Joe O'Connor (born 8 November 1995) is an English professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player from

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He was the 2018 English Amateur Champion and a ranking event finalist at the 2022 Scottish Open.

Career

Amateur

Previously a junior

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

champion, O'Connor qualified for the snooker main draw as an amateur at the 2014 Wuxi Classic, then faced

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...

at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, and

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...

at the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...

. He won four events on the 2017–18 English amateur tour. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, O'Connor defeated Brandon Sargeant 4–1 and then Oliver Brown 4–0 to secure a two-year professional tour card for the first time at the 2018 EBSA Play-Offs at the

English Institute of Sport The English Institute of Sport (EIS), established in May 2002, is an organisation which provides sport science and medical support services to elite athletes through a nationwide network of expertise and facilities, working with Olympic and Pa ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. In June 2018, he beat

Andrew Norman Andrew Norman (born October 31, 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music whose texturally complex music is influenced by architecture and the visual arts. His string trio ''The Companion Guide to Rome'' (2010), was a runner- ...

10–3 to become the English Amateur Champion before turning professional.

Professional

On 28 November 2018 O'Connor defeated world number 12 Ryan Day 6–2 in the first round at the 2018 UK Championship. In February 2019 O'Connor defeated top 10 players

Kyren Wilson Kyren Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering and a five-time ranking event winner. He has been a runner-up at two of the three Triple Crown events, having reached the final at both the 2018 ...

Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 ...

and

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

en route to his first ranking event semi-final at the Welsh Open, eventually losing 6–2 to

Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...

. In the 2021 German Masters he made it to the quarter-finals, but he lost 5–1 to

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and directe ...

. In December 2022 he reached his first ranking final at the 2022 Scottish Open, defeating

Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Lu ...

, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams,

Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...

and Neil Robertson throughout the tournament. However, he lost 9–2 to Gary Wilson. In February 2023 he defeated number one seed

Mark Allen Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

at the Players Championship, before bowing out to

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached numb ...

at the semi-final stage.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

Joe O'Connor
at ''worldsnooker.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Joe 1995 births Living people English snooker players 21st-century English people