Doherty thrown off flight after masters victory

FORMER World Snooker Champion Ken Doherty was ejected from a scheduled flight from Malta to Britain on Sunday night, after picking up his first masters victory in five years.

Doherty and his co-finalist in the Malta Cup, John Higgins, were removed from their scheduled flight back to Britain after allegations they were drunk.

While witnesses said Higgins was clearly drunk, Doherty seems to have been ejected for objecting to Higgins being thrown off.

One passenger said: “Ken didn’t seem to be drunk and it looked like he was trying to help John out but the crew told him that if he didn’t like the decision he could leave as well.”

A passenger is understood to have complained to the cabin crew before a decision was taken to remove the players from the flight from Valletta to Heathrow.

“It’s perfectly reasonable for the captain to be thinking about the safety of his passengers but I honestly thought we were fine,” Higgins said.

A passenger said: “John had obviously had a fair amount to drink. He was allowed on to the plane but the stewards seemed to think he’d cause problems for the other passengers.

“He wasn’t aggressive towards anybody and accepted the decision without any aggravation.”

Doherty recovered from 8-5 down to edge Higgins 9-8 and capture his first ranking event title since the Thailand Masters in 2001.

An Air Malta spokesman said: “We took the decision to remove a couple of people who may have caused other passengers inconvenience.”

Doherty won the world title in 1997 and is regarded as one of snooker’s finest ambassadors.

Higgins succeeded Doherty as Crucible king in 1998 and has won 17 ranking titles during his 14-year professional career.

World Snooker, the game’s governing body, is unlikely to take disciplinary action.