Ken "The Darlin' of Dublin" Doherty

After two semi-finals in the 1991/1992 season (his second as a professional), Doherty first made an impact by reaching 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 2007/2008 season. In the 1994 World Championship he reached the quarter-finals, his only run past the first round before 1997.

After Horace Lindrum from Australia and Cliff Thorburn from Canada in 1980, Doherty became only the third player from outside the United Kingdom 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.