Veteran Parrot swoops to deepen Doherty crisis
Ken Doherty is facing the biggest crisis of his snooker career after his season took another nosedive with a crushing defeat in the Royal London Watches Grand Prix yesterday.
Doherty missed out on a place at the tournament proper, in Glasgow next month, when he was whitewashed 5-0 by veteran campaigner John Parrott in the final qualifying round at Prestatyn, north Wales.
Having been soundly beaten 5-1 by Parrott's fellow golden oldie Jimmy White at the same stage of the Shanghai Masters, Doherty, who turned 39 last week, was desperate to secure a trip to Scotland.
Instead, he failed to fire, and 1991 world champion Parrott boosted his own confidence with an 87 break in the second frame and never looked back.
"Ken is struggling at the moment but I still had to be very solid and produce some good match-play," said Parrott.
The result was a big blow for the Dubliner, relegated from the top 16 in May after 15 consecutive seasons as a member of the elite.
Doherty is now guaranteed to fall several spots from his current 32nd position on the provisional world ranking list when the Shanghai Masters and Grand Prix are completed.
There was also more gloom for Irishman Michael Judge, who went down 5-2 to Michael Holt. Judge has played three matches in world ranking events this season and lost them all.
- Phil Yates
