KEN DOHERTY (Republic of Ireland)

World ranking: 4
Last five seasons: 4-3-7-9-7
Date of birth: 17-09-69
Lives: Ranelagh, Dublin
Turned professional: 1990
Ranking tournament victories: 5
Last season�s prize money: �269,760
Career prize money: �2,232,781
Highest tournament break: 143

2001 was a memorable year for Ken Doherty who joined an elite band of snooker greats by clinching back-to-back ranking titles in Wales and Thailand.

Only a rejuvenated Peter Ebdon prevented the Irishman from making it three-in-a-row in the final of the Scottish Master.

The Dublin-based potter also led the Republic Of Ireland to the final of the Nations Cup in Reading, where Scotland proved too strong in a tense final at the Hexagon Theatre.

Doherty assured his place in snooker�s history books when becoming the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win the Embassy World Championship in 1997.

He kept Stephen Hendry waiting to claim a record seventh title with an against-the-odds 18-12 triumph.

In so doing, he became the first player to win both the world professional and amateur titles, having captured the latter in 1989.

More than 250,000 adoring fans lined the streets of Dublin to give him a hero�s welcome when he brought the trophy back home.

Named Ireland�s Sports Personality of the Year for his achievement, Doherty was hailed as �a fine ambassador and role model for the youth of the country� by the then president Mary Robinson.

In 1991 - Doherty�s first season as a professional - he came close to ousting six-times world champion Steve Davis in the first round at Sheffield.

Davis won a classic encounter 10-8 and it was three years until Doherty returned to the Crucible.

In the meantime, he captured his first world ranking event, the 1993 Regal Welsh, added the Regal Masters and established himself as one of the game�s leading players.

No first-time champion has ever successfully defended his title at the Crucible but Doherty made a valiant attempt at it in 1998 when he again reached the final.

He closed from 10-5 down to trail John Higgins just 13-11 going into the final session before the Scot pulled away to win 18-12.

He went out in the quarter-finals to Mark Williams in 1999 and lost 13-12 to Anthony Hamilton in the last 16 in 2000.

Although one of the form men going into Sheffield showpiece last year, the Irishman could not continue his run of form, suffering a 13-6 quarter-final reverse at the hands of John Higgins.