1.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton
2.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
3.
Snooker world rankings 2008/2009
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Snooker world rankings 2008/2009, The professional world rankings for all the professional snooker players in the 2007/2008 season who qualified for the 2008/2009 season are listed below. The points listed here take into account the world ranking points 2006/2007. Three former top 16 players re-enter that group and they are Joe Perry, Marco Fu and Mark King. Mark Allen is the new member of the top 16. The players to drop out the top 16 are long standing top 16 players, Stephen Lee, Mark Williams, Ken Doherty and Steve Davis. Players to reach career high rankings within the top 16 are, Stephen Maguire No.2, Mark Selby No.4, Allister Carter No.7, Ryan Day No.8, Joe Perry No.12, Marco Fu No.14 and Mark Allen No.16. No new players reach the top 32, however two players return, former world No.9 Fergal OBrien at No.24 and Michael Judge at No.30, two players drop out, Gerard Greene and Michael Holt to 33rd and 34th place respectively. New players to enter the top 64 are Mark Joyce at No.59, Martin Gould No.63, former top player Jimmy White fall out the top 64 to 65th place, but remained on the tour via the one year list. Former top 32 player Robin Hull retired from the tour due to illness
4.
Snooker world rankings 2009/2010
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Snooker world rankings 2009/2010, The professional world rankings for all the professional snooker players in the 2008/2009 season who qualified for the 2009/2010 season are listed below. The points listed here take into account the world ranking points 2007/2008. Former world number 1 Mark Williams returns to the top 16, the player to drop out the top 16 is Graeme Dott. Players to reach career high rankings within the top 16 are, Allister Carter No.5, Ryan Day No.6, Marco Fu No.8, three new players reach the top 32, Ricky Walden, Liang Wenbo and Judd Trump. Two players return to the top 32, Michael Holt at No.24, five players drop out, Anthony Hamilton, Dominic Dale, Ian McCulloch, Michael Judge and Ken Doherty to 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th and 44th place respectively
5.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
6.
Glossary of cue sports terms
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There are also hybrid pocket/carom games such as English billiards. The terms American or US as applied here refer generally to North American usage, similarly, British terms predominate in the world of snooker, English billiards and blackball, regardless of the players nationalities. The term blackball is used in this glossary to refer to both blackball and eight-ball pool as played in the Commonwealth, as a shorthand, 1-cushion See the Straight rail billiards main article for the game sometimes called one-cushion. 1-pocket See the One-pocket main article for the game, 3-ball See the Three-ball main article for the game. 3-cushion See the Three-cushion billiards main article for the game, 4-ball See the Yotsudama main article for the modern Asian game often called four-ball. See the American four-ball billiards main article for the nineteenth-century game, 5-pins See the Five-pin billiards main article for the formerly Italian, now internationally standardized game, or Danish pin billiards for the five-pin traditional game of Denmark. 6-ball See the Nine-ball#Six-ball sub-article for the game, 8-ball See the Eight-ball main article for the game. See the 8 ball entry, under the E section below, See 8 ball for derivative uses. 9-ball See the Nine-ball main article for the game, See the 9 ball entry, under the N section below, for the ball. 9-pins See the Goriziana main article for the game sometimes called nine-pins, 10-ball See the Ten-ball main article for the game. Above Used in snooker in reference to the position of the cue ball and it is above the object ball if it is off-straight on the baulk cushion side of the imaginary line for a straight pot. It is also common to use the term high instead, gambling or the potential for gambling. Lively results on a ball, usually the cue ball, from the application of spin, added Used with an amount to signify money added to a tournament prize fund in addition to the amount accumulated from entry fees. A match format in which a player has to establish a lead of a number of frames in order to win. Aiming line An imaginary line drawn from the path an object ball is to be sent. Anchor To freeze a ball to a cushion, such a ball may be said to be anchored and this term is largely obsolete balkline billiards jargon. Anchor nurse A type of shot used in carom billiards games. It developed to curtail the effectiveness of the nurse, which in turn had been invented to thwart the effectiveness of Parkers box in stopping long
7.
Century break
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In snooker, a century break is a score of 100 points or more within one visit at the table without missing a shot, and requires potting of at least 25 consecutive balls. Over 20,000 century breaks have been recorded by snooker players throughout professional tournaments, Ronnie OSullivan holds the record for the most career centuries, with over 800 century breaks. A century break is a score of 100 points or more within one visit at the table, the player does this by potting red balls and coloured balls alternately, and when no reds are left, potting the coloured balls in order of their increasing value. Points for a shot by the opponent do not count in a players break. If for example only the colour would be used instead of the black ball. This means that only a century break is possible in a frame of snooker under a limited number of combinations. To score one, there must be at least ten reds on the table when the comes to play since if there are only nine reds left. An exception exists if the opponent fouls and leaves the incoming player snookered on all the remaining reds, Breaks above 147 are possible when an opponent fouls and leaves a free ball with all fifteen reds still remaining on the table. This has happened once in professional competition, when Jamie Burnett made a 148 at the qualifying stage of the 2004 UK Championship. A century of centuries refers to a total of 100 breaks of at least 100 points each, only 15 players had reached this milestone in professional snooker tournaments by December 2001. Only Neil Robertson has achieved the Holy Grail of one hundred 100s in a single season, the following players are reported to have passed 100 breaks and at least the given threshold above this. Career Joe Davis compiled the first televised century break in 1962, the record for most century breaks scored in official tournament play is held by Ronnie OSullivan with over 850. The record was held by Stephen Hendry who compiled 775 centuries over the course of his career. The first player to record 1000 centuries in public performance was Horace Lindrum, stacey Hillyard became the first female to record a competitive century in January 1985. The quickest recorded century break in tournament play was by Tony Drago at 1996 UK Championship, the youngest player to record a century break is Michael White at the age of nine in March 2001. Season The first player to reach 50 centuries in a season was Hendry, judd Trump took the record with 61 centuries in the 2012/2013 season and the record was broken for the fourth successive season in 2013/2014 when Neil Robertson overtook Trumps tally. In total, Robertson compiled 103 century breaks throughout the season, event The most centuries made by a player in a single match during a professional tournament is seven and the record is shared by Stephen Hendry and Ding Junhui. Hendry set the record during the final of the 1994 UK Championship, during this match, Hendry compiled six centuries in a span of eight frames
8.
