The Northern Ireland Open isn’t even 24 hours old but thoughts already turn to the next ranking event, the Betway UK Championship, which starts on Tuesday in York. Once again, 128 players descend on the Barbican Centre to contest one of the most prestigious tournaments on the calendar each season.[Read More…]
Tag: Ken Doherty
Allen and Doherty Advance in Northern Ireland
Mark Allen won his grudge match with Mark Joyce to reach the second round of his home event at the Northern Ireland Open on Tuesday. In a fiery contest, the Antrim man ousted old foe Joyce 4-1 in front of an army of local supporters in Belfast. The origin of[Read More…]
International Championship Preview
Sunday marks the return of the International Championship – China’s most lucrative ranking event. Daqing stages the tournament for a second occasion after its relatively successful initial outing 12 months ago. While the week wasn’t a sellout by any stretch of the imagination, it was a marked improvement from the event’s[Read More…]
Ken Doherty and Fergal O’Brien Reach International Championship
Qualifying for upcoming ranking events continued at the Preston Guild Hall on Thursday with the first day of the International Championship qualifiers. Ronnie O’Sullivan, entering the event for the first time in two years, withstood a spirited fight back from James Cahill to deny the 20 year-old 6-4. The ‘Rocket’[Read More…]
Ken Doherty Suffers Another Early Loss
It was a mixed second day for Irish duo Fergal O’Brien and Ken Doherty after another busy round of qualifying for the Shanghai Masters in Barnsley. O’Brien managed a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Allan Taylor to reach the penultimate round but his fellow Dubliner lost the last two frames in[Read More…]
Higgins and Doherty Reach Riga
The Riga Masters qualifying round got under way on Friday with half the field earning their place in Latvia later this month. Unlike most ranking events, the Riga Masters follows an open draw structure so there was no protection for the higher seeds in the early stages. Arguably the match[Read More…]
Boileau Loses on Pro Debut
Josh Boileau couldn’t get his professional career off to a dream start as he was defeated by Matthew Stevens in the World Open qualifying at Preston. Boileau compiled the highest break of the match, a 51 in the fourth frame, but that was as good as it got as the[Read More…]
Whirlwind Wins First Match in Almost a Year
Jimmy White won hist first ranking event match since the start of last August after beating Ali Carter 4-1 on Monday. In doing so, the ten times ranking event champion qualified for the Indian Open in July, where he’ll face fellow veteran Joe Swail. White won only one match in[Read More…]
It’s There! The Return of Free Ball
Regular readers may remember that this time last year there was a ghostly (ghastly?) guest writer during the 2015 World Championship. Free Ball, as s/he mysteriously wishes to be known as, offered snippets of reflection on the various happenings at the Crucible that may have gone unnoticed to the untrained eye.[Read More…]
Drama Unfolding as Qualifiers Reach Conclusion
The first day of the final round of qualifying for the Betfred World Championship took place on Tuesday. Wednesday’s Judgement Day is set up nicely with an appropriate balance of runaway ties and close encounters to follow, as 16 hopefuls attempt to book their coveted spots at the Crucible. This[Read More…]