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| BORN 8th March 1972 BIRTHPLACE Dublin, Ireland TURNED PRO 1991 EARNINGS 00/01 £157,026 RANKING 16 HIGHEST RANKING 9 PERSONAL SPONSORS 110sport Reid, Scott & Ross Achievements 1999 - British Open (Apr) 2001 - B&H Masters (Runner-up) Biography Genial Dubliner Fergal O'Brien has been a professional since 1991, but it was not until he dramatically won the British Open in April 1999 that he shot to prominence. Fergal's 9-7 victory over Anthony Hamilton in the final boosted his seasons earnings to £105,000 and took his career earnings to £325,820. He entered the top 16 at the end of that season, and was automatically invited to both the Champions Cup and the B&H Masters. But O'Brien had given clues about what was to come long before that. He recorded his highest break in competition to date, a 143, in the B&H Championship in his first season. In 1994, as world No.100, he beat Stephen Hendry at the Irish Masters on a day when both he and Hendry recorded total clearances of 141 - for many years a tournament record. O'Brien was a member of Ireland's 1996 World Cup team, who were runners-up to Scotland 10-7 in the final, having defeated the English team in the semis. Renowned on the circuit as an obdurate opponent, O'Brien has a collection of cliff-hanger victories to his name. In the 1997 World Championship he needed a deciding frame to defeat Thailand's James Wattana to reach the last 16 and during his British Open run to victory, he included four final frame wins. He reached the last 16 of the British Open in defence of his title, to start his 1999/2000 campaign. A quarter final in the Welsh Open and an Embassy World Championship quarter-final helped him to jump from world No.11 to No.9 on the world rankings. Last season, O'Brien's best results came in non-ranking events - he was a 10-9 runner-up in the B&H Masters, reached the semi-finals of the Malta Grand Prix and was part of the Republic of Ireland team who were runners-up in the Nations Cup. His best ranking event performance of the season was at the UK Championship, where he was a quarter-finalist, but he narrowly hung on to his top 16 ranking. Fergal is married to former player Jean MacGregor. They have a baby daughter, Isabel. A keen fan of sports trivia, O'Brien also likes to play tennis. |
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| 1.OnlineSnookerProfile on Fergal O'Brien |
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| Fergal O'Brien |
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