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2015 Australian Goldfields Open
The 2015 Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 29 June and 5 July 2015 at the Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia. It was the first ranking event of the 2015/2016 season. Judd Trump was the defending champion, but he lost 1–5 against Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals. John Higgins defeated Martin Gould 9–8 in the final to win the 27th ranking title of his career. Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: *Winner: $75,000 *Runner-up: $32,000 *Semi-final: $20,000 *Quarter-final: $17,000 *Last 16: $12,000 *Last 32: $9,000 *Last 48: $2,000 *Last 64: $1000 *Last 96: $500 *Non-televised highest break: $100 *Televised highest break: $2,500 *Total: $521,600 Wildcard round Main draw Final Qualifying stages The qualifying stages for this event took place at K2 in Crawley, England between 1–5 June 2015. Century breaks Qualifying stage centuries * 133 Michael Wasley * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Goldfields Open
The Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament. The final champion was John Higgins in 2015. History Australia had previously hosted the 1971 and 1975 World Snooker Championships, as well as several other high-profile snooker tournaments and in 1979 the ''Australian Masters'' was established. There was an attempt to turn the event into a ranking tournament in 1989 but the sponsorship fell through so it was staged in Hong Kong instead, as the ''Hong Kong Open'', which incidentally became the first ranking tournament to be staged in Asia. The Hong Kong event was discontinued after just one year, but returned to Australia in 1994 as the ''Australian Open''. The tournament reverted to being called the ''Australian Masters'' for the following season, but was dropped from the calendar after the 1995 event. In addition, the tournament was also held in 1995 as the ''Australian Open'' immediately following the Australian Masters, featuring mostly the same p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Professional Billiards And Snooker Association
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotional activities. The Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) was founded in 1946, and, after some years of inactivity, was revived in 1968 and renamed the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association in 1970. It owns a 26 per cent share of World Snooker, which organises the professional snooker ranking circuit events. It also supports World Women's Snooker and World Disability Billiards and Snooker, and English billiards through World Billiards. Overview According to its financial statements for the year ending 30 June 2019, the principal activities of the WPBSA are "the governance of professional snooker and billiards through the regulation and application of the rules of the association, the development of snooker and bil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Joyce
Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English professional snooker player who lives in Walsall. He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003. Joyce enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, winning the European Under-19 Championship in 2001, the English Open in 2005 and the English Amateur Championship in 2006, beating Martin O'Donnell 8–3 in the final. Joyce also finished fifth on the 2005/06 Pontin's International Open Series, winning the second of eight events, to book a place on Main Tour. Career 2006/07 season Joyce had a very uneventful first season on Main Tour, failing to qualify for any of the major events. He ended the season losing in the penultimate qualifying round of the World Championship to Fergal O'Brien 10–4. He also recorded his highest break of 130 in professional play during the qualifiers. This would remain his highest break until the qualifying stages of the 2010 World Championship. He ended the season ranked 73rd. 2007/08 season ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Allen (snooker Player)
Mark Allen (born 22 February 1986) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player from Antrim. He won the World Amateur Championship in 2004, turned professional the following year, and took only three seasons to reach the top 16. In his fourth professional season, he beat the defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan en route to the semi-finals of the 2009 World Championship, where he lost to the eventual winner John Higgins. Allen reached his first ranking event final at the 2011 UK Championship, losing to Judd Trump. He won his first ranking title the following year at the 2012 World Open. He has won eight ranking titles to date, most recently the 2022 UK Championship. He captured his first Triple Crown title at the 2018 Masters. A prolific break-builder, Allen has compiled more than 550 century breaks in professional competition. He has made two maximum breaks, achieving his first in the 2016 UK Championship and his second in the 2021 Northern Ireland Open qualifying r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerard Greene
Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his career, reaching his highest ranking, 26th, for the 2004–05 season, and has reached one ranking final, at the 2014 Players Championship Grand Final, where he lost 4–0 to Barry Hawkins. Alongside this, Greene reached a ranking semi-final, at the 2007 Grand Prix, losing to the eventual champion Marco Fu, and five quarter-finals. Representing Northern Ireland with teammate Mark Allen, he reached the final of the 2011 World Cup, where they lost to China. Greene has qualified for the World Championship five times without winning a match at the Crucible Theatre, although he twice drew the defending champion – John Higgins in 1999, and Peter Ebdon in 2003. He was ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1997 until he fell off the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Holt (snooker Player)
