Ken Doherty is a living legend in the snooker world and he’s received some good news this weekend.
The World Snooker Tour has once again handed him another two-year wildcard to remain on the professional tour.
Doherty will now take his career into a 35th and 36th year as he looks to continue mixing it with the big boys.
The Darling of Dublin won snooker’s biggest prize in 1997, winning the World Snooker Championship after beating Stephen Hendry in the final.
In recent years the trophies – and the victories – have dried up but it’s fair to say that he still loves to compete on the tour.
After being handed another tour card for two years, Doherty has been discussing his thought process ahead of the call.
What Ken Doherty has said after receiving new tour card
Doherty is many snooker fans’ favourite player and this news will certainly be well received.
There is an argument in some quarters that by accepting the two-year wildcard, he’s robbing a player on the Challenger Tour a chance to be a professional.
However, it doesn’t always work like that and Doherty has earned his stripes in the sport and is also a solid ambassador for snooker.
It appears that Doherty thought long and hard this time around before deciding whether or not to accept the new tour card.
He told Sportsboom: “I have thought about retirement a fair bit, but it’s a massive decision because snooker is all I’ve ever known.
“But I still love the game and I still love competing. Whenever that stops, I’m sure I’ll know when the time is right to stop, but the wildcard is a great opportunity for me to enjoy two more seasons on the tour.”
Doherty will hope to cause a shock or two this season
In our view, once you’ve won the World Championship you should automatically be allowed a wildcard to remain on the tour.
Snooker is a game that is still relatively small in many countries and the only way to raise interest is by keeping the legends around.
Doherty definitely fits that category and he’s largely busy on the tour anyway as he still works for BBC Sport on the big tournaments.
It’s good that Barry Hearn and his Matchroom team still value the input of Doherty on the tour and he will now aim to cause a stir next season.
His days of winning tournaments might be over but for Doherty, it’s all about enjoyment and he will hope to claim a scalp or two this season.