John J. Astley
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John J. Astley (born 13 January 1989) is an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
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 from
Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
, Tyne and Wear.


Career


Early career

Astley first came into prominence in 2007 by winning the national Under-19 title (defeating
Michael Georgiou Michael Georgiou (born 18 January 1988) is a British-Greek Cypriots, Cypriot former professional snooker player from Forest Hill, London, Forest Hill. He is a practice partner of Igor Figueiredo and Hammad Miah, who practises at Whetstone Snooke ...
in the final), however wins in the amateur PIOS tournaments proved hard to come by. His attempts to qualify for the main tour via Q School in 2011 and 2012 were unsuccessful as well. Nevertheless, Astley gained enough sponsorship to be able to enter all the PTC events in the 2012–13 season as an amateur. He reached the last 32 stage three times and finished fourth highest ranked amateur on the Order of Merit, winning a tour card for 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons.


2013/2014

Astley won his opening match of the season 5–2 against Mike Dunn to reach the main draw of 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 ...
. In his first appearance in a ranking event Astley was whitewashed 5–0 by
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, ...
. He won a match in a ranking event for the first time by edging out
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 ...
6–5 in 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 ...
, a performance he described afterwards as the best of his career. He lost 6–1 against
Stuart Carrington Stuart Carrington (born 14 May 1990) is an English former professional snooker player. He practises frequently with Steven Hallworth and Ian Glover in Grimsby. In May 2011, Carrington qualified for the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as on ...
in the next round. Astley also qualified for the
China Open China Open may refer to: *China Open (snooker), a professional snooker tournament *China Open (tennis), a professional tennis tournament on the ATP World Tour and WTA Tour *China Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament * China Open (squash) ...
with a 5–2 success over
Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...
and then came through a wildcard round match once in China, before losing 5–1 to
Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 15 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 ...
. Astley beat
Sam Baird Sam Baird (born 17 June 1988) is an English former professional snooker player. He first entered the professional tour for the 2009/10 season, by winning the EBSA Pro-Ticket Tour Play-offs. Career 2011/2012 season Baird reached the main draw o ...
10–9 in the first round of
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 ...
qualifying, but his season ended in his next match with a heavy 10–2 loss to
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 ...
. He finished his debut season on the tour ranked world number 98. Astley was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award at the World Snooker Annual Award Ceremony.


2014/2015

Astley's 2014–15 season proved to be disappointing as he could not qualify for any ranking event, other than 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 for which he gained automatic entry. He lost in the first round of the UK 6–2 to
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 ...
and beat David Gilbert 4–1 at the Welsh, before Gary Wilson knocked him out 4–3 in the second round. Astley played in all six of the minor-ranking
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 but could not win a match in any of them. After losing his first qualifying match for 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 ...
to
Dominic Dale Dominic Dale (born Christopher Dale; 29 December 1971) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player, as well as a current snooker commentator, pundit and presenter for BBC Cymru Wales and TNT Sports (United Kingdom), TNT Sports (formerly Eur ...
, Astley was relegated from the tour as he was ranked 86th in the world.


2016/2017

Astley entered the
2016 Q School The 2016 Q School was a series of two snooker tournaments held at the start of the 2016–17 snooker season. An event for amateur players, it served as a qualification event for a place on the professional World Snooker Tour for the following tw ...
and in the second event he beat
Peter Lines Peter Lines (born 11 December 1969) is an English former professional snooker player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the ...
4–0 to secure a two-year tour card. At the
2016 Riga Masters The 2016 Kaspersky Riga Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22–24 June 2016 at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia. It was the first ranking event of the 2016/2017 season. This was the first time for whi ...
, Astley beat Joe Perry 4–1,
Andy Hicks Andrew Hicks (born 10 August 1973) is an English retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Cream of Devon", Hicks was a semi-finalist at both the World Snooker Championship and UK Championship in 1995, and the same stage at four other ...
4–2 and Jimmy Robertson 4–1 to play in the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career, where he lost 4–1 to Mark Williams. He also reached the third round of the Indian Open and
Paul Hunter Classic The Paul Hunter Classic is a non-ranking snooker tournament. It changed from a ranking event to a 16-man invitational event in 2019. From 2010 to 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. Barry Hawkins is the reigning champion. After los ...
and was defeated 4–2 by
Nigel Bond Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English retired professional snooker player. Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996–97 ...
and 4–1 by Zack Richardson. Astley qualified 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 ...
by overcoming
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 ...
6–3 and then saw off Mark King 6–4 once in China, before losing 6–2 to
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 ...
. He recovered to win 5–4 from 4–0 down against
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 ...
to qualify for the
German Masters The German Masters is a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament held at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany since 2011, except for 2021, when it was held at Milton Keynes in England because of the COVID-19 pandemic. An ear ...
, where he was edged out 5–4 by
Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...
in the opening round. Astley progressed through to the fourth round of the
Gibraltar Open The Gibraltar Open was a Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament. In 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. The tournament started in 2015 and was staged at the Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar. Robert Milkins was ...
by 4–1 victories over Andreas Ploner, George Pragnall 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 ...
and was eliminated 4–2 by Ryan Day. He finished his first year back on the tour ranked world number 76.


Outside snooker

In March 2016, Astley appeared on-stage at the
Sheffield Crucible The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to Crucible steel#History of production in England, crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 174 ...
in
Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2:1 BSc Hons. He the ...
's play, ''The Nap'', as the opponent of lead Jack O'Connell's character.


Performance and rankings timeline


Tournament wins


Amateur

* English Under-19 Championship, 2007 * EBSA Qualifying Tour – Bulgaria, 2012


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Astley, John 1989 births Living people English snooker players Sportspeople from Gateshead 21st-century English sportsmen