Ken Doherty: It will be crying shame if Ding or Trump join Jimmy White as snooker nearly man

Updated 27/04/2019 at 21:10 GMT

Ken Doherty explains to Desmond Kane how he dealt with the expectation levels of being one of the best players never to have won the world title until his 1997 glory year.

Jimmy White of England (seated) and Stephen Hendry of Scotland (playing) during the World Snooker Championship Final at the Crucible in Sheffield on 2nd May 1994. Hendry defeated White 18-17.

Image credit: Eurosport

Always a bridesmaid, never a green baize bride. Being a snooker nearly man is one of the toughest legacies in professional sport. When you ask an unsuspecting member of the public what they remember most about Jimmy White, the first recollection is probably of 'The Whirlwind' losing six World Championship finals in the 1980s and 1990s.

It is perhaps unfair to the talent, technique and temperament White, the oldest player still on tour at the age of 56, exhibited on the table back in the day, but one that any aspiring player putting their skills on the line in the annual torture chamber must accept. Second place is nowhere in sport, and is a form of potting purgatory from which there may be no escape.

Former UK winner White lost world finals to Steve Davis in 1984, John Parrott in 1991 and Stephen Hendry in 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994.

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If White is regarded as the greatest player never to have lifted the old pot, he has two obvious rivals for the title of leading Crucible nearly man in Ding Junhui and Judd Trump, a dashing duo who face each other here in the last 16 starting on Saturday night.

Ding and Trump meet for the fourth time at the Crucible in recent years. Ding won 13-10 in the last 16 in 2016 with Trump trouncing China's leading man in the quarter-finals four years ago. Trump also usurped Ding 17-15 in an absorbing semi-final in 2011.

Judd Trump of UK (L) shakes hands with Ding Junhui of China in the quarter-finals match during day twelve of the 2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship at Crucible Theater on April 29, 2015 in Sheffield, England.

Image credit: Eurosport

They are two prodigious talents, but at least one will be going home to pore over another barren year at the sport’s blue-chip event.

“There are so many fantastic players down through the years that never got the chance to life the world championship,” Doherty told Eurosport.

"Kirk Stevens was a great player from Canada who never won it along with Jimmy of course.

Judd Trump and of course Ding Junhui are arguably the two finest players playing today not to have won it. If one of those two players don’t win it, it will be a crying shame along with one of my heroes Jimmy White who never got to win it. He got to six finals, but nothing is guaranteed in sport, and nothing is guaranteed in life.

“All of you have to do is keeping putting yourself in those positions, hope the stars will align and everything will fall into place and you are going to win it.

“That is what one of these two lads have to hope for because one of them isn't going to win it this year."

Judd Trump powered his way to the final in 2011, but came up just short in losing 18-15 to John Higgins while Ronnie O’Sullivan did for him 17-11 in the last four in 2013 and Stuart Bingham 17-16 in 2015. All three men were champions that year.

Ding was clipped 18-14 by Mark Selby in the 2016 final, and was again denied 17-15 by the world number two in the 2017 semi-finals. So near yet so far has been the story for both men, and the longer the wait goes on the more the burden of expectation starts to grow. Trump will turn 30 in August, Ding is 33. There have both won the UK Championship and the Masters, but not the big one. Time is rolling on.

Ken Doherty shows off his trophy at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United.

Image credit: Eurosport

Doherty, nicknamed the 'Darlin' of Dublin', had to shoulder the unfortunate moniker of “future world champion” until he finally made good on his early promise by carrying off the title with an 18-12 victory over Stephen Hendry in 1997.

"They are both potentially world champions who are playing unbelievable snooker,” said Doherty. “Ding was playing unbelievable snooker, but lost two years in a row, once to Mark Selby in the final in 2016 and the semi-finals in 2017.

“If it was anybody else he probably would have won. It would be great for Ding to win it, but it would also be great for Judd Trump to win it. He’s an entertainer, he’s exciting. He’s young, he’s great to watch.

“He had a chance against John Higgins in the final in 2011, but since then has been struggling to impress himself on it.

“He’s had a couple of semi-finals, but I would hope both would win it at some stage. It would be certainly be good for the game.

“This is what we all play for, we grew up watching this tournament above the rest. It’s the pinnacle.

“In golf, you get four goes at it in the Majors, but that’s what makes this harder to win because it only passes this way once a year. For these guys, it would be a cherry on the cake.”

Ding makes sparkling 134

Doherty, who combines his playing career with punditry duties, recalls his day in the sun at the Crucible vividly despite 22 years having passed.

At the age of 27, he was facing the Crucible’s most formidable winner in Hendry, whose seven titles between 1990-1999 still betters what anybody has managed in these parts.

“For me in 1997, when the opportunity came along I was playing the greatest player to have ever played at the Crucible, “ said Doherty.

"He was unbeaten at the Crucible and was going for six in a row, but even then when I was only seven years a professional, I thought to myself: 'This is your opportunity, don’t lose it because you may not get another opportunity'.

“That’s the way I felt, and I’m not sure Judd felt like that when he lost to Higgins eight years ago here.

“He might have, but he probably thought I’m going to have plenty of more opportunities, but for me I was adamant this was my chance.

I didn’t care who I was playing. I knew I was up against the best, but I saw myself lifting the cup, I visualised it and I went to bed having dreamt it when I was here. I just knew this was my chance to grasp it. I knew I was going to lift it that year, and that kept me nice and calm.

“I wish I had felt that for many years afterwards, but it didn’t happen.

“It took the pressure off me. I had such a great year with the trophy and being world champion, I didn’t want to give it back.

“I wanted to hold on to it, and I lost to Higgins in the final in 1998. I feel for both of these guys. It’s a big match for both of them, and the fact Ronnie O’Sullivan is out in the bottom half of that draw means it has opened up.”

China boasting their own world champion would be another boost for a sport that is booming in the Far East, but Doherty is not so sure a new face is going to be lifting the trophy.

“It’s massive already in China, but it would be huge for the game in China and Asia if Ding wins it. It would increase his profile back home.

“Even though it so big over there, it would be massive to have their own world champion.

"I'd like to see someone new win the trophy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think someone who has already lifted the trophy will win it again.”

Desmond Kane at the Crucible Theatre

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