Snooker
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Snooker is a cue sport which originated in India in the latter half of the 19th century. It is played on a covered with a green cloth, or baize, with pockets at each of the four corners. Using a cue and 22 coloured balls, players must strike the ball to pot the remaining balls in the correct sequence. An individual game, or frame, is won by the player who scores the most points, a match is won when a player wins a predetermined number of frames. In the 1870s, billiards was a sport played by members of the British Army stationed in India. Snooker gained its own identity in 1884 when officer Sir Neville Chamberlain, while stationed in Ooty, devised a set of rules that combined pyramid, the word snooker was a long used military term used to describe inexperienced or first year personnel. The game grew in popularity in England, cemented by the formation of the Billiards Association and it is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The World Snooker Championship has taken place since 1927, with Joe Davis becoming a key figure in the growth of the sport with 15 championship wins from 1927 to 1946. Top professional players now compete regularly around the world and attain multi-million-pound career earnings, the sport has become increasingly popular in China. The origin of snooker dates back to the half of the nineteenth century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, one such variation originated at the officers mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in Jabalpur in 1875, which combined the rules of two pocket billiards games, pyramid and life pool. The former was played with fifteen red balls and one positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated coloured balls. The name instantly stuck with the players, in 1887, snooker was given its first definite reference in England in a copy of Sporting Life which caused a growth in popularity. Chamberlain came out as the inventor in a letter to The Field published on 19 March 1938,63 years after the fact. To accommodate the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker-specific clubs were formed, in 1919, the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Board merged to form the Billiards Association and Control Club and a new, standard set of rules for snooker first became official. Davis won every championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played, in 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game, known as snooker plus to try to improve the games popularity by adding two extra colours. The TV series became a success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two
9.
UK Championship (snooker)
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The UK Championship, known as the Betway UK Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional mens ranking snooker tournament. It is the second biggest-ranking tournament, after the World Championship and is one of the Triple Crown events, Mark Selby is the reigning champion. The UK Championship was first held in 1977 in Tower Circus, Blackpool as the United Kingdom Professional Snooker Championship, Patsy Fagan won the inaugural tournament by defeating Doug Mountjoy by 12 frames to 9 in the final and won the first prize of £2000. The following year the event moved to the Guild Hall, Preston, the rules were changed in 1984 when the tournament was granted ranking status and all professionals were allowed to enter. Since then, it has carried more ranking points than any tournament other than the World Championship, the tournament has seen many memorable finals. In 1977 and 1979, it provided Patsy Fagan and John Virgo with their first, in 1980, it was Steve Daviss first of his 73 professional tournament wins. In 1983, Alex Higgins beat Davis 16–15 after having trailed 7–0 at the end of the first session, in 1985, Willie Thorne led Davis 13–10 at the start of the evening session, only to miss a simple blue off its spot and lose 16–14. The victory regenerated Daviss confidence after his devastating World Championship loss, Thorne, on the other hand, hendrys 16–15 win the following year, over Davis again, spoke to his unique qualities of nerve. Doherty has appeared in two memorable finals. In 1993, Ronnie OSullivan became the winner of the tournament aged just 17. Eight years later, in 2001, he delivered the finals best winning margin since it had become the best of 19 frames in the 1993 tournament, three years later, in 2004, Stephen Maguire repeated the feat against David Gray. Doherty almost won the tournament in the 2002 final against Mark Williams, the 2005 tournament saw Davis, aged 48, reached his first ranking tournament final for almost two years and make his highest break in tournament play for 23 years. In a match featured the widest age gap between finalists in professional tournament history, he lost 6–10 to the 18-year-old Ding Junhui. The following year, Peter Ebdon won the title and, in doing so, became the first, the event offered £500,000 prize money, with the winner receiving £70,000. In 2007, the tournament was won by Ronnie OSullivan for the time, again with some ease. The tournament was notable for the longest televised frame between Marco Fu and Mark Selby and Ronnie OSullivans maximum 147 break in the deciding frame of the semi-final. The 2009 final saw the world champion John Higgins lose to Ding Junhui, after he missed the brown. The 2010 final turned out to be another dramatic match, instantly described by commentators as an all-time classic
10.
