By Elliott West
“To win this event for the first time a year ago was something special but to beat Stephen in Scotland is something special”.
Ken Doherty
Introduction
Ken Doherty is most notably known for his 1997 World Championship victory when he defeated Stephen Hendry 18-12 in the final. However, in 1994 Doherty claimed the Regal Scottish Masters title, a title that he had won twelve months earlier, defeating Alan McManus 10-9. In a thrilling final with Stephen Hendry, the Irishman set the Motherwell Civic Centre ablaze by beating his Scottish opponent 9-7 and claiming the £50,000 winner’s prize.
The Path to Victory
The World No 7 initially thought in this match that he was going to come a cropper against his formidable nemesis. Despite leading the match 5-2 and then 8-5, Hendry went into winning mode and quickly hoovered up the required frames to trail only one frame behind his opponent. A nightmare scenario that caused Ken to start having visions that he may end up like Mike Hallett when he surrendered a massive lead to the Scot, to lose the Benson and Hedges Masters final in 1991, 9-8.
So the fifth frame really was a crunch point for Doherty because if he lost it, he would have to play a deciding frame and he really didn’t want to do that, especially against someone who was dominating the sport at the time. Fortunately, Ken turned up the gas and won it, managing to push back the Scot who was snapping at his heels. The Irishman won this match because he played hard snooker, making some decisive frame-winning breaks, a glimpse of this sparking form had been shown earlier in the tournament when he attained a 137 break, the highest in the competition in his quarter-final clash against Mike Hallett, a match that won comfortably 6-4.
This performance has been just one of many that prove Ken Doherty has the bottle and motivation to win. A year and a tournament that he not only dispatched Hendry in the final but took out Ronnie O’Sullivan along this winning route by winning the match on the final pink 6-5. A pink which he had to to take a large gulp of water before he potted it and a deep intake of breath.
