Born | Harrow, London, England [1] | 14 December 1976
---|---|
Sport country | England |
Professional | 1994–2008, 2010–2020, 2021–present |
Highest ranking | 38 (2001/02–2002/03) |
Current ranking | 79 (as of 2 December 2024) |
Maximum breaks | 1 |
Century breaks | 130 (as of 6 December 2024) |
Best ranking finish | Quarter-final (x4) |
Alfred Burden (born 14 December 1976) is an English professional snooker player from London.
Burden originally had his eyes set on making a career as a professional footballer, but a badly broken leg curtailed this ambition. He spent a couple of seasons at Arsenal F.C. as a schoolboy apprentice, but was with Swindon Town F.C. at the time of the injury. Burden soon showed he was well above average at snooker and qualified for the World Championship in 1998. He was defeated by world number 11 Tony Drago by 8–10.
In the 2006–07 season, Burden qualified for the China Open. He defeated Shokat Ali, Rod Lawler and former top-16 player David Gray to qualify for the tournament but lost in the wild-card round to Chinese player Mei Xiwen, 2–5. He dropped off the main tour after the 2007/08 season.
On 25 November 2009 he won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Hyderabad, India, beating Brazilian Igor Figueiredo 10–8 in the final. With this he earned a place on the 2010/2011 professional main tour [2] and did well enough over that and the following season to end 2011/12 ranked world number 60, inside the top 64 who retained their places for the 2012–13 season. [3]
Burden had an exceptional 2012/2013 season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events. In the Second Event he beat Andrew Higginson, James Wattana, Barry Hawkins, Robert Milkins and Ryan Day to reach the semi-finals. There, he was defeated 1–4 by Martin Gould. [4] In the European Tour Event 3 played in Antwerp, Belgium, Burden beat Gareth Allen, Joe Swail and Mark King, before losing 3–4 to Neil Robertson in the last 16. [4] These results, together with three other last 32 defeats, helped Burden to 23rd place on the PTC Order of Merit, just inside the top 26 who qualified for the Finals. [5] In the Finals, Burden beat world number one Judd Trump 4–3, clinching the match with a 116 break to reach the last 16, the joint furthest he has ever been in a ranking event and the first since 2000.[ citation needed ] Burden subsequently lost 2–4 to Xiao Guodong in the last 16. [4] He then reached the final round of World Championship Qualifying with wins over Paul Davison and Dave Harold, but lost 5–10 to Dominic Dale to end the season ranked world number 53. [6] [7]
Burden qualified for the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic to begin the 2013–14 season, but lost 5–2 to Ali Carter in the opening round. [8] He saw off three players to reach the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open and then beat Michael Holt 5–2 to match his best ever performance in a ranking event. [8] In the last 16 he lost 5–3 against Mark Davis. [9] At the European Tour event, the Gdynia Open, Burden won four matches but was then defeated 4–3 by Sam Baird in the quarter-finals. [10] He finished 34th on the Order of Merit, nine places outside of qualifying for the Finals. [11] Burden got through to the second round of the China Open courtesy of Tony Drago's withdrawal and then lost 5–3 to Jimmy White. [12]
Burden won just two matches in his first eight events of the 2014–15 season [13] but then won four matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the Xuzhou Open, where he lost 4–2 to Tom Ford. He beat David Grace 5–3 and Sam Baird 5–4 in qualifying for the German Masters. [14] Burden defeated Michael Georgiou 5–3 in the first round, closing the match with a 112 break, but fell short of reaching the first ranking event quarter-final of his career as Ryan Day knocked him out 5–2. [13] [15] He ended the season 67th in the world rankings which would have relegated him from the tour, but his Asian Tour performances earned him a new two-year card. [16] [17]
Burden reached the first ranking event quarter-final of his career in the 2016 China Open courtesy of victories over Robbie Williams, Joe Perry, Rhys Clark and Rory McLeod, where he lost 5–1 to Stephen Maguire. [18] He held a 9–5 advantage over Ryan Day in the second round of World Championship qualifying, before being defeated 10–9. [19]
Burden edged out Ryan Day 4–3 to qualify for the 2016 European Masters and then beat Yu Delu 4–1 and Ricky Walden 4–3 to play in his second career ranking event quarter-final, where he lost 4–0 to Mark Selby. [20]
Four successive wins saw Burden reach the quarter-finals of the minor ranking 2017 Gibraltar Open, where he lost 4–2 to Michael White.