Joe Swail
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Joe Swail is a professional snooker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships, Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions. He is also a former English amateur champion and N. Ireland amateur runner-up and he was Irish champion in 2005. Swail has had a mixed history in the rankings. He took just two seasons to reach the Top 32, and three to reach the top sixteen, but only remained there for one season, before sliding out of the Top 32 after winning just two matches in 1997/1998. His 2000 Crucible achievement made him the player to return to the Top 16 in the rankings after dropping out of the Top 32 in between. He climbed to No.10 after his 2001 semi-final, but dropped to 16–27–30–40 in the few years. He then bounced back with an impressive and consistent showing in 2005/2006 that brought him back into the Top 32 and this caused him to again miss the top 16, finishing the season in 20th place. He started 2008/2009 poorly, with four successive first-round defeats and his first victory of the season was against Liang Wenbo in qualifying for the 2008 UK Snooker Championship. He then reached his first ever ranking final in his 18-year professional career at the 2009 Welsh Open, Swail led the match 5–2, but never won another frame, losing 9–5 to Ali Carter. After finishing 69th the end of the 2011/2012 season, outside of the top 64 that retain their professional status, as an amateur, Swail played in many of the Players Tour Championship events. At the Paul Hunter Classic, Swail defeated players such as Jimmy White, Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins en route to the final, in the final, he was defeated 1–4 by Mark Selby. This not only booked his place on the tour for the season, but also qualified him for the PTC Finals in Galway, Ireland. He lost 0–4 in the Last 16 to fellow Northern Irishman Mark Allen and he lost his Last 64 match against Mark Joyce 7–10, picking up £4,600 for his efforts. After regaining his professional status due to his performances in the previous seasons PTC events, Swail was able to play in ranking events during the season. He lost in the Last 96 of the Wuxi Classic, 2–5 to Ken Doherty, in the qualifiers for the Australian Open, he beat Darren Cook 5–2, Swail is known for his very unorthodox way of cueing up. Instead of keeping his cue-arm vertical as most players do, Swail cues up with his arm bent at least 45 degrees outwards, and his elbow towards his back. Although it appears to be difficult to actually pot balls when cueing like that it has worked for Swail
11.
Stephen Lee (snooker player)
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Stephen Lee is an English former professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1992 and was ranked in the top 16 between the 1997/1998 and 2007/2008 snooker seasons, reaching a career-high of fifth in the rankings. He won four ranking titles between 1998 and 2006, reached the semi-finals of the 2003 world championship and the final of the 2008 Masters. Thereafter, his form declined dramatically and as a result he dropped out of the top 16 after a run of consecutive seasons. A return to form in the 2011/2012 season saw Lee reach two finals in ranking tournaments and collect his fifth title, as well as regaining his top 16 seeding. Lee was a heavy break-builder compiling 176 competitive century breaks during his career, Lees playing career came to a premature end when he was suspended from WSA competition on 12 October 2012 on match-fixing charges. He was found guilty by an independent tribunal in September 2013 of influencing the outcome of seven matches in 2008 and 2009 and he received a twelve-year ban backdated to the start of his suspension and which will run until 12 October 2024. Stephen Lee turned professional after winning the English Amateur Championship in 1992, during his first season as a professional he had a run of 33 successive frames won during qualifying matches, an all-time professional record. He reached the Top 16 of the five years later. He entered the Top 8 after winning his first ranking title during the 1998/1999 season and his first ranking title and first two ranking semi-finals were all achieved without beating a top-16 player. Lee was favourite to win the 2001 Masters, but lost 5–6 in the first round to John Parrott and he was part of the England team which won the 2001 Nations Cup. His best run in the World Championship came in the 2003 event when he reached the semi-finals, due to a dip in form, at the 2006 Welsh Open he came to the competition outside the provisional Top 16 after failing to win a ranking tournament for four years. He went on to win the tournament, beating the then World Champion, Shaun Murphy, for 2007/2008 he slipped to No.13 in the rankings after reaching just one semi-final, partly due to missing the China Open for personal reasons. He nevertheless reached the final of the 2008 Masters, losing 3–10 to Mark Selby, following a heavy defeat by Joe Swail in the first round of the 2008 World Championship, confirming his drop out of the top 16 of the rankings, Lee considered retiring from the game. He then failed to qualify for the Shanghai Masters, losing 4–5 to Tom Ford and he reached the televised stages of the 2009 World Championship by defeating Judd Trump in qualifying, but was beaten 10–4 in the first round by Ryan Day. On 11 February 2010 Lee was arrested by West Midlands Police on suspicion of cheating, during the 2010/2011 season Lee managed to regain some form including a win in Event 4 of the EPTC events. However, he drew John Higgins in the first round at both the UK Championship and World Championship, losing on both occasions with Higgins going on to win both events. At the China Open he drew Mark Williams in the first round and despite Williams making four centuries he won 5–4 and he went on to reach the quarter-finals, where he lost to Ding Junhui 5–2
12.
Malta Cup
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The European Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It was also known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the British Isles, before the 1988/89 season, there were no ranking events outside the United Kingdom. There were, however, many successful events, so the World Professional Billiards. The first two were held in Canada and mainland Europe, the first European event was the European Open in 1988 in Deauville, France with the sponsorship of ICI. The event then was held at the Palais des Sports in Lyon, France for 1992 and at the Imax Centre in Rotterdam, the event was then moved to Belgium. It was held in Tongeren in 1992 and Antwerp between 1993–1994 with sponsorship from Humo, the event was moved to the first half of the season in 1993/1994, thus there were two events in 1993, in February and December. The event was moved back to its place in the calendar in 1995/1996. The event was not held in the four seasons. In the 1999/2000 season the Malta Grand Prix was the only continental European ranking event, the European Open was revived in 2001/2002 and was held in Valletta, Malta. In 2003 the event was for the first and only held in England. The following year it returned to Malta, this time held in Portomaso, the following season event was renamed the Malta Cup. The 2006 event was the first ranking tournament, where no English player reached the quarter-finals and it became an invitation event in 2007/2008, but it was discontinued afterwards. In 2016, it was announced that the event will be revived under the name European Masters in Romania for the three years. There was only one break in the history of the tournament. At the 1989 event Alain Robidoux compiled it in the first qualifying round against Jim Meadowcroft, Malta Grand Prix Irish Open Antwerp Open 2013 Rotterdam Open German Masters Paul Hunter Classic
13.
