Mark James Williams, 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".
John Higgins, is a Scottish professional snooker player. 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 Ronnie O’Sullivan (20), Stephen Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15). He has won 31 career ranking titles, putting him in third place on the all-time list behind O'Sullivan (37) and Hendry (36). Known as a prolific break-builder, he has compiled over 800 century breaks in professional tournaments, second only to O'Sullivan. He has also compiled 12 competitive maximum breaks, placing him second behind O'Sullivan (15). He has been ranked world number 1 on four occasions.
Graeme Dott 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. By reaching the final of the 2020 World Grand Prix, Dott became the first player to reach a ranking final in four different decades, the first being the 1999 Scottish Open.
The World Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament. Throughout its history, the tournament has undergone numerous revamps and name changes. It started out in 1982 as the Professional Players Tournament, but for most of the 1980s and 1990s it was known as the Grand Prix. It was renamed the LG Cup from 2001 to 2003 before reverting to the Grand Prix until 2010. Since then it has been known as the World Open.
David Harold 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". He was also the first player on the television circuit to sport a plaster on his chin as a guide for his cue, which is a practice now adopted by Graeme Dott. As an amateur he played as David Harold, but after turning professional in 1991 he was registered as Dave Harold.
Ian McCulloch is a former English 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.
Allister Carter is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached number two in the world rankings in 2010. His nickname, "The Captain", comes from his hobby of piloting aeroplanes.
Neil Robertson is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United Kingdom to have completed snooker's Triple Crown, having won the World Championship in 2010, the Masters in 2012, and the UK Championship in 2013, 2015 and 2020. He has claimed a career total of 21 ranking titles, having won at least one professional tournament every year since 2006.
The 2006 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It started on 15 April 2006 and was scheduled to finish on 1 May 2006, but continued into the early hours of 2 May, ending at 12:52 a.m. BST. The final broke the record for the latest finish time in a World Snooker Championship final – 29 minutes later than the 1985 final – although it was not the longest-ever final.
The 1997 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1997 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
Rod Lawler is an English former professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style, which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod".
The 2007 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It started on 21 April 2007 and was scheduled to finish on 7 May 2007, but continued into the early hours of 8 May, ending at 12:54 a.m. BST. The final broke the record for the latest finish time in a World Snooker Championship final, narrowly beating the 2006 final by two minutes.
The 2008 SAGA Insurance Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 13 and 20 January 2008 at the Wembley Arena in London, England.
The 2004 Snooker Grand Prix was the 2004 edition of the Grand Prix snooker tournament and was held from 2 to 10 October 2004 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan won the tournament defeating Ian McCulloch by nine frames to five (9–5) in the final. In the semi-finals O'Sullivan defeated Paul Hunter 6–3 and McCulloch beat Michael Judge 6–1. Mark Williams, who won the same event under the name LG Cup the year before, lost in the first round. John Higgins made the highest break with a 147. The 64-man tournament was the first of eight World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2004/2005 snooker season and the next event following last season's World Championship, which was won by O'Sullivan. It preceded the second ranking event of the season, the British Open.
The 1997 Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament and the first of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 1997/1998 season, preceding the UK Championship. It was held from 14 to 26 October 1997 at the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England.
The 2018 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament held from 21 April to 7 May 2018 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Hosted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the 20th and final ranking event of the 2017-18 snooker season and the 42nd consecutive time the World Snooker Championship had been held at the venue. The tournament was broadcast by BBC Sport and Eurosport in Europe, and sponsored by betting company Betfred.
The 2019 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2019 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 43rd consecutive year the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, and the 20th and final ranking event of the 2018–19 snooker season. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 10 to 17 April 2019 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Sports betting company Betfred sponsored the event.
The 2020 German Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 29 January to 2 February 2020 in the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany. The tournament was the tenth ranking event of the 2019–2020 snooker season. It was the 14th edition of the German Masters, first held in 1995 as the 1995 German Open. The event featured a prize fund of £400,000 with £80,000 being given to the winner.
The 2020 World Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament which took place from 3 to 9 February 2020 in the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, England. It was the eleventh ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, and the first of three Coral Cup tournaments. The 2020 edition of the World Grand Prix was sponsored by the betting company Coral. The event had 32 participants, with players qualifying by virtue of their ranking points during the 2019–20 season. It had a prize fund of £380,000, with £100,000 going to the winner.
The 2020 World Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament, that took place from 14 to 20 December 2020 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. Although the tournament was not sponsored by Cazoo, it was the first of three tournaments that form the Cazoo Cup.
Brian Morgan (ENG) (143)
Mark Williams (WAL)