In December 2016 Burden scored his first 147 Maximum Break in competition, coming against Daniel Wells in the English Open. Burden went on to lose the match 4-3 but came away with £12,000 prize money on account of his high break. [21]
In January 2017, Burden was found guilty of placing bets totalling £25,000 on snooker matches including those he had played in. He had bet on himself to win and over the 86 bets in 10 years he had lost £2,995. Burden was fined £5,000 and given a six-month ban, which would only have come into force if he had bet on snooker again before January 2018. [22] His second quarter-final of the season came at the Gibraltar Open and he made breaks of 131 and 109 to force a deciding frame with Nigel Bond, but lost it. [23]
Burden went into Qualifying for the 2018 World Championships in danger of losing his place on the Tour and in need of a good showing to retain his place. He achieved this, clinching the deciding frame in the second round of qualifying to beat higher-ranked player David Gilbert 10-9 and secure his place on the Tour for two more years, despite having finished the season outside the top 64, on account of his performances in the 2017/18 season. Burden lost out to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10–8 in the final round of qualifying and thus failed to emulate his achievement of 1998 in reaching the last 32 and a place at snooker's biggest stage, the Crucible Theatre.
In December 2018 Burden defeated former world champions Peter Ebdon and John Higgins on his way to reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open. Remarkably, in rounds 2 and 3 he came back from 3-0 down to win 4–3 against Marco Fu and Zhang Yong, respectively. A lacklustre performance in the quarter-final resulted in a 5–0 loss to the eventual tournament winner Mark Allen.
He has the highest number of centuries for any player never to have been ranked in the top 32.
Burden announced his retirement from snooker on 2 September 2020. [24] However, he returned to Q School in May 2021 and was successful in Event Two, winning a two-year Tour Card.
Tournament | 1994/ 95 | 1995/ 96 | 1996/ 97 | 1997/ 98 | 1998/ 99 | 1999/ 00 | 2000/ 01 | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2004/ 05 | 2005/ 06 | 2006/ 07 | 2007/ 08 | 2008/ 09 | 2009/ 10 | 2010/ 11 | 2011/ 12 | 2012/ 13 | 2013/ 14 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | 2018/ 19 | 2019/ 20 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking [25] | [nb 1] | 262 | 186 | 122 | 77 | 61 | 50 | 38 | 38 | 59 | 70 | 70 | 67 | 74 | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 1] | 57 | 60 | 53 | 50 | [nb 3] | 65 | 60 | [nb 4] | 77 | [nb 1] | 89 | [nb 5] | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship League | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | WD | RR | RR | RR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International Championship | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 3R | LQ | Not Held | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 3R | 1R | WD | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scottish Open [nb 6] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | 2R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | MR | Not Held | 1R | 2R | QF | 2R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German Masters [nb 7] | NH | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welsh Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open [nb 8] | LQ | LQ | LQ | 3R | LQ | LQ | 2R | 2R | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | Not Held | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | Not Held | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship [nb 9] | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asian Classic [nb 10] | LQ | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malta Grand Prix | Non-Ranking Event | 2R | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thailand Masters [nb 11] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | NR | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | LQ | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wuxi Classic [nb 12] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Goldfields Open [nb 13] | Non-Ranking | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | Non-Ranking | Not Held | Non-Ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hunter Classic [nb 14] | Tournament Not Held | Pro-am Event | Minor-Ranking Event | 1R | 2R | 3R | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | NH | 1R | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Open [nb 15] | Not Held | NR | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | LQ | LQ | WR | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 2R | QF | 1R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Riga Masters [nb 16] | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Rank | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | 1R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | QF | 4R | 1R | 2R | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Masters [nb 17] | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | LQ | Not Held | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | 1R | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish Masters | NH | QF | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 4R | A | Ranking Event |
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 |
DQ | disqualified from the tournament |
NH / Not Held | event was not held. | |||
NR / Non-Ranking Event | event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
R / Ranking Event | event is/was a ranking event. | |||
MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 1998 | UK Tour - Event 1 | Anthony Davies | 6–5 |
Runner-up | 1. | 1998 | UK Tour - Event 2 | Joe Swail | 1–6 |
Runner-up | 1. | 2023 | World Seniors Championship | Jimmy White | 3–5 |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 1993 | English Under-17 Championship | David Gray | 5–2 [26] |
Runner-up | 1. | 1993 | UK Under-19 Championship | Lee Walker | 1–4 [27] |
Runner-up | 2. | 1993 | Pontins Autumn Championship | Adrian Gunnell | 2–5 [28] |
Runner-up | 3. | 2008 | PIOS - Event 5 | Chris Norbury | 2–6 |
Winner | 2. | 2009 | IBSF World Snooker Championship | Igor Figueiredo | 10–8 |
Dominic Dale is a Welsh professional snooker player, as well as snooker commentator and presenter for the BBC and Eurosport.
