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2005 Northern Ireland Trophy
The 2005 Northern Ireland Trophy was the first edition of the Northern Ireland Trophy snooker tournament, held from 17 to 21 August 2005, at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Matthew Stevens defeated Stephen Hendry by nine to seven (9–7) in the final. Alan McManus made the highest with 140. This was the only year the tournament was held as a non-ranking event; it would become a ranking tournament for the next three seasons. The top 16 ranked players were invited, Paul Hunter and Stephen Lee did not participate. They were replaced by Ali Carter and 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy. Northern Ireland players Mark Allen and Joe Swail were invited as wildcards along with Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson. Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 final. The event was revived for the 2005/06 season as an invitational event and was contested by 20 players. From the 2006/07 season, it became a full ranking event, attended by the world's top 32 players plus 16 qualifiers. The event was the first ranking tournament to be held in Northern Ireland and has been staged as part of World Snooker's continuing efforts to popularise the game in more territories. The tournament took place at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. It has been the opening event of the season, other than in 2007 when it was held in November. Prize money for 2006 totalled £200,500 with the winner receiving £30,000. In the 2006 event Ronnie O'Sullivan broke a world record during his semi-final against Dominic Dale; he won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Swail
Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast. He retired in May 2019 after being relegated from the tour. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships but only one final. Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions. He is also a former English amateur champion and Northern Ireland amateur runner-up, and has captained Northern Ireland internationally. He was Irish champion in 1992 and 2005. Career Swail has had a very mixed history in the rankings. He took just two seasons to reach the Top 32, and three to reach the top sixteen, but only remained there for one season,Profile on Global Snooker Ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graeme Dott
Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship and the 2007 China Open, and was runner-up in the World Championships of 2004 and 2010. He reached number 2 in the world rankings in 2007, but a subsequent episode of clinical depression seriously affected his form, causing him to drop to number 28 for the 2009–10 season. He then recovered his form, regained his top-16 ranking, and reached a third World Championship final. In 2011, he published his autobiography, ''Frame of Mind: The Autobiography of the World Snooker Champion.'' Career Early career After winning the UK Under-19 Championship in 1992 and Scottish Amateur Championship in 1993, Dott turned professional in 1994. He slowly climbed the rankings, reaching the top sixteen in 2001, where he remained until 2009. Early successes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Six-red World champion, 3 time World Seniors Champion ( 2010, 2019, 2020), 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins. White has won two of snooker's three majors: the UK Championship (in 1992) and the Masters (in 1984) and a total of ten ranking events. He is currently tenth on the all-time list of ranking event winners. He reached six World Championship finals but never won the event; the closest he came was in 1994 when he lost in a final frame decider against Stephen Hendry. He spent 21 seasons ranked in snooker's elite top 16. In team events, he won the Nations Cup and the World Cup with England. He is one of a select number of players to have made over 300 century breaks in professio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Williams (snooker Player)
Mark James Williams (born 21 March 1975) is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning in 2000, 2003 and 2018. Often noted for his single-ball long potting ability, Williams has earned the nickname "The Welsh Potting Machine". Williams turned professional in 1992 and has been ranked the world number one player three times ( 1999–00, 2000–01 and 2002–03). His most successful season to date was 2002–03, when he won the Triple Crown: the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship. In doing so, he became only the third player, after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, to win all three Triple Crown events in one season. He is the first player (and to date, the only player) to win all three versions of the professional World Championship: the World Snooker Championship, the Six-red World Championship and the World Seniors Championship. The first left-handed player to win the World Championship, Williams has won 24 ran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 1998 after winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship. He was in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings for 11 consecutive years, from 2005 to 2016, twice reaching world no. 2. