Ken Doherty: Former world champion announces retirement

Former world champion Ken Doherty has announced his retirement from professional snooker after a 36-year career.

Doherty, 56, reached the pinnacle of the sport by beating Stephen Hendry 18-12 in the 1997 Crucible final, which cost him £2.

The Irishman, who turned professional in 1990, has won six ranking events and a total of 17 titles.

He also reached two more World Championship finals in 1998 and 2003 and narrowly missed out on other Triple Crown events, reaching the UK Championship final three times and finishing runner-up at the Masters twice.

However, Doherty, who was world number two in the 2006-07 season, has split his time between the game and punditry after falling down the rankings in recent years and competing on the main tour courtesy of an invitation-only card.

Doherty said, “It was sad when I made the decision at first, but now I’m happy with it. I wasn’t going anywhere and even if I played a few more years, I’d realize I wasn’t going to get any better.”