Who was the first snooker player to win both the world amateur and professional championships?

Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter.

As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship. Having turned professional in 1990, Doherty has won a total of six ranking tournaments, including the 1997 World Snooker Championship in which he defeated Stephen Hendry, inflicting Hendry's first loss in a world final. This made him the first player, and so far one of only two (the other being Stuart Bingham) to have been world amateur and professional champion. The following year, he came very close to breaking the Crucible curse, reaching the 1998 final where he lost out to John Higgins. He reached a third final in 2003, in which he was defeated by Mark Williams. In other triple crown events, he is a three-time UK Championship runner-up and a two-time Masters runner-up.

An intelligent tactician and prolific break-builder, Doherty has compiled more than 300 century breaks in professional competition. Since 2009, he has combined his playing career with commentating and punditry work.