Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English professional snooker player who lives in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. He began his professional career by playing

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History T ...

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 Martin O'Donnell (born May 1, 1955) is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as ''Myth'', ''Oni'', ''Halo'', and ''Destiny''. O'Donnell collaborated with his musical colleague Michael Salvatori f ...

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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Fergal O'Brien Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player who plays on the main professional tour since 1991. Ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1994 to 2022, he has reached his highest position of 9th in the 2000 ...

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

Joyce started the season with 2 wins in qualifying for the Shanghai Masters before narrowly losing 5–4 to veteran

John Parrott John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...

in the penultimate qualifying round. The

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

would be the first tournament that Joyce would qualify for after finishing 2nd in his qualifying group. However, he would go on to lose all 5 matches in the group stage of the tournament. After failing to qualify for the

Northern Ireland Trophy The Northern Ireland Trophy was a professional snooker tournament. History First contested in 1981 and named ''Northern Ireland Classic''. It was an invitational event held at Ulster Hall, Belfast, and Jimmy White beat Steve Davis in the fi ...

, Joyce won 3 matches to reach the final qualifying round of the

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 ...

before being ousted 9–2 by Ian McCulloch. The remainder of the season was fairly uneventful as he failed to qualify for the Malta Cup, Welsh Open and the China Open. He finished the season off by losing in the third qualifying round of the

. His exploits in the season resulted in his ranking going up 14 places to number 59. This will mean he would have 1 less qualifying match to play in the following season.

2008/09 season

The season started with a 5–0 victory against Patrick Wallace and then a 5–0 defeat to

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...

in the first ranking event of the season, the

. He followed this up with a run to the final qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters in the next event. Another win and a defeat in the

after being reverted to a knockout competition and the same result in the Bahrain Championship. Joyce only recorded 1 win from the next three ranking tournaments, the

, the Welsh Open and the China Open. His best performance of the season was in the qualifying tournament for the Masters, where he reached final, only to lose 1–6 to Judd Trump. The season ended poorly for Joyce with a 10–6 defeat to Patrick Wallace in his first match of the

qualifiers. Despite this, he ended the season up 2 places to number 57 in the rankings.

2009/10 season

Joyce's fourth season on the tour got off to a bad start with a 5–2 defeat to

Joe Jogia Shailesh "Joe" Jogia (born 13 November 1975) is an English retired professional snooker player of Indian descent. Early life Born in Leicester, England in 1975, Jogia lived for a time in the Hertfordshire town of Letchworth, before returning ...

in the qualifying for the Shanghai Masters. He followed this up with victories over Andrew Norman, Michael Judge and

Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship ...

to qualify for the

. He was drawn against the defending champion John Higgins and was defeated 5–1. The remainder of the season up to the

was uneventful with only 2 wins in 3 ranking tournaments. In qualifying for the

, he recorded a 139 break (his highest so far in professional snooker) against Jimmy Robertson in the 3rd qualifying round. He won this match 10–9 and then defeated Michael Judge 10–8 to set up a meeting with Jamie Cope for a place at

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as ...

. Cope was to prove too strong for Joyce as he ran away a 10–5 winner.

2010/11 season

Despite starting from the first round of qualification, Joyce managed to qualify for the televised stages of the

for the first time in his career, beating six-time World Champion

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

9–2 in the final qualifying round. He reached the quarter-finals of a

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

tournament for the first time in his career by defeating Ali Carter 9–6 in the last 32 and

9–7 in the last 16. In quarter-finals, he lost 7–9 to Mark Williams. He ended the season with the highest ranking of his career so far at world number 42, which meant he had climbed 16 places during the year.

2011/12 season

Joyce began the season by winning the Pink Ribbon Pro-Am charity tournament, where he whitewashed Michael Holt 4–0 in the final. Due to his new ranking he would need to win two qualifying matches to reach the main stage of the ranking events on the snooker calendar. However, he started the season poorly and saw his ranking slip to number 51 in January, meaning he would now need to win three matches. He achieved this at the Welsh Open as he saw off Daniel Wells,

and held his nerve against

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 tourn ...

in a final frame decider to book his place in the main draw, where he played

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

. A huge shock appeared to be in the offing as Joyce raced into a 2–0 lead, but Murphy found his form and four frames in a row to triumph. Joyce failed to win another qualifying match in the remaining three tournaments, concluding with a 4–10 loss to David Morris in the

. He finished the season ranked world number 59, dropping 17 places from his starting point, but still inside the top 64 who retain their places for the 2012–13 season.

2012/13 season

Joyce failed to qualify for any of the first four ranking events of the season, but then defeated Andy Hicks and Jamie Cope to reach the

. At the event in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, the world number 50 Joyce pulled off a major shock by coming back from 2–5 down to knock out the world number one

6–5. In the second round he was beaten 2–6 by Ali Carter. After this, he won three matches to qualify for both the World Open and the China Open. Trump exacted his revenge in the first round of the World Open by whitewashing him 0–5, and he withdrew from the China Open as his partner was due to give birth. Joyce had a very consistent season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events, with his best results coming in Event 4 and European Tour Event 5, where he lost in the quarter-finals to Trump and

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

respectively. He finished 26th on the PTC Order of Merit, claiming the final spot to qualify for the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, where

Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian ...

beat him 4–2. Joyce's season ended when he was beaten 7–10 by Michael Holt in the final round of World Championship Qualifying. He climbed 17 places in the rankings during the year to end it placed at world number 42.

