Ken Doherty: Ronnie O’Sullivan Has Plenty In The Tank; Brecel Is Dangerous

The snooker World Championship is already turning into one of the best tournaments in years, and former champion Ken Doherty spoke exclusively to The Panel about the latest action.

The Irishman gave his thoughts on Luca Brecel's hopes of repeating his 2023 success and Shaun Murphy's never-surrender attitude against Judd Trump when he refused to concede the match needing five snookers.

But the 1997 champion kicked off the interview by talking about Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid for an eighth title.  

O'Sullivan entered the tournament after a three-month break from the sport, and expectations were understandably low.

But 'The Rocket' beat Ali Carter 10-4 in his opening match and then crushed Pang Xunju to set up a quarter-final clash with Si Jiahui.

O'Sullivan has had an easy ride at The Crucible, but Doherty believes there is plenty more to come from one of the game's most enigmatic and talented figures.

He said: "I don't think O’Sullivan is playing at his best yet. There's plenty in the tank, plenty in reserve, because nobody has sort of touched him in a way.

"He's won two matches very convincingly, very easily. I think he'll be a right handful for Si Jiahui.

“If he does get past Si Jiahui, he's going to play Chris Wakelin or Zhao Xintong. He was the only former world champion in that top half of the draw when Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby went out.

“Then you've got four world champions in the bottom quarter, or bottom half, of the draw. So the draw is open for O’Sullivan, there's no doubt about that. And I think he'll take advantage.” 
 

Doherty also believes the Sheffield crowd could witness a classic encounter when Luca Brecel takes on another former champion, Judd Trump.

Brecel headed to The Crucible out of form and was in danger of falling at the first hurdle when he trailed Ryan Day 5-1 in the opening round.

However, the Belgian fought back for a 10-7 victory and then annihilated Ding Junhui in the second round.

Doherty thinks Brecel struggled to deal with the pressure of his astonishing triumph two years ago, but looks well equipped to challenge for the world title again.

He said: "When he came back here last year, there was a lot of talk about the ‘Crucible Curse’. 

"I don't think he handled being world champion very well; it seemed to play heavily on his mind about trying to live up to being world champion and certain things that came with it.

"He seemed to be enjoying himself going on different holidays. He was doing a wish-you-were-here, like sort of Judith Chalmers thing, rather than being a snooker player.

"This year he's had to get his head down because he could have fallen off the tour, believe it or not, because all the points that he won from his World Championship win two years ago were coming off this year - 500,000 points.

"But he got his head down, got a few results, his tour card was secure, and he's just come here with not a care in the world. And the way he played against Ding Junhui was just incredible stuff - great to watch."

Doherty is expecting a classic quarter-final contest, but he believes Trump may ultimately prove too strong.

"It's going to be a wonderful match-up because of the way Brecel is playing," Doherty said. "He is playing swashbuckling snooker, and it's going to be a fantastic match. 

"But I just think Trump is playing more consistently, and he's scoring a lot better than anybody else in the tournament.  

"Trump made a few centuries and got to the 100th century mark for the season. There was a bit of pressure for that, but he’s over that now.

"Even when Murphy came back from 12-6 to 12-10, Trump was under a bit of pressure, but he produced and got over the line in a couple of visits.

"He looks very self-assured, very confident. His scoring is brilliant, his long ball game is so good and he's got great power. He's got great finesse, he's got a great temperament, and everything seems to be coming together for Trump.” 

Doherty also defended the actions of Murphy, who refused to concede his second-round match against Trump despite needing five snookers.

Murphy subsequently said a frame should end when a player requires just one snooker, but that did not stop the 2025 world champion from dragging the game out against Trump.

Doherty said:  "Trump was a bit annoyed when Murphy came back to the table to try and play for five snookers. It was a little bit too much. There was no way he was going to win a frame from five snookers down.

"It has happened in the past, but against this level of opposition, I don't think it's going to happen. 

"Maybe Murphy was trying to irritate him a little bit, but Trump didn't take kindly to it. He hit a wallop with a red, it was a double kiss, the red went in and he ended up winning the frame and stopped Murphy coming back to the table.

"There was a little bit of needle between them. But it was very graceful at the end when Murphy shook his hand and just said ‘you played fantastic, and best of luck to you’, which was nice in the heat of battle. 

"It's good to show a bit of emotion as well. And if Murphy wants to use a little bit of tactics, so be it. There's nothing wrong with it, it's not illegal."