Jimmy White
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James Warren Jimmy White, MBE is an English professional snooker player. Whites non-world championship achievements include the UK Championship, the Masters, a two-time winner of both the World Cup and the British Open, White was also the first left-handed player, and second player overall, to record a maximum break at the World Championship. White was born in Streathbourne Road, Tooting, London, England and he never achieved academic success, as he was often truant from school from the age of eight or nine, spending more and more time at Zans, Ted Zanoncellis snooker hall. The club was known as Zans and after Teds death in 1978 it was handed down to his daughter. It was around this time that White met Tony Meo with whom he would compete in matches in many venues. His natural aptitude for snooker led to an amateur career. With a host of major titles and achievements, including ten ranking tournaments, the BBC describes him as a legend. A left-hander, he reached the World Professional Championship Final on six occasions, nonetheless, his consistency waned in the 2000s and a first-round defeat in the 2006 World Championship saw White drop out of the worlds top 32 player rankings. Whites continued slide down the rankings saw him drop to 65th, White is one of only six players to have completed a maximum break at the Crucible Theatre, doing so in the 1992 World Snooker Championship. He has compiled more than 300 century breaks during his career, White established himself as a top professional in 1981. The World Championship has provided the theatre for Whites greatest disappointments, in 1982, he led Alex Higgins 15–14 in their semi-final, was up 59–0 in the penultimate frame and was a red and colour away from the final. After missing a red with the rest, however, he could watch as Higgins compiled a frame-winning 69 break. Higgins won the frame that followed to reach the final. In 1984 White won the Masters for the time to date. He followed this success by reaching his first World Championship final, trailing Steve Davis 4–12 after the first two sessions, White responded by reducing the deficit to 15–16. He then made a clearance of 65 to take the score to 16–17, but was unable to build upon a 40-point lead in the following frame. White did, however, become a World Doubles Champion later that year when he and Alex Higgins defeated Willie Thorne, in 1986 White reached his second Masters final, but was defeated by Cliff Thorburn. However he won the Classic and also retained the Irish Masters title he won in 1985, White won the Classic when he beat Thorburn in the final frame after needing a snooker
14.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
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Ronald Antonio OSullivan, OBE is an English professional snooker and pool player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sports history and he is noted for his rapid playing style, mercurial temperament, and his ambivalent relationship with the sport, from which he has taken prolonged sabbaticals and repeatedly threatened to retire. Ronnie is based at the Legends Snooker Academy in Leytonstone, England, a childhood snooker prodigy, OSullivan made his first century break at age 10, and his first maximum break at age 15. He turned professional in 1992, at the age of 16 and he is also the youngest player to have won the Masters, having captured his first title in 1995 at the age of 19 years and 69 days. His record in Triple Crown events now stands at five World Championship, a record seven Masters, OSullivan has held the world number one ranking on multiple occasions, most recently during the 2009/2010 season. His other achievements include ten Premier League titles and winning the Nations Cup with England in 2000, known as a prolific break-builder, OSullivan holds the record for the most competitive century breaks with 868. OSullivans achievements in snooker began at an early age and he made his first century break at the age of 10, completed his first total clearance at age 12, and became British Under-16 Champion at age 13. He made his debut in The Thames Snooker Classic when he was 14. He compiled his first maximum break in the final of the 1991 British Amateur Championships at age 15 and he turned professional in 1992, aged 16. OSullivan began the 1992/1993 season by winning 74 of his first 76 professional matches, including a streak of 38 successive victories. At the qualifying stage of the Grand Prix he defeated Jason Curtis 5–0 in a time of 43 minutes 36 seconds, after this Alan Hughes gave him the nickname The Rocket. In September 1992, at the age of 16, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the World Championship. He made his Crucible debut on 18 April 1993 at the age of 17 years and 134 days and he lost 7–10 to Alan McManus in the first round. OSullivan was named the WPBSAs Young Player of the Year for 1993, in the 1993/1994 season OSullivan defeated Hendry 10–6 in the final of the UK Championship to win his first ranking title. At the age of 17 years and 358 days he became the youngest ever winner of a ranking tournament. He faced Hendry again in the final of the European Open and he won his second ranking title at the British Open by defeating James Wattana 9–4 in the final. He reached the round of the World Championship but lost 3–13 against John Parrott. Having started the season ranked number 57 in the world, he ended it ranked number 9 and he captured his first Masters title by defeating John Higgins 9–3 in the final, becoming the youngest player ever to win the tournament at the age of 19 years and 69 days
15.
