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Joe O'Connor (snooker player)

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Joe O'Connor
Paul Hunter Classic 2017
Born (1995-11-08) 8 November 1995 (age 29)
Leicester, England
Sport country England
Professional2018–present
Highest ranking28 (July 2024)
Current ranking 31 (as of 11 November 2024)
Maximum breaks1
Best ranking finishRunner-up (x1)

Joe O'Connor (born 8 November 1995) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. He was the 2018 English Amateur Champion and a ranking event finalist at the 2022 Scottish Open.

Career

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Amateur

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Previously a junior pool champion, O'Connor qualified for the snooker main draw as an amateur at the 2014 Wuxi Classic, then faced Neil Robertson at the 2014,[1][2] and Mark Selby at the 2015 UK Championship.[3] He won four events on the 2017–18 English amateur tour.[4]

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.[5] In June 2018, he beat Andrew Norman 10–3 to become the English Amateur Champion before turning professional.

Professional

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On 28 November 2018, O'Connor defeated world number 12 Ryan Day 6–2 in the first round at the 2018 UK Championship.[6] In February 2019, he defeated top 10 players Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and John Higgins en route to his first ranking event semi-final at the Welsh Open,[7] eventually losing 6–2 to Stuart Bingham.[8] In the 2021 German Masters, he made it to the quarter-finals,[9] but he lost 5–1 to Tom Ford.[10]

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.[11][12] However, he lost 9–2 to Gary Wilson.[13]

In February 2023, O'Connor made it to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open,[14] but lost 5–4 to Pang Junxu,[15] then he defeated number one seed Mark Allen at the Players Championship,[16] before bowing out to Ali Carter at the semi-final stage.[17] In April, he lost 8–10 to Andrew Higginson in the qualifying rounds of the World Championship. In November, he beat Stephen Maguire to qualify for the last-32 of the 2023 UK Championship.[18]

On 29 February 2024, O'Connor compiled his first maximum break, 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.[19] He won his group and made it to the final in the Winners' Group, but there he lost 1–3 to Mark Selby.[20] 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,[21] whom he defeated 10–6 for his maiden win at the Crucible Theatre.[22] His run ended though in the second round, as he was beaten 6–13 by Kyren Wilson.[23]

He topped his group at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024.[24]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24 		2024/
25
Ranking[25][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 68 62 62 47 31 29
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR RR RR RR 2R
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 1R
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 4R
English Open Not Held A LQ 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 1R 2R
British Open Tournament Not Held 4R 2R LQ LQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 1R LQ
Northern Ireland Open Not Held A A 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R
International Championship A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ Not Held 1R 2R
UK Championship A 1R 1R A A 3R 1R 3R 2R LQ 1R LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking A A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R
Scottish Open Not Held A A 1R 3R 2R LQ F 2R
German Masters A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ QF LQ 1R 2R
Welsh Open A 1R 1R A A SF 1R 3R LQ QF 1R
World Open A Not Held A A LQ LQ Not Held LQ
World Grand Prix NH NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 2R DNQ
Players Championship[nb 4] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ SF DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R
Non-ranking tournaments
Championship League A A A A A A RR A A A F
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic A 1R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A LQ LQ A A Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking A 3R 3R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open A LQ NH A A LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open A 1R A A A 2R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 5] NH Minor-Rank A A 2R WD Tournament Not Held
China Championship Not Held NR A LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
Gibraltar Open Not Held MR 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
European Masters Not Held A A LQ LQ 3R LQ LQ 1R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship A A A A A A A Not Held LQ Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c d e He was an amateur
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  5. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

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Ranking finals: 1

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2022 Scottish Open England Gary Wilson 2–9

Non-ranking finals: 1

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2024 Championship League England Mark Selby 1–3

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2018 English Amateur Championship England Andrew Norman 10–3

References

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  1. ^ "UK Championship 2014: Neil Robertson test excites O'Connor". BBC Sport. 26 November 2014.
  2. ^ "UK Snooker: Joe O'Connor to man up for crack at champion Neil Robertson". York Press. 21 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Joe O'Connor awaits Mark Selby tie at UK Championship". BBC Sport. 12 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Reports from the English Amateur Tour 2017/18 – EASB". www.easb.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Clarke and O'Connor Win EBSA Play-Offs - WPBSA". www.wpbsa.com. 18 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Murphy stunned by world number 124". BBC Sport.
  7. ^ "O'Connor stuns Higgins at Welsh Open". BBC Sport.
  8. ^ "Welsh Open: Neil Robertson to play Stuart Bingham in final". BBC Sport. 16 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Ding Progresses To Continue Trophy Pursuit". World Snooker Tour. 28 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Lisowski Clinches Semi-Final Spot". World Snooker Tour. 29 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Outstanding O'Connor Reaches Maiden Final". World Snooker Tour. 3 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Scottish Open 2022: Joe O'Connor stuns Neil Robertson to book place in first final of his career". Eurosport. 3 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Wonderful Wilson Crushes O'Connor In Scottish Final". World Snooker Tour. 4 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Crunch Time For Allen In Bonus Race". World Snooker Tour. 17 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Milkins Sees Off 'Pitiful' Allen". World Snooker Tour. 18 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Players Championship: Joe O'Connor stuns Mark Allen in Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Carter Battles Past O'Connor". World Snooker Tour. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  18. ^ "O'Connor Beats Maguire To Earn Higgins Clash". World Snooker Tour. 23 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Championship League: Joe O'Connor makes 200th official 147 break in snooker history". BBC Sport. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Selby Lands Championship League Crown". World Snooker Tour. 13 March 2024.
  21. ^ "World Snooker Championship 2024: Neil Robertson loses to Jamie Jones; Jackson Page and Ryan Day advance". BBC Sport. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  22. ^ Emons, Michael (22 April 2024). "Selby unsure of snooker future after round-one loss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Warrior Fends Off Debutant O'Connor". World Snooker Tour. 29 April 2024.
  24. ^ "MICHAEL WHITE CONTINUES WELSH CHARGE AT CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER TO REACH LAST 32". Eurosport. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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