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.[2] 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.[3][4]
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's best run at the World Championship is the quarter-final and 2005 he became the first player to beat John Parrott in a World Championship qualifier.
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.[5]
lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF
lost in the quarter-finals
SF
lost in the semi-finals
F
lost in the final
W
won the tournament
DNQ
did not qualify for the tournament
A
did not participate in the tournament
WD
withdrew from the tournament
DQ
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.
^From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
^New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
^Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
^Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
^The 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)
^The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
^The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
^The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2015/2016)
^The 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)
^The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
^The event was called the Dubai Classic (1991/1992–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
^The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
^The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
^The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
^The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
^The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
^The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
^The event was called the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)
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