Mark King (snooker player)
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Mark King is an English professional snooker player. He has also appeared in two ranking tournament finals - the 1997 Welsh Open, where he lost 2–9 to Stephen Hendry, and the 2004 Irish Masters. King has reached the last 16 of the World Championship seven times, in 1998,1999,2001,2002,2008,2009 and 2013, King turned professional in 1991 and advanced steadily through the rankings, reaching the top 48 by 1996. His 1997 Welsh Open final run lead to a top 32 place in the end of season rankings and he remained in the top 16 the following season without reaching a ranking quarter-final, but dropped out a year later. He made a return in 2000/2001, climbing to a career-high of #11. A poor 2002/2003 season ended with him dropping out of the top 16 again after defeat to Drew Henry 10–5 in the first round of the World Championship. In the post-match interview, King suggested that he had lost patience with the game, King later retracted this statement and began the following season in the qualifiers. After the 2004 World Championship, King became involved in a battle with Quinten Hann after his friend Andy Hicks eliminated Hann in a controversial first-round clash. Hann had been making provocative gestures during the match and after Hicks took victory, upset by Hanns behaviour, King challenged the Australian to a boxing match, for which King was later criticised, as Hanns behaviour had already put the game into disrepute. Nevertheless, the bout went ahead and Hann controversially won the fight on a points decision, in December 2004, King beat Mark Williams, Alan McManus and John Parrott en route to the semi-finals of the UK Championship, losing 9–4 to eventual winner Stephen Maguire. At 8–3, a mobile phone went off in the crowd, prompting King to quip if thats my missus, tell her Ill be home soon. In 2005, King beat Ronnie OSullivan 9–8 at the same event, King would eventually lose 9–6 in the last 16 to Joe Perry, but made a career best 146 break at the 2006 Championships. In 2007, King went out to David Gilbert in the round for the event. In the 2008 World Championship, King beat six-times runner-up Jimmy White to qualify, then shocked the previous years runner-up Mark Selby 10–8, after potting the match ball, King showed his delight by shouting Get in. He lost to Peter Ebdon in the last 16, but his place was secure. A consistent 2008/2009 season saw King retain his top 16 spot, at the 2009 Grand Prix King needed three snookers in the deciding frame against Ricky Walden to claim a 5–4 victory. He managed to get them and won by potting the final black, in the next round he lost to Robert Milkins. At the 2010 China Open King defeated Thai player James Wattana 5–4 in the first round after trailing 2–4 and he then won his second match 5–3 against Chinese player Tian Pengfei to reach his first Quarter final since the 2007 Malta Cup
16.
Mark Davis (snooker player)
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Mark Davis is an English professional snooker player from St. Leonards in Sussex, England. The highlights of his career so far have been winning the Benson & Hedges Championship in 2002, Davis is the oldest snooker player to make an official maximum break of 147 points in a professional competition, at the age of 44 years and 202 days. He broke his own record of 44 years and 151 days. Davis came close to losing his Main Tour status in the late 1990s, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2001 Regal Scottish tournament, his second career quarter-final, was the main catalyst for this. His success in reaching the 2008 World Championship came after 2 poor seasons and he was beaten in the last 16 5–2 by Ali Carter. He followed this up by qualifying for the Bahrain and UK Championships, though he was forced to pull out early in his last-32 match against Joe Perry in the latter. He exceeded his 2007/2008 ranking points total after only five of the eight events of the 2008/2009 season, in 2009 Davis won the Six-Red World Championship. In 2010, Davis reached the round of the World Championship for the first time in 15 years by defeating sixth seed Ryan Day. Davis has compiled over 200 competitive centuries in his career up to October 2016 and he got his career best tournamant break of 143 in the China Open on 29 March 2010, the 93rd century of his career, in a wild-card round match against Tian Pengfei. After an excellent 2009/2010 season, he reached the top 32 of the players and also claim his highest rank, however, his strong performances continued and took him to a career high ranking of 18. Davis qualified for all but two of the events in the 2011/2012 season. He could only advance beyond the first round in the Australian Goldfields Open, Davis played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events during the season, reaching the final of Event 4, where he lost to Selby 0–4. This result was a contributory factor to Davis finishing 16th on the PTC Order of Merit. At the Finals he beat Tom Ford, before losing to Stephen Maguire in the last 16, Davis season came to an end when he suffered a heavy 2–10 loss, while feeling unwell, in the World Championship to Ali Carter. He finished the season ranked world number 19, with the elite top 16 places still eluding him, Davis started the 2012/2013 season very successfully by reaching the first ranking event semi-final of his 21-year professional career at the Wuxi Classic. His run included wins over local favourite Ding Junhui, Jamie Burnett and he trailed 0–4 at the mid-session interval, before coming back to play inspired snooker to lead 5–4 in the best of 11 frames match. However, Bingham then levelled the contest before compiling a 134 break to win the decider, at the Six-red World Championship he claimed the title by defeating Shaun Murphy 8–4 in the final. The winners cheque of £40,000 is the biggest of his career to date, in the Australian Goldfields Open Davis saw off Jack Lisowski, home favourite Neil Robertson and Martin Gould, to reach his second successive ranking semi-final
17.
