David Morris (born 27 November 1988 in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

) is an Irish former 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. In the 2015-2016 he was ranked as

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's number 3 player, after

Fergal O'Brien Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish retired professional snooker player who competed on the World Snooker Tour from 1991 to 2024. He won one ranking title during his career, defeating Anthony Hamilton 9–7 in the final of the 1999 ...

and

Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...

Career

Early career

Aged 16, he reached the quarter finals of the U21 World Snooker Championships. He has been Irish champion at every level, winning the overall National championship every year from 2004 to 2006 (becoming the youngest ever winner in 2004). For 2006–07 he made his debut on the main tour, reaching the last 64 in two tournaments. His best run in the 2007–2008 season was to the last 48 of the UK Championships, where he lost to

Dave Harold David William Harold (born 9 December 1966) is an English former professional snooker player from Stoke-on-Trent. He was known by the nicknames of "the Hard Man" and "the Stoke Potter" (conflating his home city's pottery industry and his prof ...

(who also defeated him in qualifying for the previous year's Welsh Open). His only opening-round defeat that year was to Supoj Saenla in the World Championship, but despite this setback in the highest ranking-point event of the season he did enough to reach the top 64 of the rankings. He also won the Lucan Racing Irish Classic, an event staged by

featuring 8 (mostly Irish) professionals – Morris beat O'Brien 5–3 in the final. In qualifying for the 2008/2009 Bahrain Championship Morris defeated countryman Rodney Goggins and

Adrian Gunnell Adrian Gunnell (born 24 August 1972) is an English former professional snooker player from Telford. He reached the last-16 in four world ranking events (three in Asia, in three different seasons, and at the 2008 Grand Prix). While practising ...

to reach the final qualifying round, where he lost 0–5 to Michael Holt, scoring just 10 points in the process (the lowest in a match of five or more frames since 199

2010/2011

He made an important breakthrough at the 2010 World Open (snooker), World Open by beating

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, ...

3–1 and

Ben Woollaston Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 3, third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. W ...

3–0 to qualify for the televised stages of an event for the first time. However, he was drawn against the current world champion

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 ...

losing 3–1.

2011/2012

Morris left his best run of results in the ranking events until the last tournament of the season, 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 beat Kacper Filipiak,

Mark Joyce Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English former professional snooker player who lives in Walsall. He began his professional career by playing on the Challenge Tour in 2003. Joyce enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, winning the Europea ...

and

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player, and a current commentator and pundit for ITV and Eurosport on snooker coverage. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has wo ...

before losing to

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, ...

4–10 in the final qualifying round. He played in 11 of the 12 PTC events throughout the season, with his best finish coming in Event 9 where he reached the last 16. He was placed 66 on the PTC

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

and finished the season ranked world number 71, outside of the top 64 who automatically retain their places on the tour for the 2012–13 season.

2012/2013

Morris entered qualifying for the 2013 World Championship but lost 1–5 to

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 Cham ...

in the second preliminary round. He played in the 2013 Q School to try and win a place back on the snooker tour and missed the final black for a 147 in his first match of the second event. Morris won through to the final round of that event but lost 0–4 to

Ross Muir Ross Muir (born 6 October 1995 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2013 after graduating from event two of Q School, defeating David Morris 4–0 in the final round. Career Junior career Muir ha ...

. He also reached the final round in the last event and this time succeeded by defeating Gareth Green 4–1 to earn a spot for the 2013–14 season.

2013/2014

Morris began the 2013–14 season by qualifying for the

2013 Wuxi Classic The 2013 Sports Lottery Cup Wuxi Classic was a professional ranking snooker tournament held between 17 and 23 June 2013 at the Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium in Wuxi, China. It was the first ranking event of the 2013/2014 season. The tournamen ...

, where he reached the quarter-finals in a ranking event for the first time in his career. He beat Gary Wilson 5–4,

Gerard Greene Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success ...

5–2 and survived a tense 37-minute final frame decider to see off

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been a World Championship finalist, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won six ranking titles and briefly reached number t ...

5–4. He faced

Matthew Stevens Matthew John Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other t ...

in the quarters and led 2–1 early on, but then did not score a point in the next three frames and went on to lose 5–2. Morris also had a very good run at 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 ...

with successes over

Jamie Cope Jamie Cope (born 12 September 1985) is an English former professional snooker player. A finalist in two ranking tournaments, the 2006 Grand Prix and the 2007 China Open, Cope also reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Masters. He reached his h ...

, 2002 world champion

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English retired professional snooker player who is a former world champion and current coach. Ebdon won nine ranking titles during his career, placing him in joint 14th position (with John Parrott ...

and Mitchell Travis, before losing 6–1 in the last 16 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 ...

. Morris was beaten in the first round of four more ranking events before the end of the season.

2014/2015

In the 2014–15 season, Morris qualified for the

Wuxi Classic The Wuxi Classic was a professional snooker tournament held from 2008 to 2014 in the city of Wuxi, China. It was a ranking event from 2012 through 2014. For the 2015/16 season, World Snooker reduced the number of ranking events held in China, wh ...

and 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 ...

but lost in the first round of both tournaments. For the second successive year he reached the fourth round of the

, defeating Li Hang 6–4 in the first round before beating reigning world champion and world number one

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 ...

6–4 in the second round, a victory that was described as the most significant win of his career to date. He went on to defeat David Gilbert 6–2 in the last 32, but lost 3–6 to

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 ...

in the last 16. Morris beat Joe O'Connor 4–0 at the Welsh Open, but lost by a reversal of this scoreline in the second round against

. He qualified for the Indian Open and the China Open, losing 4–0 to

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 ...

in the second round of the former and 5–1 to

in the first round of the latter. Morris ended the season at a career-high 51st in the world rankings.

2015/2016

After being knocked out in the third qualifying round of both 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 ...

and Shanghai Masters, Morris could only win three more matches during the rest of the season. This meant he dropped off the tour as he finished the year 69th, outside the top 64 in the world rankings. Morris did not enter Q School.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Amateur finals: 5 (4 titles)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, David 1988 births Irish snooker players Living people Sportspeople from Kilkenny (city)