Mark Gray (born 16 August 1973) is an English professional pool player and former 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.

Snooker career

Born in 1973, Gray turned professional in 1992. He made little progress in any tournament until the 1997/1998 season, when he reached the last 64 at the German Open - losing 1–5 to

Karl Broughton Karl Broughton (born 26 June 1971) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Broughton was born in 1971, turning professional in 1991. He entered the top 64 in the world rankings at the end of the 1995/1996 season, finishing i ...

- the last 48 at the Thailand Masters, where Chris Small whitewashed him 5–0, and later made his first appearance in the last 32 at a ranking event, in the 1998 British Open. There, he defeated Jimmy Michie 5–3 and

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

5–4, but lost 3–5 to Dominic Dale. The following season saw Gray repeat his feat at the British Open, beating Bjorn Haneveer 5–2, Paul Wykes 5–4 and Jamie Burnett 5–3, having trailed Burnett 1–3. He was again eliminated at the last 32 stage, this time 4–5 by Peter Ebdon. Gray's ranking improved to a career-best 79th for the 1999/2000 season, but his form declined thereafter. In the 2000 UK Championship, he again met Small and led 3–2, but succumbed 3–9; he met Steve Davis in the last 48 at the 2001 Scottish Open, but was whitewashed 5–0 by the six-time World Champion. Gray reached his first quarter-final at the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship, but was defeated 1–5 by the eventual finalist, Hugh Abernethy. Having finished the 2002/2003 season ranked 103rd, Gray dropped off the tour, and entered several qualifying events the following season to regain his place. He was successful in this, but played only four matches in the 2004/2005 season; the last of these, a 3–5 Malta Cup defeat to Darren Morgan, was Gray's final at competitive level. Finishing that season ranked 97th, he left the professional game once more at the age of 31.

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Pro-am finals: 2

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

Pool career

After his snooker career ended, Gray began playing pool, becoming a full-time professional player in 2010. In 2008, he was the number one

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...

player in Britain and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, having won the 2007 Swiss

9-Ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...

Championship; Gray was also part of the Mosconi Cup-winning European team of 2008, 2014 and 2016. Alongside

Daryl Peach Daryl Peach (born 8 March 1972) is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the fina ...

, Gray was the runner up at the

2008 World Cup of Pool The 2008 World Cup of Pool was the third edition of the tournament. The event was held again in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from October 7–11, 2008. Participating nations * (Stuart Lawler and John Wims) * (Martin Kempter and Jasmin Ouschan) * (Ser ...

, losing to the American team of

Rodney Morris Rodney Morris (born 25 November 1970 in Anaheim, California, USA) is a professional pool player of Chamorro - Hawaiian descent. Nicknamed "Rocket" he currently resides in Acworth, Georgia. Rodney married his wife Rheyannon in July 2020. Career I ...

and

Shane Van Boening Shane Van Boening (; born July 14, 1983) is an American professional pool player from Rapid City, South Dakota. As of 2022, Van Boening is the number 1 ranked player in the "World Rankings" published by the Matchroom Pool and the "WPA Rankings ...

11–7.

Career titles

* 2016 Mosconi Cup * 2016

Euro Tour The Euro Tour is a series of professional pool events set around Europe, founded in 1992, and created by the European Pocket Billiard Federation. The Tour's first event was the ''Belgium Open'', held on May 29 – 31, 1992. The event was won by M ...

Austrian Open * 2015 GB Midlands Classic Main Event * 2015

Treviso Open * 2014 Mosconi Cup * 2014

Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to: *Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008 *Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour *Dutch Open (badminton) *Dutch Open (darts) The Dutch Open is amongst the longest running ...

* 2012 GB Southern Masters Challenge Cup * 2011 Sarajevo Coloseum 10-Ball Open * 2011

Treviso Open * 2010 WPA World Team Championship * 2010 GB Midlands Classic Pro Cup * 2009

Costa del Sol Open * 2008 Mosconi Cup * 2007

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Mark Living people English pool players English snooker players People from South Kesteven District 1973 births Sportspeople from Lincolnshire