Steve Davis
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Steve Davis, OBE is an English former professional snooker player from Plumstead, London.5 million British viewers. He is a known public figure and is generally viewed by his peers as one of the greatest players of all time. In addition to his six titles, Daviss career achievements include three Masters and a record six UK Championship titles. He won a total of 28 ranking events and made over £5.6 million in prize money, Davis compiled more than 300 competitive century breaks, including the first officially recognised maximum break in professional competition, in 1982. During the 1987/1988 season, he became the first player to complete snookers Triple Crown by winning the UK Championship, Masters and his other accomplishments include winning the World Doubles Championship four times with Tony Meo and winning the World Team Classic/World Cup four times with England. Davis won his last world title in 1989, and captured his last major title when he won the 1997 Masters at the age of 39, but he continued to play snooker at a high level into his 50s. He reached the final of the 2005 UK Championship at the age of 48 and was ranked inside the top 16 when he turned 50 during the 2007/2008 season. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Championship at the age of 52 and he won the World Seniors Championship in 2013. On 17 April 2016, after failing to qualify for the 2016 World Snooker Championship, outside snooker, Davis has competed in pool tournaments, notably playing on Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup between 1994 and 2004, helping the team win the event in 1995 and 2002. He is also noted for his participation in events, having reached the final stages of several televised tournaments. Since 1996 he has been a broadcaster with Phoenix FM and an expert in the progressive rock genres of Zeuhl, RIO. A keen amateur chess player, he co-authored a chess book with grandmaster David Norwood and is a president of the British Chess Federation. He has also published books on snooker, including three autobiographies, one technical book and one comedy book called How To Be Really Interesting. He has appeared on a number of popular British TV shows and he was made an MBE in the 1988 Birthday Honours and an OBE in the 2000 New Year Honours. Davis was introduced to snooker by his father Bill, a player, who took him to play at his local working mens club at the age of 12. They studied the book and built Steve Daviss own technique on it in the 1970s, Hearn became Davis friend and manager. Paid £25 a match by Hearn, Davis toured the country, taking part in matches against established professionals such as Ray Reardon, John Spencer. Around this time he was given the nickname Nugget because, according to Hearn, you could put your case of money on him, Davis won the English Under-19 Billiards Championship in 1976
18.
Marco Fu
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Marco Fu Ka-chun MH is a professional snooker player from Hong Kong. He won the 2007 Grand Prix, beating Ronnie OSullivan in the final, and was the runner-up in the 2008 UK Championship and he also won the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open and was runner-up in the 2013 German Masters and 2013 International Championship. In addition, Fu reached the semi-finals of the World Championship twice – in 2006, Fus career high world ranking is sixth, achieved in 2013. As a prolific break-builder, Fu has compiled more than 400 century breaks in professional competition, Fu started playing snooker at the age of nine, but did not start playing regularly until he was 15. Fu was born in Hong Kong and migrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, after his high school graduation at age 18, Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council Co. Ltd President Joseph Lo invited him to return to Hong Kong to begin his career as a snooker player. Before turning professional, Fu won the World Amateur and World Under-21 Championships, in 1998, the year he turned professional, Fu reached the final of the Grand Prix, beating Ronnie OSullivan and then Peter Ebdon in the process. An in-form Stephen Lee proved too strong for Fu in the final, defeating him 9–2, when he first turned professional, he was ranked 377th in the world. He was voted WPBSA Newcomer of the Year and WSA Young Player of the Year in 1999, tipped by many pundits as a potential champion of the game, Fus subsequent performance was disappointing, and he slid back down the rankings. In the 1999/2000 season, with Fu now ranked 35 in the world, although he failed to repeat the success of reaching the final of the Grand Prix, he made a credible run to the quarter finals before losing to Allister Carter. Other achievements of note include reaching semi finals of the Malta Grand Prix, in the 2000/2001 season Fu was ranked 15th in the world, his first appearance in the top 16. However, a succession of defeats in the last 16, in the 2001/02 season Fus best result was a last 16 appearance at the LG Cup. He failed to qualify for three ranking events, including the World Championship, and, as a result, his ranking fell to 27 for the following season, however, at the Welsh Open in February 2003, he produced a run to the semi finals. Fu whitewashed Stephen Lee 5–0 in the round and beat Ronnie OSullivan 5–3 in the quarter-finals, before losing his semi-final 6–4 to Stephen Hendry. 1 and runaway favourite Ronnie OSullivan, Fu reached the first of his two World Championship quarter-finals to date. In what Snooker Scene magazine described as one of the greatest upsets in the history of the game, Fu dominated this match from the outset, opening up a 6–3 overnight lead, and although OSullivan made four centuries, Fu never looked to be in trouble and won 10–6. Fu subsequently eliminated Alan McManus 13–7 in the round before losing 7–13 to Stephen Lee in his quarter-final match. In 2003, Fu also won his first title since turning professional in the invitational Premier League and this was the first time the title went outside of the British Isles
19.
John Higgins (snooker player)
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John Higgins, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In terms of titles in the modern era, Higgins is fifth behind Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ray Reardon. His 28 career ranking titles, put him in joint second place with Davis and OSullivan, known as a prolific break-builder, he has compiled 664 century breaks in professional tournament play, placing him third behind OSullivan and Hendry. He has also compiled 8 competitive maximum breaks, placing him third behind OSullivan, for 16 consecutive full seasons from 1996/1997 to 2011/2012, Higgins never fell below 6th in the world rankings, and was world number 1 on four occasions. The WPBSA banned Higgins from professional competition for six months and fined him £75,000 and he returned to the tour midway through the 2010/2011 season. After his return to snooker, Higgins added a third UK Championship title and he subsequently experienced a noted slump in form, and between 2012 and 2014 only won the 2012 Shanghai Masters. He has spoken frequently in this period about his struggles with confidence, however, in 2015, Higgins returned to winning ways, capturing three ranking titles. Higgins turned professional in 1992 and reached the quarter-finals of the British Open during his first season on the professional tour. He rose to prominence in the 1994/1995 season when, at the age of 19, he won his first ranking tournament at the Grand Prix, by the end of the season, he had moved from 51st to 11th in the world rankings. By the end of the season, assisted by two more ranking titles and another ranking final, he had moved up to 2nd in the world. In the UK Championship final in 1996, he recovered from 4–8 down against Stephen Hendry to lead 9–8, only to lose 9–10. In 1998, Higgins won his first World Championship, beating Jason Ferguson, Anthony Hamilton, John Parrott and Ronnie OSullivan and he made a then-record 14 centuries in the tournament. After winning the title, Higgins became world number 1 for the first time in his career. Higgins remained as World no.1 for two years, when Mark Williams replaced him at the top of the rankings at the close of the 1999/00 season and he reached the World Championship final in 2001, but lost 14–18 to Ronnie OSullivan. At the beginning of the 2001/02 season, Higgins became the first player to win the three tournaments of a season, the Champions Cup, Scottish Masters, and the British Open. Higgins then failed to win a title until his fourth British Open triumph in 2004. In the Grand Prix final in 2005, Higgins beat Ronnie OSullivan 9–2, in doing so, he became the first player to record four consecutive centuries in a ranking tournament, with breaks of 103,104,138 and 128 in frames 7 to 10. Higgins scored 494 points without reply, which was then a record, Higgins and OSullivan also contested the Masters finals in 2005 and 2006
20.
