Fergal O'Brien

Fergal O'Brien

Fergal O'Brien at 2015 German Masters
Born	(1972-03-08) 8 March 1972 (age 45) Dublin, Ireland
Sport country	Ireland
Nickname	The Baby-Faced Assassin, Fearless Fergal
Professional	1991–
Highest ranking	9 (2000/01)
Current ranking	44 (as of 18 December 2016)
Career winnings	£1,253,151
Highest break	147 (2016 Championship League)
Century breaks	196
Tournament wins
Ranking	1
Non-ranking	2
fergalobrien.ie

Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player.

A member of snooker's main tour since turning professional in 1991, O'Brien has been ranked within the world's top 64 players since 1994, reaching his highest position, 9th, for the 2000/2001 season. He has won one ranking title - the 1999 British Open, where he defeated Anthony Hamilton 9–7 in the final - and reached two other major finals, notably in the 2001 Masters.

O'Brien is the only player to score a century in his 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.