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

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

player from

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

. He was the 2018 English Amateur Champion and a ranking event finalist at the 2022 Scottish Open and 2025 World Open.

Career

Amateur

Previously a junior

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * 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 roc ...

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

Neil Robertson Neil Alexander Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He ...

at the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player. Ranked List of world number one snooker players, world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 24 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all ...

at the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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 in York, England. Ronnie O'Sull ...

. 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 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. In June 2018, he beat Andrew Norman 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, he defeated top 10 players

Kyren Wilson Kyren James Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering. He has won 10 ranking titles. Wilson made his professional tour debut in the 2010–11 snooker season, 2010–11 season after finishing fif ...

, Ding Junhui and John Higgins en route to his first ranking event semi-final at the Welsh Open, eventually losing 6–2 to Stuart Bingham. 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 Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...

. In December 2022, O'Connor reached his first ranking final at the 2022 Scottish Open, defeating Zhao Xintong, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Neil Robertson throughout the tournament. However, he lost 9–2 to Gary Wilson. In February 2023, O'Connor made it to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, but lost 5–4 to Pang Junxu, then he defeated number one seed Mark Allen at the Players Championship, before bowing out to Ali Carter at the semi-final stage. In April, he lost 8–10 to

Andrew Higginson Andrew Higginson (born 13 December 1977) is an English professional snooker player from Widnes, Cheshire. He is best known for being the surprise finalist of the 2007 Welsh Open (snooker), 2007 Welsh Open. Career Early years After some succ ...

in the qualifying rounds 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 ...

. In November, he beat Stephen Maguire to qualify for the last-32 of the 2023 UK Championship. On 29 February 2024, O'Connor compiled his first

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a onefourseven) is the highest possible in snooker in normal circumstances and is a special type of . A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, fo ...

, the 200th maximum in competitive snooker, during a 3–2 win against Elliot Slessor in the 2024 Championship League in his home town of Leicester. He won his group and made it to the final in the Winners' Group, but there he lost 1–3 to Mark Selby. In April, he qualified for the 2024 World Snooker Championship with a 10–8 win over Matthew Selt for his debut appearance at the tournament, where he was drawn against Mark Selby, whom he defeated 10–6 for his maiden win at the Crucible Theatre. His run ended though in the second round, as he was beaten 6–13 by Kyren Wilson. He remains active in pool, and was named as a wildcard for the 2023 Ultimate Pool professional circuit, O’Connor defeated former Pro Series event winner Jake McCartney during his first Series weekend, and has since reached the last 32 of Event 4. He topped his group at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024. He recorded a win over world champion

as part of reaching the quarter-final of the 2025 Welsh Open. He recorded a 5-2 win over

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and the current List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He is currently in ...

a 5-1 win over

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship and has completed the Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murp ...

, and a 6-3 win over Ali Carter on his way to the final of the 2025 World Open, where he lost to John Higgins on 1 March 2025. He qualified for the

2025 World Snooker Championship The 2025 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2025 Halo World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 19 April to 5 May 2025 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 49th consec ...

with a 10-7 victory over Jackson Page.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 2

Non-ranking finals: 1

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Joe 1995 births Living people English snooker players 21st-century English sportsmen Sportspeople from Leicester