Paul Wykes (born 15 April 1971) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 from

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. He spent 16 years on the circuit and remained in the world's top 64 for 13 years.

Career

Wykes turned professional in 1991 and achieved a career highest ranking of 56 in 1999, twice reaching the final 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, ...

. He enjoyed victories over top names such as

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

, Joe Johnson,

Neal Foulds Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Blac ...

and

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8 ...

and in 1999 reached the last 16 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 h ...

in his home town, Bournemouth, where

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

made a

147 147 may refer to: * 147 (number), a natural number * AD 147, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century * 147 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 147 AH, a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 764 – 765 CE ...

on the way to beating him 9–3. In the 2000s, snooker took second place to Wykes's business interests and family, mostly due to the various financial cutbacks afflicting the game at the time. After winning just two matches during the 2006–07 season he fell to 95th place on the world rankings and decided to retire from snooker. "I thought I was off the tour last year and decided to carry on this season when I found out I was safe," he said. "Looking back, that was probably the wrong decision because I’ve just been going through the motions really". Wykes however continued to keep his

WPBSA 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 promotion ...

membership, and thus was eligible to enter the preliminary qualifying for the

. He returned to action in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, defeating David Taylor and Les Dodd to get through to the first qualifying round, where he lost 6–10 to

James Wattana James Wattana (; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm'', then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm'' in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker pl ...

. Wykes came back in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, the last year when non-tour professionals could enter the World Championship, following a victory in the local Dorset Open tournament and a family discussion: "It has always been a dream of mine to play at the

Crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...

. I know it is a long shot but I am going to give it my best". He beat

Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic player on the game's main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled over 150 competitive during his career, a ...

and

Lucky Vatnani Lucky Vatnani (born 23 December 1985) is an Indian former professional snooker player. He is from Hyderabad, India, but was based in Sheffield, England during his snooker career. Career Vantani, a graduate from Sheffield Hallam University in Bu ...

but lost to Justin Astley. Wykes then entered Q School and came close to regaining his tour place in Event 2, where he went all the way to the quarter finals, only to be whitewashed by

Alexander Ursenbacher Alexander Ursenbacher (born 26 April 1996) is a Swiss professional snooker player from Rheinfelden. He is Switzerland's first professional snooker player (former professional Darren Paris represented England, in the mid-1990s, before moving to S ...

Personal life

Wykes resides with his family in

Tuckton Tuckton is a suburb of Bournemouth, situated on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour in the eastern part of the borough. First recorded in 1271, this was a hamlet in the tithing of Tuckton and Wick until 1894, when the Local Government Act repla ...

, Bournemouth. He has two sons, Lewis and Samuel. He currently runs his own

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...

company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wykes, Paul 1971 births Living people English snooker players Sportspeople from Bournemouth