Ken Doherty: Snooker Legend’s Life Beyond the Baize

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Ken Doherty: From Snooker Champion to Celebrity Encounters and Ronnie O’Sullivan Rivalry

Ken Doherty, the 1997 World Snooker Champion and Dublin native, remains one of the sport’s most charismatic figures. Known as “Crafty Ken,” the 55-year-old continues to contribute to snooker as a BBC pundit, offering expert analysis despite not competing in this year’s World Championships.

In 2019, Doherty was spotted in Hong Kong enjoying a memorable evening with martial arts and film superstar Jackie Chan, whose net worth is estimated at £300 million. The pair reportedly played snooker together before heading to a local karaoke bar. Doherty shared the experience on social media, saying, “Great to meet Jackie Chan here in HK, gonna teach him some of my moves.”

After 20 years of marriage, Doherty and his wife Sarah separated in 2022. Married in 2001, the couple remain on good terms and focus on co-parenting their son, Christian.

Doherty reflected on the breakup in an interview with EVOKE: “It’s strange. When you get married you think it is for life. But if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. I think the most important thing for me and from the separation from my wife was that it hasn’t affected my son. And my son and I are very, very close. It’s a strange thing but life goes on.”

Doherty’s relationship with fellow snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan has been complex over the years.

The two first practiced together when Doherty was 18 and O’Sullivan just 12, with Doherty recalling, “His father used to send a taxi for me to come and play with him… When people ask me who was the best player you ever played with, was it Stephen or Ronnie? I say ‘I used to beat Ronnie all the time,’ now he was only 12 at the time, but it still counts in my book.”

However, as professionals, their relationship cooled. Doherty admitted, “Ronnie and I used to play in the same club… Over the years when we were professionals, we had our differences and we wouldn’t always play together. We sort of blanked each other for a while.”

Despite this, they reunited to practice intensively before the 1997 World Championship, which Doherty won, crediting these sessions for sharpening their skills: “For the World Championship in 1997, we put our differences aside and practiced together for the two weeks coming up to the World Championships… Ronnie O’Sullivan, the same year I won in 1997, made that 147 in five minutes and 20 seconds.”

The rivalry also includes moments of tension. In 2020, after O’Sullivan made disparaging remarks about other players, Doherty responded, “Name another sportsman that would slag off the rest of the tour saying they are not that good… All of those players look up to Ronnie and he has a duty to them as an ambassador to the game.”

Doherty also humorously recalled how they “blanked each other” at times during their careers.

Adding levity, Doherty joked on the BBC about O’Sullivan’s recent frustrations, saying, “I said, ‘how’s it going with Ronnie O’Sullivan? After a month with him he has smashed up his cue and pulled out of the Masters’,” which amused his colleagues.

Doherty also recounted the awkward aftermath of the 1998 Irish Masters, when O’Sullivan was stripped of the title due to a positive cannabis test. O’Sullivan had initially defeated Doherty 9-3 in the final, but the title and £60,000 prize were awarded to Doherty after the disqualification. Doherty said, “He never spoke to me for about six months afterwards… He was absolutely gutted. I wasn’t, though.” He also quipped it was the “most expensive joint he’s [O’Sullivan’s] ever smoked in his life.”

While Doherty no longer competes at the highest level, his influence endures through commentary and his colorful history with snooker’s top stars. Meanwhile, O’Sullivan continues to chase an eighth World Championship title, with Doherty offering insights from the sidelines.

This glimpse into Doherty’s life reveals a man whose career has been marked by triumph, personal challenges, and a storied rivalry that has helped shape modern snooker.