2013/14 season

The 2013–14 season proved to be a successful one as he played at the venue stage of six ranking events, three more than his previous best. His deepest run out of these came at the World Open which he qualified for by beating

Fraser Patrick Fraser Patrick (born 8 November 1985) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Glasgow. Career Patrick started his professional career in 2002 by playing Challenge Tour, where he spent three seasons without success. In 2007 Patrick earne ...

5–2. Once at the venue in

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the ...

, China, Joyce defeated David Morris 5–2 and came back from 4–2 down against last year's

runner-up

to hit breaks of 65, 68 and 72 to edge him out 5–4. He also fought back in the last 16 as he lost the opening two frames against Kurt Maflin to earn a 5–3 victory. In Joyce's second career ranking event quarter-final he played

and was defeated 5–3.

2014/15 season

Joyce played in seven ranking events this season, the most in a single year in his career to date. He was knocked out in the first round of the

2014 Wuxi Classic The 2014 Sports Lottery Cup Wuxi Classic was a professional ranking snooker tournament held between 23 and 29 June 2014 at the Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium in Wuxi, China. It was the first ranking event of the 2014/2015 season. Neil Robertson ...

5–1 by Mark Williams and at the Australian Goldfields Open he beat Ryan Day 5–3, before losing 5–2 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 second round. This last 16 exit proved to be Joyce's deepest run in an event this season. He also reached the last 32 of the Indian Open, losing 4–1 to

Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (, born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the ...

2015/16 season

Joyce opened the season with three wins to qualify for the Australian Goldfields Open and beat

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 ...

5–2, before losing 5–4 to Matthew Selt. A first round defeat to Ryan Day in the

International Championship The International Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. The reigning champion is Judd Trump. History The event was introduced in the 2012/2013 season. It was named as the "first overseas 'major'", because the tournament h ...

was followed by defeating Barry Pinches and Sydney Wilson at the

. Joyce built a 5–0 lead over Dechawat Poomjaeng, but lost six frames in a row to be eliminated in the third round. He bounced back to win two matches and qualify for the

German Masters The German Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament held at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany since 2011. The 2021 event was held at Milton Keynes in England because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhao Xintong is the reigning champion, ...

and recorded his second 5–2 first round triumph of the season over Allen. Joyce reached his third career quarter-final after overcoming Mark King 5–2 and led Luca Brecel 4–2, but would lose 5–4. He lost in the second round of the Welsh Open and China Open 4–1 to

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator who works for Eurosport. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Du ...

and 5–1 to John Higgins respectively.

2016/17 season

At the

, Joyce overcame Martin Gould 6–3, before losing 6–4 to

Zhou Yuelong Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. Career Between 2 ...

. He also lost in the second round of the

6–2 against David Gilbert. The highlight of Joyce's season came at the China Open where, after narrowly seeing off

5–4, he was never behind against

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

in another 5–4 win. It was the only time Joyce played in the last 16 of a ranking event this season and he was defeated 5–3 by

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 (200 ...

2017/18 season

At the

, Joyce reached the quarter final for the second time after beating the likes of David Gilbert and

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 ...

. In particular, Joyce said that his 6–5 win over Robertson was one of the best wins of his career. He faced Ryan Day in the quarter final and narrowly lost in the decider.

2019/20 season

Joyce reached his first ever ranking final in the Riga Masters after beating Sam Baird,

Scott Donaldson Scott Donaldson (born 19 March 1994) is a Scottish professional snooker player. Donaldson turned professional in 2012 after winning the 2012 EBSA European Snooker Championship and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012–13 and 2013–14 ...

Liam Highfield Liam Highfield (born 1 December 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2010 after finishing second in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He plays left-handed. Career Amateur years In the 2007/2008 season, Highfie ...

, Jack Lisowski, Stuart Carrington, and Kurt Maflin. He lost 5–2 to

Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (, born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship after defeating Muhammad Sajjad 8–7. Having qualified to compete on the main tour for ...

in the final.

2020/21 season

Joyce qualified for the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...

for the first time after beating Anthony Hamilton and

Igor Figueiredo Igor Almeida Figueiredo (born October 11, 1977) is a Brazilian former professional snooker player. Career Amateur career Prior to entering the PIOS tour in 2009, Figueiredo had only played on 10-foot tables in his home country. Despite this, hi ...

in the qualifying rounds. He drew the reigning champion

in the first round. During the match, Joyce closed the gap to 4-3 and had a chance to steal the eighth frame to level the match, but O'Sullivan stole the frame with the final black to lead 5–3. Joyce ultimately lost 10–4 to O'Sullivan.

Personal life

Joyce practises mainly at the Qbar snooker club in

Walsall Wood Walsall Wood is a suburb split between both Brownhills and Aldridge in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. History In the late-18th century and early-19th century, the workers of Walsall Wood were primarily involved in ...

although he has said in an interview that he travels out at least once a week to practise with other players, in order to keep himself sharp. He is a

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

fan and is a keen golfer. In 2010, Joyce was the victim of an attack outside a nightclub in Birmingham, after an argument in a bar over whose turn it was to get served. He suffered a fractured elbow and problems with his eyesight which led to a reduction in playing time during the first six months of 2011.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Non-ranking finals: 1

Pro-am finals: 2 (2 titles)

Amateur finals: 6 (4 titles)

References

External links

Mark Joyce
at ''worldsnooker.com'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Mark 1983 births Living people English snooker players Sportspeople from Walsall 21st-century English people