Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish retired professional snooker player who competed on the World Snooker Tour from 1991 to 2024. He won one ranking title during his career, defeating Anthony Hamilton 9–7 in the final of the 1999 British Open. He was runner-up at the 2001 Masters, where he lost the final 9–10 to Paul Hunter. His best performance at the World Snooker Championship was reaching the quarter-finals of the 2000 event, where he lost 5–13 to eventual champion Mark Williams. He reached his highest world ranking of ninth in the 2000–01 season, but spent only three seasons of his 33-year career ranked inside the top 16. He retired from professional competition at the end of the 2023–24 season, intending to remain active in the sport as a coach and a commentator for Eurosport.
Career O'Brien is the only player to score a century in their first frame at the World Championships in the Crucible, which he achieved against Alan McManus in 1994 (though he lost the match 10–7 and did not qualify again until 1998). His greatest achievement was winning the British Open in 1999, beating Anthony Hamilton 9–7 in the final. Hamilton opened with two centuries, but O'Brien won five frames on the final black to defeat the Nottingham man.
O'Brien also came close to winning the Masters title in 2001. After beating Mark Williams, Ken Doherty and Dave Harold, he lost in the final to Paul Hunter after leading 7–3. He has reached one further ranking final, and three semi-finals
O'Brien peaked at No. 9 in the rankings following his sole title, but nosedived after this. He narrowly retained his top 16 place for the 2001/2002 season, but dropped out a year later – and then out of the top 32 a year later. Three further falls down the rankings left him at No. 45, before beginning to recover.
O'Brien started the 2007–08 campaign in Shanghai where he had beaten Paul Davies and Barry Hawkins in qualifying rounds, however, he lost to Steve Davis in the first round. O'Brien also qualified for the Grand Prix but lost four of his group matches to finish 5th in his group ahead of only Graeme Dott.
After qualifying for the main draw of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy by beating Barry Pinches in a deciding frame, O'Brien went on to beat Dave Harold in the first round of the main draw. Victories over John Higgins (in a decider), Barry Hawkins and Ronnie O'Sullivan, before he reached the second ranking-event final of his career by beating Mark Allen by 6 frames to 3. He lost the final to Stephen Maguire, 5–9. This run helped him return to the top 32 of the Snooker world rankings 2007/2008, but the early part of the 2008–09 season proved disappointing, O'Brien not reaching the last sixteen of any of the first four tournaments.
He qualified for the Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Finals held in Galway but lost his Last 24 match 0–4 to Joe Perry.
On 12 April 2017, O’Brien qualified for the 2017 World Snooker Championship after a record-breaking victory in the final qualifying round match against David Gilbert. The final frame set the record for the longest frame of the modern era, lasting 123 minutes and 41 seconds.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tourname 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24RankingFrom the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the seasonNew players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking192100423836232011916233341444637243147373436312740455163Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points76Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points94Ranking tournamentsChampionship LeagueTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventRR2RRRRREuropean MastersThe event was called the European Open (1991/1992–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)LQLQ2RLQLQLQNHLQNot Held2RLQ1RLQLQ2RNRTournament Not HeldLQLQ2R1R1R1RAABritish OpenLQLQLQLQ3R1R1RW3R2R3R3R3RLQTournament Not Held1RLQ3REnglish OpenTournament Not Held3R1R1R3R1R2RLQ1RWuhan OpenTournament Not HeldANorthern Ireland OpenTournament Not Held3R1R1R3R2R1RLQLQInternational ChampionshipTournament Not Held1R3R2R2R1RLQLQLQNot HeldAUK ChampionshipLQ1R1R3RLQLQ1RQF1RQF2R1R3RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQ1R3R1R2R3R1R1R1R1R1RLQLQShoot OutTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event4R2R1R1RA1R3RAScottish OpenThe event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)NH2RLQLQ2RLQSF3R3R2R2R1RLQTournament Not HeldMRNot Held2R1R1R1R1R3RLQLQWorld Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNRDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQGerman MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)Tournament Not HeldLQLQLQNRTournament Not HeldLQLQLQ1R1R1RLQ1R1RLQ2RLQLQAWelsh OpenLQLQ3R3R2RQF3R3RQF2RQFLQLQLQ1RLQLQ1R1RLQ1R1R2R1R3R3R1R1R1R1R2RLQLQPlayers ChampionshipThe event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldDNQ1RDNQ2RDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld OpenThe event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)LQLQLQLQQF2R1R2R2R3R2R3RLQ1R2RRRRRLQLQ1RLQLQLQNot Held1RLQ3R2RNot HeldATour ChampionshipTournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld ChampionshipLQLQ1RLQLQLQ2R1RQF1R1RLQLQ1RLQ2RLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQNon-ranking tournamentsThe MastersLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQ1RFQFLQLQALQLQLQLQLQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAChampionship LeagueTournament Not HeldRRAAAAAARRRRAAAAAAAAWorld Seniors ChampionshipATournament Not HeldAAAAF1RAANHAAAAAFormer ranking tournamentsClassicLQTournament Not HeldStrachan OpenThe event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)LQMRNRTournament Not HeldAsian ClassicThe event was called the Dubai Classic (1991/1992–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)LQLQLQLQ1R1RTournament Not HeldMalta Grand PrixNot HeldNon-Ranking Event2RNRTournament Not HeldThailand MastersThe event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)LQ3RLQLQLQQF2RLQ1R2RQFNRNot HeldNRTournament Not HeldIrish MastersNon-Ranking EventLQLQLQNHNRTournament Not HeldNorthern Ireland TrophyTournament Not HeldNRLQF1RTournament Not HeldBahrain ChampionshipTournament Not HeldLQTournament Not HeldWuxi ClassicThe event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event2R1R1RTournament Not HeldNot HeldNon-RankingTournament Not HeldLQLQ2R2R2RTournament Not HeldShanghai MastersTournament Not Held1R1RLQLQ2RWRLQQFLQLQ2RNon-RankingNot HeldNRPaul Hunter ClassicThe event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)Tournament Not HeldPro-am EventMinor-Ranking Event2R2R2RNRTournament Not HeldIndian OpenTournament Not Held2R1RNHLQ2R1RTournament Not HeldChina OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)Tournament Not HeldNRLQLQ1R1RNot HeldLQLQLQ1R1R1RLQWRLQ2R1RLQ1R2RLQTournament Not HeldRiga MastersThe event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldMR2RLQ1RLQTournament Not HeldChina ChampionshipTournament Not HeldNRQF2RLQTournament Not HeldWST Pro SeriesTournament Not Held2RNot HeldTurkish MastersTournament Not HeldLQNot HeldGibraltar OpenTournament Not HeldMR1R1R2R4R1R1RNot HeldWST ClassicTournament Not Held1RNHFormer non-ranking tournamentsFinnish MastersTournament Not HeldSFTournament Not HeldChina MastersTournament Not HeldSFTournament Not HeldPakistan MastersTournament Not HeldSFTournament Not HeldMalta Grand PrixNot HeldAAAAARSFTournament Not HeldChampions CupThe event was called the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)Not HeldAAAAARRAATournament Not HeldScottish MastersAAAAAAAA1R1RLQLQTournament Not HeldIrish OpenTournament Not HeldFTournament Not HeldIrish MastersAASFAAAQFA1R1R1RRanking EventNHSFTournament Not HeldIrish Professional ChampionshipSF1RTournament Not HeldSFQFFTournament Not HeldIrish ClassicTournament Not HeldFFFWWTournament Not HeldShoot OutTournament Not Held3R2R1R1R1RARanking Event
Performance Table LegendLQ lost in the qualifying draw#R lost in the early rounds of the tournament(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)QF lost in the quarter-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournamentDQ disqualified from the tournament NH / Not Held event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event event is/was a minor-ranking event.
Career finals
Ranking finals: 2 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1999 British Open 9–7Runner-up 1. 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy 5–9
Minor-ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1 2014 Gdynia Open Shaun Murphy 1–4
Non-ranking finals: 8 (2 titles) Legend The Masters (0–1) Other (2–5)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2001 The Masters 9–10Runner-up 2. 2003 Irish Open 3–10Runner-up 3. 2007 Irish Professional Championship 2–9Runner-up 4. 2007 Irish Classic 3–5Runner-up 5. 2008 Irish Classic (2) 2–5Runner-up 6. 2009 Irish Classic (3) 0–5Winner 1. 2010 Irish Classic 5–1Winner 2. 2011 Irish Classic (2) 5–2
Team finals: 1 OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeamOpponent(s) in the finalScore Runner-up 1. 1996 World Cup 7–10
Seniors finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2015 World Seniors Championship 1–2
References
External links