Doherty on a 'slippery slope'

SNOOKER: Ken Doherty has failed in his bid to reach the World Snooker Championship after the 1997 champion and three-time finalist…

SNOOKER:Ken Doherty has failed in his bid to reach the World Snooker Championship after the 1997 champion and three-time finalist slumped to defeat against Gerard Greene in the final qualifying round.

The Dubliner dropped out of the top 16 at the end of last season, after a 15-year stint among the elite players, meaning he was no longer guaranteed a place in the Crucible main draw.

His slump continued today at the English Institute of Sport venue in Sheffield, on the final day of the three-day qualifying event, as he tripped up 10-5 against Northern Irish opponent Greene.

“I’m on a slippery slope and I don’t know where it will finish,” Doherty said on worldsnooker.com. “I’ll be back next season, but maybe not for too long, the way things are going.”

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Greene led 6-3 after the first session and pressed home his advantage in the afternoon to make sure of his place in the televised stages of the tournament which begin on April 18.

The 35-year-old will hope to improve on his record on snooker’s biggest stage, having lost all three of his previous first-round matches at the Crucible.

While Doherty, 39, bowed out, former semi-finalist Joe Swail thrashed Matthew Couch 10-1 to ensure he will be returning to South Yorkshire next month.

Scunthorpe player Couch had knocked out the 1991 champion John Parrott to reach the final round of qualifying, however he was crushed by Swail.

Swail, 39, dropped out of the world’s top 16 players after his defeat to Liang Wenbo in the second round at the Crucible last year, but a polished performance against Couch guaranteed he will return to the Sheffield theatre.

The draw for the first round of the World Championships takes place tomorrow morning, with two-time former winner Mark Williams and Stephen Lee among the big-name players currently ranked outside the top 16 to have come through the qualifying stage.