn't reported.

I know because I was there.

Dave H said...

I agree with you though on the O'Sullivan-Hendry thing. That was manna from Heaven for journalists, we couldn't lap it up quick enough.

It backfired on O'Sullivan, though.

Dave H said...

Mark Williams didn't win a ranking event as a teenager

jamie brannon said...

It did as Ronnie lost, but he played well in those days I supported Hendry, but I switched to Ronnie as I didnt appreciate his genius then. I know people will say it smacks of giving up on Hendry though. Fair enough about Williams as he is a great but Higgins, Ronnie and Hendry did, so too Ding and also Paul Hunter. I felt Hunter could have reached greatness if it wasn't for his sad death. Ding I still believe can. My theory is not 100 per cent right, but not far off the mark though.

As for Lee well Im only going off what was said in Snooker Scene. Unless he was racist or really damning about his family or something then I have no real problem with it I like Lee. King had annoyed Trump I must point out with swearing, but as King follows me on Twitter I won't have anything bad said about King! I want Hamilton to win it now, he can go slow Dave, but he is in the top ten breakbuilders off all time, it is a mystery in a way that he didn't win a ranking event.

Dave H said...

I like Stephen as well. I put his comments down mainly to euphoria.

I'm on record as saying I consider Anthony Hamilton to be the best player never to win a ranking event.

Would quite like Holty to win this now though as he'd be good value at Wembley.

Anonymous said...

Oii Brannon:

"I actually think for the record though Trump will be a top eight player , but not an all time great"

you are deluded if you think people who read this blog are remotely interested in your "for the record" statements. I agree with the above poster who asks if we can use an ignore button.

jamie brannon said...

I write my comments for my amusement, it is a bonus if people are interested in anything I have to say. Im all for freedom of speech, but I really don't get why Dave puts up comments like that as it is not about snooker, but I suppose that is the problem with blogs.

Anonymous said...

So you think your funny then James?
Hows the cat anyway?

Anonymous said...

jamie, i dont know why dave puts up your off topic comments on the most recent blog....

dave, this guy is more irritating than mr hey you!

Anonymous said...

Don't know about the cat but Jamie did have a magic torch.