Doherty wins again

Ken Doherty retained the vcpoker.ie Irish Professional Championship with a 9-2 win over Fergal O’Brien in Dublin tonight.

Doherty thrashed his fellow Dubliner to take the trophy for the second year running, and a third time in total.

The 38 year-old built a 6-2 first-session lead and fired in a 111 break when play resumed, before quickly adding the two more frames he needed to remain top dog in Irish snooker.

He said: “This tournament may not mean much to the professionals from other parts of the world – but to the Irish it means an awful lot. I can’t emphasise that enough.

“It’s always nice to win, no matter what you play in – and to beat good quality players like Fergal is especially good.

“From 6-2 up I played really well. I hardly gave Fergal a shot, played some good safety and felt every time I got in I’d win the frame.”

O’Brien, the world number 37, was appearing in the final for the first time in his career – and afterwards admitted Doherty had outplayed him.

“Ken played excellent snooker to close out the match,” he said.

“It didn’t quite happen for me, and in the second session he played some excellent safety and didn’t miss when he got in.”