This afternoon, OTB had the pleasure of talking with former World Champions, Ken Doherty and Dennis Taylor, about the magic of the Crucible.
On what would have been the World Championship finals weekend, the two winners shared their tales from the tournament.
Ken Doherty, 29 October 2019.Doherty etched his name in Irish sporting history by winning the World Snooker Championship in 1997.
He told us about his approach to the final clash, where he faced Stephen Hendry.
The Scot had won the tournament six times in seven years - and went on to lift the cup one more time in 1999.
"I went out there with a smile on my face and it helped me to relax against Stephen Hendry - he was a fearsome opponent. He was ruthless on the table," Doherty told John Duggan.
He said that he believed that many opponents were already on the back foot by the time they reached the snooker table to face Hendry:
"With a lot of the players playing against Stephen in the final were maybe like rabbits in the headlights," Ken reflected.
He added that putting on an easy-going facade and interacting with the crowd, helped him to stay calm. Doherty believes that it also gave the Hendry pause for thought - as he wasn't used to players who seemed to be so relaxed.
Ireland's Ken Doherty, the new Embassy World Snooker Champion, displays the trophy after defeating six-times champion Stephen Hendry at the Crucible in Sheffield. Photo by Paul Barker/PA.Doherty told Off The Ball that before his victory he had a vision of himself lifting the cup which he could get out of his head:
"They talk about visualisation, for the two weeks of the World Championship I used to dream. I could see myself lifting the trophy, just like Higgins did in '82 and just like Dennis did in '85, giving it a big kiss and holding it aloft, with the wonderful lights on the Crucial roof. They're almost like stars.
"I could see myself lifting it up and that sort of got me relaxed. They talk about the power of visualisation, I definitely totally agreed with it for that two weeks.
The world champion cautioned that he never recreated that mindset and feeling of pre-destination:
"Now, I wish I could do that since then, unfortunately, it left me! But, for that two weeks, I firmly believed I was going to win the World Championship."
The Dubliner concluded, "It just helped me to relax and the dream came through."
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