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Martin O'Donnell (born 4 June 1986) 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. He gained a two-year place on the main snooker tour by coming through the 2012 Q School. He finished with the most points during the Q Tour of the 2022–23 season and gained a two-year tour card as a result. He is known as "The Minister of Defence" because his initials spell out "MoD" as reference to the UK government body responsible for the Armed Forces.


Career


Early career

As an amateur, O'Donnell played in all 12 of the
Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Players Championship Grand Final, ...
events during the 2010/2011 season. He reached the second round on three occasions, but could not progress any further, however, in Event 3 he defeated former world champion,
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 ...
4–3. O'Donnell finished 109th on the Order of Merit. He entered the 2011 Q School in an attempt to turn professional and in the final event he was one match away from achieving this. He played Kurt Maflin and lost 1–4. In the 2011/2012 season, O'Donnell was again confined to entering the PTC events, playing 9 of the 12. He reached the main draw on six occasions but failed to win a match once there. He won the SnookerBacker Classic, which guaranteed him entry into Q School at the end of the season. O'Donnell won five matches at the first 2012 Q School event, concluding with a 4–1 victory over Adrian Ridley, to secure a two-year tour card beginning with the 2012/2013 season.


Professional debut

O'Donnell's first match as a professional was in qualifying for the Wuxi Classic. He beat David Grace 5–2, before losing to Alfie Burden 3–5. He went one better in qualifying for the next ranking event, the
Australian Goldfields Open The Australian Goldfields Open was a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament. The final champion was John Higgins in 2015. History Australia had previously hosted the 1971 World Snooker Championship, 1971 and 1975 World ...
, by defeating Jeff Cundy and Grace once more, but was then whitewashed 0–5 by David Gilbert. He did not win two consecutive matches in qualifying for any other event this season. O'Donnell played in all ten minor-ranking
Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Players Championship Grand Final, ...
events and did not win a match in any of them, until his final attempt at the European Tour Event 5 in Scotland. He saw off Sean O'Sullivan, Craig Steadman, Kurt Maflin all by 4–3 scorelines to reach the quarter-finals, but his run was ended as
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 ...
advanced with a 4–2 win. This helped O'Donnell to finish 83rd on the PTC Order of Merit. His season ended when he was beaten 5–10 by
Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (; born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese former 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 o ...
in the first round of World Championship Qualifying. O'Donnell finished his first year on the tour ranked world number 86.


2013/2014 season

O'Donnell was beaten in the qualifying rounds for eight ranking events in the 2013/2014 season. All 128 players on the tour entered 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 in York, England. Ronnie O'Sull ...
and Welsh Open at the first round stage, with O'Donnell losing at this stage in both. The only event he qualified for this season was the China Open by defeating David Gilbert 5–1. He received a bye through the first round due to
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...
's withdrawal which meant he would play in the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time. O'Donnell faced Craig Steadman and was edged out 5–4. In the
European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...
events his best result came at the
Rotterdam Open The Rotterdam Open, also known as the ABN AMRO Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Indoor courts, indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the ATP Tour and has been held ...
where he beat experienced players
Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player known for quick play. Milkins has been a member of snooker's main tour since regaining a tour card in 1998. Milkins reached a career high rank of 12 in 2014 and 2023, ...
and Marcus Campbell, before losing 4–0 to
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...
in the last 16. As he ended his second season at world number 92, outside the top 64 in the rankings, his other route to remain on tour next year was through the
European Order of Merit European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
, with eight places available to non-qualified players. O'Donnell finished 59th, less than 300 points short of Tony Drago who received the final spot and entered the 2014 Q School to retain his professional status. He was eliminated in the last 64 in both events and had amateur status for the coming season.


2014/2015 season

O'Donnell qualified for the first round of three of the six
European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...
events during the 2014/2015 season. His only win came at the first event, the Riga Open where he defeated Alfie Burden 4–2, but then lost 4–1 to Mark Williams in the second round. At the end of the season he won his place back on the tour by coming through three matches at the EBSA Play-offs, culminating with a 4–3 victory over Jamie Clarke.


2015/2016 season

O'Donnell overcame Gerard Greene 6–4 to qualify for the
International Championship The International Championship is a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament. The reigning champion is Ding Junhui. History The event was introduced in the 2012–13 snooker season, 2012/2013 season. It was named as the ...
and lost 6–2 to
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 ...
in the first round. In the first round of the Welsh Open he knocked out
Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...
, making a 130 break along the way, but was then defeated 4–2 by Matthew Stevens. O'Donnell beat another multiple ranking event winner when he recovered from 3–1 down to Mark Williams to triumph 5–3 and qualify for the China Open. He then ousted Joe Swail 5–2 and
Matthew Selt Matthew Selt (born 7 March 1985) is an English professional snooker player. He qualified for the professional tour by finishing seventh in the Pontin's International Open Series in 2006/2007. Selt played in his first professional final in 2014 ...
5–1 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, but he was thrashed 5–0 by Mark King.


2016/2017 season

O'Donnell qualified for the Riga Masters and beat Sam Craigie 4–3, before losing 4–3 to Jimmy Robertson. He had to wait until the penultimate event of the year to reach the last 32 again as he qualified for the China Open by edging past Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–4 and thrashed Jimmy Robertson 5–0. O'Donnell would be defeated 5–1 by
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 ...
and played in the 2017 Q School as he was ranked 74th in the world, outside the top 64 who kept their places. He lost 4–1 to Lukas Kleckers in the last round of the first event and 4–3 to
Ashley Carty Ashley Carty (born 17 July 1995) is an English professional snooker player. Career At age 17, he reached the final of the 2013 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship, losing 0–6 to James Cahill. He won the 2014 English Under-21 Champi ...
in the third round of the second, but took the final place through the Q School Order of Merit to earn a new two-year tour card.


Performance and rankings timeline


Career finals


Ranking finals: 1


Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)


Amateur finals: 8 (4 titles)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Martin 1986 births English snooker players English people of Irish descent Living people Sportspeople from Dunstable