Gerard Eamonn Greene is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast.
Anthony Stephen Hamilton is an English professional snooker player. He has spent five seasons ranked among the game's elite Top 16 and fifteen in the Top 32, reaching a career-high of number ten in the world in the 1999/2000 season. Hamilton is a four-time World Championship quarter-finalist, a Masters semi-finalist and he has compiled more than 300 century breaks during his long career. He won his first ranking title in 2017, beating Ali Carter 9–6 in the final of the German Masters, doing so at the age of 45.
Robert Milkins 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.
Rod Lawler is an English retired professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod".
David Gilbert is an English professional snooker player who has won one ranking title. Never having previously been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event, Gilbert reached the final of the 2015 International Championship where he lost 5–10 to John Higgins. On 22 January 2019 he hit the milestone of the 147th maximum break, in the Championship League. On 4 May 2019 he narrowly missed out on his first World Snooker Championship final, losing out 16–17 to John Higgins in the semi-final. On 13 August 2021 Gilbert won his first world ranking title, the 2021 Championship League, beating Mark Allen 3–1 in the final.
Tian Pengfei is a Chinese professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the World Snooker Tour for two seasons until he dropped off in 2008. He won the Beijing International Challenge, and returned to the Main Tour the following year.
Xiao Guodong is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. He won his first ranking event 17 years after first turning professional at the 2024 Wuhan Open, beating Si Jiahui 10–7 in only the third all-Chinese ranking event final. He also took part in the first ever all-Chinese ranking event final, when he lost 6–10 to Ding Junhui in the 2013 Shanghai Masters.
Paul S. Davison is an English former professional snooker player from Pickering, North Yorkshire. First earning a place on the World Snooker Tour in 1992, he played on the tour until 1997, and has since regained his place on the Tour on three further occasions, most recently in the 2018-19 snooker season. Davison reached a peak of 70th in the world snooker rankings in 2012, and the farthest into a ranking tournament at the 2017 Riga Masters. He has made a total of 76 professional century breaks, the highest being a 144 made in qualifying for the 2001 World Snooker Championship.
Ben Woollaston is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at the 2015 Welsh Open, in which he lost to John Higgins.
Daniel Wells is a Welsh professional snooker player from Neath. He has twice come through Qualifying School to play on the professional snooker tour, and turned professional again at the beginning of the 2023–24 season after placing top of the 2022–23 One Year Ranking List for players outside the top 64, despite competing as an amateur for the entire season.
Michael Georgiou is a British-Cypriot former professional snooker player from Forest Hill. He is a practice partner of Igor Figueiredo and Hammad Miah, who practises at Whetstone Snooker Club.
David Grace is an English professional snooker player and painter. After being a successful junior and amateur player, notably winning the English Amateur Championship in 2005 and 2008, he became a professional in 2008, gaining his place by winning the 2008 European Snooker Championships, where he beat Craig Steadman in the final.
Zhang Anda is a Chinese professional snooker player, who made his debut on the Main Tour for the 2009–10 season. He qualified by winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship. In November 2023 he won his first world ranking title by winning the International Championship.
Igor Almeida Figueiredo is a Brazilian former professional snooker player. Since being relegated from the main professional tour, he has competed in the World Seniors Tour.
Cao Yupeng is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the 2011 Asian Under-21 Championship, thus qualifying for the professional main tour for the 2011–12 season. In his first season on the circuit, he reached the last 16 of the World Championship.
Martin O'Donnell is an English professional snooker player. He gained a two-year place on the main snooker tour by coming through the 2012 Q School. He finished with the most points during the Q Tour of the 2022–23 season and gained a two-year tour card as a result. He is known as "The Minister of Defence" because his initials spell out "MoD" as reference to the UK government body responsible for the Armed Forces.
Sean O'Sullivan is an English former professional snooker player.
Zhou Yuelong is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open.
Oliver Lines is an English professional snooker player who practices at Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. He is the son of former professional snooker player Peter Lines.