Fergal O’Brien ended his 33-year tenure as an expert snooker participant on Tuesday after dropping 10-8 to Mostafa Dorgham in Sheffield.

The favored Irishman, who introduced earlier this season that this could be his final, had aspirations of enjoying on the Crucible Theatre for the primary time in seven years.

However a disappointing reverse within the opening spherical of the World Snooker Championship qualifiers introduced the curtain down on an extended profession among the many sport’s elite.

Right here we check out just a few of the Dubliner’s most memorable moments and achievements on the primary tour.

Rating occasion champion

Having first turned skilled in 1991, Fergal O’Brien had established himself as a worthy opponent for any of the highest stars by the center of the last decade.

He featured prominently within the Eire aspect that reached the ultimate of the World Cup in 1996, ultimately dropping to a Scottish unit that included Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, and Alan McManus.

By the tip of the Nineties, O’Brien had began making appearances on the enterprise finish of rating occasions extra often.

Glory at that degree duly got here on the 1999 British Open, when the then 27 year-old beat Higgins within the semi-finals and Anthony Hamilton within the ultimate to etch his title onto the silverware.

O’Brien would later function in two extra finals with rating factors on the road – ending because the runner-up within the 2007 Northern Eire Trophy and once more on the Gdynia Open PTC occasion of 2014.

Masters disappointment

The 2001 Masters ultimate is fondly remembered for the comeback heroics of Paul Hunter, who enlisted an notorious “Plan B” to battle again from behind and declare the celebrated title for the primary of 3 times.

Hunter’s opponent that day was, after all, Fergal O’Brien.

Taking part within the invitational for less than the second time, O’Brien beat world primary Mark Williams 6-5 within the first spherical.

A 6-2 conquer fellow Dubliner Ken Doherty adopted, and he subsequently reached the ultimate with a 6-4 defeat of Dave Harold.

The whole lot was trying good for a maiden success in considered one of snooker’s majors, however O’Brien squandered a 7-3 lead as Hunter powered again with a burst of scoring earlier than edging a dramatic decider.

Two-hour decider

Talking of deciders, O’Brien was concerned in one other for the ages throughout qualification for the 2017 World Snooker Championship.

Already identified for his dogged, never-say-die perspective and a sturdy temperament that earned him the nickname “Fearless Fergal”, O’Brien took it to extremes towards David Gilbert within the ultimate preliminary spherical in Sheffield that 12 months.

The scores locked at 9-9 and with the winner set to guide a sizzling ticket on the Crucible Theatre, O’Brien and Gilbert couldn’t be separated in a exceptional ultimate body that broke the all-time length file.

After 123 minutes and 41 seconds, which included a half-hour battle on the yellow, O’Brien lastly bought over the profitable line and entered the World Championship foremost draw for what proved to be his ultimate time.

A prime ten participant

O’Brien, who scored a century break in his first ever body on the Crucible in 1993, had a knack for dropping often within the final spherical of the World Championship qualifiers.

In consequence, he doesn’t function within the historical past of the game’s blue-riband competitors as a lot as his lengthy profession most likely deserves.

However he did have his moments in Sheffield, notably throughout a spell from 1998 to 2002 when he performed on the Crucible 5 instances in a row.

O’Brien’s best hour at snooker’s religious house got here in 2000, a couple of 12 months after he had gained the British Open and never lengthy earlier than he was to be denied on the Masters.

With victories towards Chris Small and Stephen Lee, O’Brien reached the quarter-finals the place his problem was to be ended by eventual champion Mark Williams.

His consistency round that point helped to ascertain him as a prime ten participant, reaching a career-high of quantity 9 on this planet rankings.

5-ton Fergal

O’Brien could have been identified for his potential to grind out wins with a taxing fashion of play, however he may rating closely when in type as nicely.

He’s considered one of solely 43 folks to have compiled greater than 200 century breaks on the primary tour.

5 of these have been constructed in an unbelievable second-round match on the UK Championship in 2016.

Throughout a 6-5 defeat of Barry Hawkins, O’Brien tallied a implausible 5 century breaks that broke the file for a best-of-11 contest.

A popular character from the snooker circuit, we want Fergal O’Brien a really joyful retirement.

World Snooker Championship qualifiers draw

All matches are the perfect of 19 frames performed throughout two periods.
Scorelines in italics point out the tip of the primary session.

Qualifier 1

Qualifier 2

Qualifier 3

Qualifier 4

Qualifier 5

Qualifier 6

Qualifier 7

Qualifier 8

Qualifier 9

Qualifier 10

Qualifier 11

Qualifier 12

Qualifier 13

Qualifier 14

Qualifier 15

Qualifier 16

Featured picture credit score: WST