Exclusive: Snooker Legend Ken Doherty Backs New Cue to Extend Career as He Eyes 35th Pro Season

Former world champion Ken Doherty hopes a new cue will prolong his distinguished career ahead of the start of the new snooker.

And the six-time ranking event winner is relishing the chance to mix with the game’s elite at the ripe age of 55. 

“I’m trying out a new cue, which I got in March,” revealed Doherty. 

“I just thought I had to try something different. I’ve had my old cue since I was 11. That is 44 years! It is a long, long time."

“To get used to a new one is really hard, especially in a short space of time."

“I can play shots with the new cue that I couldn’t do before, but the simple stuff is a little bit harder."

“You get caught out with shots that you wouldn’t have before. There are pluses and minuses."

“But I’m going to stick with it for the time being. If this cue doesn’t work out, I’ll try another one."

“As a last resort, I may go back to the old one but I’m open to change."

“To be honest I should have made a change maybe 20 years ago. When you get a new cue it reinvigorates you. It gives you reason to practise.”

CROWING GLORY

Doherty’s crowning glory across an illustrious career was winning the famous Crucible crown in 1997, having also reached the final on two other occasions.

And the former world No 1, who turned professional in 1990, is rightly savouring every minute of what could prove to be his final season as a pro.

“I’m going to see how it goes,” admitted the popular Dubliner. 

“I’ll then maybe make up my mind at the end of the season."

“I love playing and I love the exhibitions. It is just a lot harder to put in the hours I need to be able to produce my best."

“I love the game and the competition. It does get more difficult as you get older."

“I’ll see how things go this year and then make a decision at the end of the season.”

The Shanghai Masters, the first ranking tournament of the new season, runs 28 July – 3 August at the Luwan Gymnasium.

And ahead of his 35th season in the professional game, Irishman Doherty can’t believe it was that long ago that he was first making his first moves in the green baize game. 

HUMBLE BEGINNING

“I was 11 years old and I didn’t have a cue,” he reflected. 

“I used to go into the snooker club, empty the ash trays, sweep the floor and brush the tables."

“Then I would get a free game. I found a cue on the pool rack and I could tell it wasn’t a house cue. I thought somebody had maybe left it behind."

“I started playing with it, liked it and I asked the manager if I could keep it? In a broad Dublin accent, he said if I gave him a fiver I could keep it."

“I asked my mother for the money and that I’d pay her back. She gave me the five pounds, I went to the post office and changed it to five single pound notes. I put two in one pocket and three in the other."

“I said to the manager, I only had two pounds as that was all we could afford. He took the two pounds out of my hand and that was the cue I won the World Junior Championship, World Amateur Championship and World Professional Championship with. They were all with that two pound cue."

“People may say why did you change? I wasn’t playing any good, so I thought a new cue would reinvigorate me. It is worth a try.”