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled more than 450 century breaks, including three maximums. Career Early career Maguire turned professional as a snooker player in 1998. He qualified for the 1999 UK Championship, where he was defeated 2–9 by Mark King in the first round. He played in qualifying for the 2000 World Championship, defeating Wayne Brown, Nick Walker and Bradley Jones to reach the final qualifying round, where he lost 9–10 to Joe Swail. Maguire qualified again for the 2002 UK Championship, going on to defeat Fergal O'Brien 9– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Championship. Since turning professional in 1990, Doherty has won six ranking tournaments, including the 1997 World Snooker Championship in which he defeated Stephen Hendry, inflicting Hendry's first loss in a world final. He came very close to breaking the Crucible curse, reaching the 1998 final where he lost out to John Higgins. He reached a third final in 2003, in which he was defeated by Mark Williams. In other triple crown events, he has been runner-up three times in the UK Championship and twice in the Masters. An intelligent tactician, Doherty has compiled more than 350 century breaks in professional competition. Since 2009, he has combined his playing career with commentating and punditry work. Career Doherty appeared in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry (36). Since turning professional in 1992, he has won four World Championships, three UK Championships, and two Masters titles for a total of nine Triple Crown titles, putting him on a par with Mark Selby and behind only O'Sullivan (21), Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15). A prolific break-builder, he has compiled over 900 century breaks and 12 maximum breaks in professional tournaments, in both cases second only to O'Sullivan (who has compiled over 1,100 centuries and 15 maximums). Higgins has achieved the world number 1 ranking position on four occasions. In 2010, the ''News of the World'' tabloid newspaper carried out a sting operation in a hotel room in Ukraine, which claimed to show Higgins and his then-manager arranging to lose speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Ebdon
Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addition to his world snooker championship, Ebdon won a second Triple Crown event at the 2006 UK Championship. After winning the 1990 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, Ebdon turned professional, making his debut at the World Snooker Championship the following year. He won his first professional event at the 1993 Grand Prix and reached the elite top 16 players in the world rankings in 1995. He reached his first World Championship final in 1996, where he lost to Stephen Hendry, however, he reached the final again in 2002 World Snooker Championship, defeating Hendry 18–17. He reached a third World Championship final in 2006, losing to Graeme Dott. Ebdon continued in the top 16 until 2011, reaching the last of his 18 ranking event fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a modern-era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry. He has won a record seven Masters and a record seven UK Championship titles for a record total of 21 Triple Crown titles, the most achieved by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 39, and has been world number one on seven season ending occasions. After an impressive amateur career, O'Sullivan turned professional in 1992, aged 16. He won his first professional ranking event at the 1993 UK Championship aged 17 years and 358 days, making him the youngest player to win a ranking title, a record he still holds. He is also the youngest player to win the Masters, which he first achieved in 1995, aged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Perry (snooker Player)
Joe Perry (born 13 August 1974) is an English professional snooker player from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. Often referred to as "the Fen Potter" and also nicknamed "the Gentleman", Perry climbed the rankings steadily after turning professional in 1992 and reached the Top 16 for the first time in 2002. His first ranking final came at the 2001 European Open and he had to wait another 13 years for a second which came at the 2014 Wuxi Classic. Perry won his first ranking title at the 2015 Players Championship Grand Final, at the age of 40 and in his 23rd season as a professional. He also won the minor-ranking 2013 Yixing Open and 2015 Xuzhou Open. Perry reached the final of a Triple Crown tournament for the first time at the Masters in 2017, losing 7–10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Perry previously reached the UK Championship semi-finals in 2004 and 2005, and the semi-finals of the World Championship in 2008. Perry claimed his second ranking title at the 2022 Welsh Open by defeati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian McCulloch (snooker Player)
Ian McCulloch (born 28 July 1971) is an English former professional snooker player from Walton-Le-Dale, Preston, Lancashire. He is known for his ability to grind opponents down through protracted safety exchanges and disjointed breakbuilding. He compiled 105 century breaks in his career. Career McCulloch turned professional in 1992, and after steadily climbing up the rankings for many years, he reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in the 1999 Welsh Open. He also made his debut in the Crucible stages of the 1999 World Championship. Like Barry Pinches he entered his best form in his early 30s. He reached two ranking event finals – the 2002 British Open (losing to Paul Hunter) and the 2004 Grand Prix in his home town (losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan). He beat David Gray to qualify for the 2003 World Championship in a clash between players who share their names with musicians, and went on to reach the quarter finals in 2004. He went one stage fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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