Ken Doherty produced a fine display to thrash Haydon Pinhey 10-3 in the first round of the 2025 World Snooker Championship qualifiers on Wednesday.
The Irishman hasn’t qualified to compete at the Crucible Theatre since 2014 but is off to a strong start in the preliminaries at the English Institute of Sport.
Doherty recently gave up the £2 cue that he had been playing with his entire career, replacing it with a similar-spec wand that was crafted in Thailand.
So far, so good as the 55 year-old won all nine frames of the opening session against Pinhey before repelling a mini fight back in the evening’s play.
“Obviously the damage was done in that first session,” 1997 winner Ken Doherty told the World Snooker Tour.
“I was delighted with the new cue, I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest.”
“But I played okay, I played alright. I won some frames earlier today…I stole about three or four frames, and that broke the back of the match.
“I’d been thinking about it for a while, but I just thought what have I got to lose? I haven’t been doing anything with the cue.
“I just sort of felt that the power had gone out of it, there were certain shots I just couldn’t play. The cue was popping out of my hand a little bit.
“So I got this one made, and I thought I’d see how it goes. There’s a lot more power in it, it stays in the hand, and I’m happy with it.
“I’m still not that sharp. I’m not as sharp as I’d like to be, I’ve only had it about three or four weeks.
“But it’s one of those where you get a little bit excited, because it’s like a new toy. I’m going to see how it progresses.
“We’ll see what happens, but I’m going to keep it and play with it.
“It’s like a new romance after you’ve been with someone for a long, long time. Then all of a sudden, you’ve found a new romance.
“That’s what it’s like at the moment. I don’t know how long it’s going to last – there might be a break-up – but we’ll see how it goes.
“At the moment, the cue and I are still in love.”
Ken Doherty needs three more wins if he is to qualify for the main draw, with David Lilley representing his opponent in the second round.
The first round at the World Snooker Championship qualifiers concluded on Wednesday, meanwhile.
Recent European amateur champion Liam Highfield was among the other winners after beating women’s world champion Bai Yulu.
Elsewhere, the second round in Sheffield commenced with Doherty’s countryman Aaron Hill orchestrating a 9-0 advantage over a helpless Haris Tahir.
Zak Surety, Mitchell Mann, and Ishpreet Singh Chadha also look primed to advance after scoring big leads against Antoni Kowalski, Liu Hongyu, and Mateusz Baranowski respectively.
Rory Thor, Daniel Wells, and Dylan Emery boast narrower advantages against Hammad Miah, Huang Jiahao, and Joe Perry.
A defeat in the qualifiers for the latter would signal the end of his three-decade long career as a professional on the main tour.
Among those entering the fray on Thursday will be three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu, Mark Davis, and Jordan Brown.
Zhao Xintong also returns for his second match, with the 28 year-old a big favourite to beat fellow Chinese competitor Long Zehuang.
Featured photo credit: WST
