KEN DOHERTY REFLECTS ON ENDURING SNOOKER PASSION

Riveted by Rory McIlroy's existential struggle around Amen Corner last Sunday, Doherty found himself involuntarily drifting backward in time to 1997.

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Back to an airless Crucible, the threads of his dreams threatening to unravel. Struggling to breathe, his mind playing tricks on him.

As the acid of anxiety scorched Mcllroy's features after he dunked his ball into Rae's Creek on 13, Doherty could hear again the demons in his own ear as he sought to take down the great Stephen Hendry.

"I'd lived all those moments Rory was going through. I remember I was 15-7 up against Stephen and he came back to 15-12. He was noted for his come backs. He was going for six titles in a row. I was properly shitting myself.

"I was thinking to myself 'not me, not now, not in the final, not here. This is my moment.