Ryan Day
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Ryan Day is a Welsh professional snooker player. As a prolific break-builder, he has compiled more than 250 century breaks during his career, Day was born in Pontycymer, Bridgend, and began his professional career by playing UK Tour in 1998, at the time the second-level professional tour. He is named Young Player of Distinction of the season 2000/2001 by the World Professional Billiards and he won the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. With this win, he qualified for the 2002 Masters, where he defeated Dave Harold and he also won the WPBSA Challenge Tour in the 2001/2002 season and was named WPBSA Newcomer of the Year in 2002. Due to problems with his liver in 2003, his results suffered badly, Higgins went on to win the frame and the next two for the match. As some consolation, Higgins commented that Day was going to be a top player for years to come. Day reached the quarter-finals of his tournament, the 2005 Welsh Open defeating Allister Carter. He finished this season ranked 33, but as Quinten Hann did not participate in any events, Day was always among the top 32 seeds, meaning one less qualifying match than he would otherwise have faced. Back at the Crucible in 2006, he beat Joe Perry 10–3 in the first round and he narrowly missed reaching the top 16 of the rankings as a result. The 2006/2007 season was the most successful of his career to date, Day reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy and was runner up in the 2007 Malta Cup, losing 4–9 to Shaun Murphy. That years performance saw him ranked 16 in the world for the 2007/2008 season, as a member of the Top 16, he automatically qualified for tournaments. His consistent performances took him up to 8th place in the rankings, Day reached the final of the 2008 Grand Prix where he lost to John Higgins, defeating Ricky Walden, Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Ali Carter. The year ended on a note when he lost in the first round at the UK Championship to Matthew Stevens. He again reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 2009, before losing 11–13 to Mark Allen, however, he continued to move up the rankings, climbing 2 places to number 6, the highest ranked player not to have won a ranking event. A disappointing 2009/2010 season in which he reached only one quarter-final and this continued into the next season where he made a number of early exits which meant that at the first revision under the new ranking system he dropped out the top 16, down to number 20. Day qualified for five of the eight ranking tournaments during the 2011/2012 season and his best performance came at the end of the season in the biggest event on the tournament calendar, the World Championship. He came back from 3–7 down in his match against Gerard Greene to win 10–8, to set up a first round match with Chinas number 1. Day produced another comeback, this time from trailing 6–9 to win the last 4 frames, there he beat fellow qualifier Cao Yupeng 13–7 and held a 5–2 lead in the early stages of his quarter-final match against compatriot Matthew Stevens
21.
Joe Perry (snooker player)
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Joe Perry is an English professional snooker player. Often referred to as the Fen Potter and also nicknamed the Gentleman, he was born in Wisbech and he climbed the rankings steadily after turning professional in 1991, and reached the top sixteen for the first time in 2002. His first ranking final came at the 2001 European Open and he had to wait another 13 years for a second came at the 2014 Wuxi Classic. Perry then won his first major ranking title at the 2015 Players Championship Grand Final, at the age of 40, Perrys breakthrough came when he reached the final of the European Open in 2001. Previously, he had reached the last 16 on his Crucible debut in 1999. He reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship in both 2004 and 2005 and this run left Perry provisionally fifth in the world, but he failed to win a match in the remaining five tournaments and dropped to 14th at the end of the season as a result. In 2005, he lost to eventual champion Ding Junhui and he followed that up by reaching the semi-finals of the world championship, where he was knocked out by Ali Carter 17–15. These results ensured him a return to the prestigious top 16 of the rankings and he also finished the 2007/2008 season on another high, by winning the Championship League, to qualify for the Betfred Premier League for 2008. He has said he feels that he is learning to cope with the pressure of major tournaments. Perry opened 2008-09 with three last-sixteen runs, leaving him inside the top eight of the provisional rankings, however he went one better in the UK Championship beating Ronnie OSullivan 9–5 having trailed by 5–3, in one of the best victories of his career. However, he lost 9–7 to Marco Fu in the quarter-finals, in the new year he lost very narrowly to OSullivan in the Masters, the rest of the season was unspectacular as he failed to win a match in a ranking event. He was unable to repeat his 2008 run in the World Championship losing 10–6 to an in-form Jamie Cope in the first round and this meant that he finished the season ranked at number 12. In 2009/2010 he only reached one quarter-final and consequently slid to 19th in the rankings, in the World Championship he beat Michael Holt 10–4 and trailed Ali Carter 10–6 before winning five frames on a row to lead 11–10 but lost 13–11. Perry was a losing finalist in Event 1 and Event 12 during the minor-ranking 2011/2012 Players Tour Championship series and these results helped him qualify for the Finals as he finished 11th on the Order of Merit. In the other ranking events during the year he reached the round three times, culminating in a 7–13 defeat to Maguire in the World Championship. Perry finished the season ranked world number 24 and he began the 2012/2013 season by reaching the second round of the Wuxi Classic thanks to the withdrawal of Matthew Stevens and lost 4–5 to Ricky Walden. He was beaten 1–5 by Marco Fu in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open and he beat Barry Pinches in qualifying, Stevens 5–2 in the first round and then whitewashed Neil Robertson 5–0 to make the quarter-finals. There was never a frame between Perry and Mark Williams in their quarter-final, with Perry making a 131 break to force a deciding frame which he lost
22.