Michael Holt (born 7 August 1978) is an English former professional snooker player from Nottingham. A former world Top 20 player, he has won one ranking event – the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out – and two minor-ranking tournaments. He has been runner-up at two ranking events – the 2016 Riga Masters and the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out. He also reached the semi-finals of the 2013 Shanghai Masters as well as five further quarter-finals. Career 2001–2010 Holt lost in the final qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2001 and 2002. Holt almost qualified for the 2004 event – he was 9–5 ahead in his final qualifying match against Anthony Hamilton, before losing the next five frames to lose the match. In the 2005 World Snooker Championship, he beat his friend Paul Hunter in the first round. In the second round he faced Steve Davis, losing 10–13 after having led 8–2. For the 2005 tournament he used eBay to auction the sponsorship space on his waistcoat to Cabaret, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marco Fu
Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open. He has been a runner-up at two Triple Crown events, at the 2008 UK Championship and the 2011 Masters. In addition, Fu has reached the semi-finals of the World Championship twice—in 2006 and in 2016. Fu reached a career-high ranking of fifth in the world in 2017. He turned professional in 1998 and has remained on the World Snooker Tour to-date. Despite not competing in events during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fu was given an invitational place to remain on the tour during the 2021–22 snooker season. As a prolific break-builder, Fu has compiled over 500 century breaks in professional competition, including five maximum breaks. A cultural icon in Hong Kong, Fu presented a 10-episode chat show called ' on ViuTV. Career Early career Marco Fu wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Higginson
Andrew Higginson (born 13 December 1977) is an English former professional snooker player from Widnes, Cheshire. He is best known for being the surprise finalist of the 2007 Welsh Open. Career Early years After some success in amateur tournaments, Higginson turned professional for the 2000/2001 season after finishing third on the Challenge Tour. He remained there for five seasons before dropping off, after encountering limited success. He won a place back on the tour for 2006/2007 after finishing second on the Pontins' International Open Series. Breakthrough Higginson reached the televised stages of a ranking tournament for the first time at the 2007 Malta Cup, where he beat Steve Davis 5–4 before losing 2–5 to Ken Doherty at the last 16. At the very next tournament, the 2007 Welsh Open, Higginson hit an extraordinary run of form, defeating Marco Fu 5–2, John Higgins 5–3 (from 0–3 down), Michael Judge 5–1, Ali Carter 5–1 (making his first professional 147 bre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joel Walker (snooker Player)
Joel Walker (born 16 March 1994) is an English former professional snooker player. In 2010 he won the Rileys Future Stars competition and turned professional in 2012 through Q School. Career Amateur years In 2010 Walker won Rileys Future Stars competition, and won £5,000 and coaching sessions with Ronnie O'Sullivan. The same year he was invited to compete in the World Open. He defeated Julian Logue 3–1 in the first qualifying round, but lost 1–3 against Tony Drago in the next round. Walker also competed at the Players Tour Championship, with his best result coming at the fourth event in Sheffield, where he reached the last 64 and lost 0–4 against Robert Milkins. He finished 137th on the Order of Merit. He tried unsuccessfully to turn professional through the Q School, with his best result coming in the second tournament, where he reached the last 16, but lost 1–4 against Simon Bedford. Walker competed at the Players Tour Championship also in the 2011–12 seas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Burns (snooker Player)
Ian Burns (born 11 March 1985) is an English professional snooker player. Burns turned professional in 2012 after qualifying in his first attempt of the Q School and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 snooker seasons. He won four matches in the event, concluding with a 4–3 victory over veteran Rod Lawler to seal his card. Career Debut season Burns first match as a professional was a 3–5 defeat to Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon in qualifying for the 2012 Wuxi Classic. Burns reached the final qualifying round for the first time when attempting to reach the UK Championship. he defeated Michael Leslie, Kurt Maflin and Anthony Hamilton before being beaten 2–6 by Dominic Dale. Burns did come through four qualifying rounds to play in the main draw of a ranking event for the first time at the World Open, in Haikou, China. He defeated Saleh Mohammad 5–1 in the wildcard round, before losing by the same scoreline to top 16 player Barry Hawkins in the last ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xiao Guodong
Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. Career 2007–2010 Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat the then world number 50 Tom Ford 5–3, before losing 0–5 to Matthew Stevens. In his first ranking tournament, the 2007 Grand Prix he finished 4th in his qualifying group by winning 3 out his 7 matches. In the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy he beat Leo Fernandez 5-1 and Jimmy White 5–0, before he lost to David Gilbert 2–5. He lost his first match in the 2007 UK Championship to Kurt Maflin and to the same player in the 2008 China Open qualifiers too. In the Welsh Open he lost to fellow Chinese player Liu Song 2–5. A victory over Munraj Pal in the 2008 World Championship qualifiers set up a match with David Roe, which he lost 5–10. Xiao won the Paul Hunter English Open in 2008. In the 2009 China Open, he beat Michael Hol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Lisowski
Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his attacking style of play. Lisowski has reached six ranking finals, but has been runner-up each time, losing three finals to Judd Trump, two to Neil Robertson, and one to Mark Selby. He has made one maximum break in professional competition. Career Amateur years Lisowski began playing "snooker" at the age of 7, using ping-pong balls on a carpet. As a young player, he was trained by Gloucester professional Nick Pearce. He made his first century break at the age of 11. He was runner-up to Mitchell Mann in the 2007 Junior Pot Black. In the 2008/2009 season he was runner-up in the sixth event of the International Open Series to Xiao Guodong, and finished 23rd in the rankings. In 2009 Lisowski was awarded the inaugural Paul Hunter Scholarship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
