Joe O'Connor (snooker player)
 Paul Hunter Classic 2017 | |
| Born | 8 November 1995 Leicester, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 2018–present |
| Highest ranking | 30 (March 2023) |
| Current ranking | 30 (as of 8 April 2024) |
| Maximum breaks | 1 |
| Best ranking finish | Runner-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[edit]
Amateur[edit]
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[edit]
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 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] He defeated Selby 10–6 for his maiden win at the Crucible Theatre.[22]
Performance and rankings timeline[edit]
| Tournament | 2013/ 14 |
2014/ 15 |
2015/ 16 |
2016/ 17 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2020/ 21 |
2021/ 22 |
2022/ 23 |
2023/ 24 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[23][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 68 | 62 | 62 | 47 | 31 | ||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | RR | RR | RR | RR | ||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters | Not Held | A | A | LQ | LQ | 3R | LQ | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 4R | 2R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Not Held | A | LQ | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Not Held | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||
| International Championship | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | Not Held | 1R | ||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 3R | 1R | 3R | 2R | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Non-Ranking Event | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | ||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Not Held | A | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | LQ | F | 2R | ||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | NH | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | ||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 4] | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | SF | DNQ | ||||||||||||
| World Open | A | Not Held | A | A | LQ | LQ | Not Held | LQ | |||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||
| 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 | NR | |||||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | Minor-Ranking Event | 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 | MR | 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 | 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 | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Not Held | LQ | NH | |||||||||||||
| 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. | |||
Career finals[edit]
Ranking finals: 1[edit]
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2022 | Scottish Open | Gary Wilson
|
2–9 |
Non-ranking finals: 1[edit]
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2024 | Championship League | Mark Selby
|
1–3 |
Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)[edit]
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 2018 | English Amateur Championship | Andrew Norman
|
10–3 |
References[edit]
- ^ "UK Championship 2014: Neil Robertson test excites O'Connor". BBC Sport. 26 November 2014.
- ^ "UK Snooker: Joe O'Connor to man up for crack at champion Neil Robertson". York Press. 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Joe O'Connor awaits Mark Selby tie at UK Championship". BBC Sport. 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Reports from the English Amateur Tour 2017/18 – EASB". www.easb.co.uk.
- ^ "Clarke and O'Connor Win EBSA Play-Offs - WPBSA". www.wpbsa.com. 18 April 2018.
- ^ "Murphy stunned by world number 124". BBC Sport.
- ^ "O'Connor stuns Higgins at Welsh Open". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Welsh Open: Neil Robertson to play Stuart Bingham in final". BBC Sport. 16 February 2019.
- ^ "Ding Progresses To Continue Trophy Pursuit". World Snooker Tour. 28 January 2021.
- ^ "Lisowski Clinches Semi-Final Spot". World Snooker Tour. 29 January 2021.
- ^ "Outstanding O'Connor Reaches Maiden Final". World Snooker Tour. 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Scottish Open 2022: Joe O'Connor stuns Neil Robertson to book place in first final of his career". Eurosport. 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Wonderful Wilson Crushes O'Connor In Scottish Final". World Snooker Tour. 4 December 2022.
- ^ "Crunch Time For Allen In Bonus Race". World Snooker Tour. 17 February 2023.
- ^ "Milkins Sees Off 'Pitiful' Allen". World Snooker Tour. 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Players Championship: Joe O'Connor stuns Mark Allen in Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "Carter Battles Past O'Connor". World Snooker Tour. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "O'Connor Beats Maguire To Earn Higgins Clash". World Snooker Tour. 23 November 2023.
- ^ "Championship League: Joe O'Connor makes 200th official 147 break in snooker history". BBC Sport. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ "Selby Lands Championship League Crown". World Snooker Tour. 13 March 2024.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Emons, Michael (22 April 2024). "Selby unsure of snooker future after round-one loss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
External links[edit]
- Joe O'Connor at the World Snooker Tour