Jamie Burnett
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Jamie Burnett is a Scottish professional snooker player from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. He made his first appearance in the stages of the World Championship in 1996. His second appearance did not come until 2009, equalling Barry Pinches record for the longest gap between Crucible appearances. After being awarded a free ball Burnett took the brown as a red, then a brown, then added 15 reds and 12 blacks. He then potted the colours to complete a historic and remarkable 148 break and he afterwards commented I didnt really know how to react afterwards. At first I thought it was no big deal, but then I realised Id made history, Burnett qualified for the 2008 UK Championship, losing 3–9 to his practice partner Stephen Maguire in the first round. Bookmakers ceased taking bets on the scoreline after a surge of bets for that result. In frame 12 Burnett had a chance to make the scoreline 4–8, the BBCs Clive Everton commented that the circumstances of the final two frames merited investigation. Everton said in commentary Ive seen some things in my time including someone with Nougat sticks instead of legs, following a report from Strathclyde Police, the Crown announced that it had found insufficient evidence to justify a criminal prosecution. Burnett qualified for the 2010 Shanghai Masters and he started in the wildcard round, and benefitted from Ronnie OSullivan withdrawal of the main draw to receive a bye to the second round. Burnett then beat Andrew Higginson, Mark Davis, and Jamie Cope en route to his first ranking event final, Burnett could not qualify for a single ranking tournament during the 2011/2012 season. Burnett did start the new season strongly as he qualified for the first two ranking events, the Wuxi Classic and Australian Goldfields Open, in Wuxi he beat Neil Robertson 5–1 in the first round, before losing to Mark Davis 3–5. He trailed 0–3 in the best of seven match. The decider lasted 52 minutes with Burnett missing a black off its spot with one red left to lose 3–4, however, his run to the final helped him to qualify for the Finals by finishing 12th on the PTC Order of Merit. In the Finals he faced Robertson once more and was beaten again, Burnett also qualified for the International Championship, but lost 3–6 to Stephen Maguire in the first round. From December 2012 until the end of the season Burnett could not win another match and he ended the season where he began it, ranked world number 39. Burnetts deepest run in an event in the 2013/2014 season was at the German Masters where he beat Ratchayothin Yotharuck 5–2, Joel Walker 5–2. He won three matches in World Championship concluding with a 10–8 victory over Ben Woollaston to reach the Crucible for the fourth time
23.
Nigel Bond
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Nigel Bond is an English professional snooker player. Bond has competed on the tour since 1989, and was ranked within the worlds top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996/1997 season. He reached the final of the World Championship in 1995, where he lost 9–18 to Stephen Hendry and he retained his place in the top 64 until 2015. He was born in Darley Dale, Derbyshire, after a strong amateur career, Bond turned professional for the 1989–1990 season. He reached his first ranking semi-final in his first season, and his first final in his second season, a year later, Bond reached the final after beating Stephen Lee, Alan McManus, Gary Wilkinson and Andy Hicks, but lost to Stephen Hendry 18–9. This was his only run of the season. He reached at least the quarter finals at the Crucible Theatre every year from 1993 to 1996, losing to Stephen Hendry every time, after leading comfortably throughout the match Bond was pegged back to 7–7, and the match went to a final frame. Final score 10–9, Bonds first win at the Crucible since 1999, by the end of the 1990s, Bond was out of the top 16, and dropped out of the top 32 for the 2004–2005 season. However, he reclaimed his place a year later, and he has remained ever since as of 2009. In the 2007 World Championship he lost in the first round, victories over David Roe, Stephen Lee and Barry Pinches took him to a meeting with Stephen Maguire, which he lost 5–0. He opened the 2008/09 season with first-round defeats in the first five tournaments, on 30 January 2011, Bond won the Snooker Shoot-Out event. This involved the top 64 players in the world playing 10-minute matches decided on a single frame and he picked up the £32,000 prize money as well as the Snooker Shoot-Out trophy, beating Robert Milkins 58–24 in the final. Bond started the 2011/2012 season very well by qualifying for the first two ranking event tournaments, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters and he lost to Neil Robertson and Mark Selby respectively in the first round. He also qualified for the World Open, but was defeated by amateur player Lu Ning in the wildcard round, Bond finished the season ranked world number 45. Bond once again qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open in the 2012/2013 season, in December, he reached the World Open in Haikou, China, with wins over Jimmy White and Jamie Burnett. At the venue he saw off Zhu Yinghui 5–3 in the wildcard round, there he lost 1–5 to Judd Trump. Bond was also crowned World Seniors champion during the season without dropping a frame in a total of seven matches, Bonds season ended when he was beaten 8–10 by Alan McManus in the third round of World Championship Qualifying. He dropped a place during the year to end it ranked world number 46
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