Ben Hancorn

Last updated

Ben Hancorn
Born (1982-05-24) 24 May 1982 (age 41)
Bristol, England
Sport countryFlag of England.svg  England
Professional2020–2022
Highest ranking 84 (August 2021)
Best ranking finishQuarter-finals (2022 Gibraltar Open)

Ben Hancorn (born 24 May 1982) is an English former professional snooker player. [1]

Contents

Career

In 2008, Hancorn was the runner up in the English Amateur Championship, losing the final to David Grace. [2] Following this defeat Hancorn stopped playing snooker for a near 10-year hiatus before taking part again in the Challenge Tour. [3]

In February 2020, Hancorn overcame Rory McLeod 5–3 in the final of the English Amateur Championship at the Centaur Arena in Cheltenham. [4]

At the second event of the 2020 Q School at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, Hancorn beat the likes of Dean Reynolds and Chen Feilong, before seeing off Kuldesh Johal in the final round. With these wins Hancorn clinched a two-year Tour Card for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 snooker seasons. [5]

In October 2020 Hancorn beat both Sean Maddocks and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at the English Open to clinch his first 2 professional victories, before losing against Welshman Jak Jones in the round of 32. [6] Hancorn was a surprise package at the 2021 WST Pro Series round robin first round with 6 consecutive victories, including a win against Ronnie O'Sullivan. [7]

In May 2023 Hancorn beat Peter Lines and Gerard Greene to reach the semi-final of the World Seniors Snooker Championship held at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. He was beaten at the semi-final stage by Alfie Burden. [8]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2002/
03
2003/
04
2004/
05
2018/
19
2020/
21
2021/
22
2022/
23
Ranking [9] [nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 84 [nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not HeldNR RR RR RR
European Masters [nb 4] AAAA 1R LQA
British Open AAANot Held 3R A
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not HeldA 1R LQA
UK Championship AAAA 1R 1R A
Scottish Open [nb 5] AANHA 1R 3R A
English Open Tournament Not HeldA 3R LQA
World Grand Prix Tournament Not HeldADNQDNQDNQ
Shoot Out Tournament Not Held 1R 3R 1R A
German Masters Tournament Not HeldALQLQA
Welsh Open AAAA 1R 1R A
Players Championship Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQ
World Championship LQLQLQALQLQ
Former ranking tournaments
Indian Open Tournament Not HeldLQTournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not HeldLQNH
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not HeldA 1R QF NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Merseyside Professional Championship A1R1RTournament Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQlost in the qualifying draw#Rlost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament
DNQdid not qualify for the tournamentAdid not participate in the tournamentWDwithdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 He was an amateur
  3. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. The event was called the European Open (2002/2003-2003/2004) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005)
  5. The event was called the Players Championship (2003/2004)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1.2008 English Amateur Championship Flag of England.svg David Grace 7–9
Runner-up2. 2018 Challenge Tour – Event 6 Flag of England.svg David Grace 0–3
Winner1.2020 English Amateur Championship Flag of Jamaica.svg Rory McLeod 5–3

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Hawkins</span> English professional snooker player

Barry Hawkins is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship, the quarter-finals of the 2004 British Open and the semi-finals of the 2005 Welsh Open. He has now spent twelve successive seasons ranked inside the top 32. Hawkins reached his first ranking final and won his first ranking title at the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Selby</span> English snooker player (born 1983)

Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker player. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 22 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. He is a four-time World Snooker Champion, and has won the Masters three times and the UK Championship twice for a total of nine Triple Crown titles, putting him on a par with John Higgins, and behind only Ronnie O’Sullivan (21), Stephen Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Bingham</span> English professional snooker player, 2015 world champion

Stuart Bingham is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judd Trump</span> English snooker player (born 1989)

Judd Trump is an English professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranking event winners, with 23 ranking titles. He has also won four Triple Crown titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Century break</span> Achievement in snooker

In snooker, a century break is a break of 100 points or more, compiled in one visit to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a mark of the highest skill in snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan has described a player's first century break as the "ultimate milestone for any snooker player".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luca Brecel</span> Belgian professional snooker player

Luca Brecel is a Belgian professional snooker player. A four-time ranking event winner, Brecel is the reigning World Snooker Champion, having won the 2023 event by defeating four-time champion Mark Selby 18–15 in the final. Brecel trailed Si Jiahui 5–14 in the semi-final, but eventually won 17–15. This comeback from nine frames behind is the biggest deficit ever overturned in the history of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thepchaiya Un-Nooh</span> Thai snooker player

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is a Thai professional snooker player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Brown (snooker player)</span> Northern Irish snooker player

Jordan Brown is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. After winning back-to-back Northern Ireland Amateur Championships in 2008 and 2009, he made his debut on the professional tour in 2009–10 but lost his tour card after one season. He rejoined the tour in 2018 after qualifying via Q School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Lisowski</span> English professional snooker player

Jack Lisowski is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his attacking style of play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyren Wilson</span> English professional snooker player

Kyren Wilson is an English professional snooker player from Kettering and a five-time ranking event winner. He has been a runner-up at two of the three Triple Crown events, having reached the final at the 2018 Masters and the 2020 World Snooker Championship. Wilson reached his highest world ranking of fourth in 2020. A prolific breakbuilder, he has made over 350 century breaks and four maximum breaks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhao Xintong</span> Chinese snooker player

Zhao Xintong is a Chinese former professional snooker player who is currently serving a 20-month ban from professional competition after committing offences relating to betting on snooker.

The Tour Championship is a professional snooker tournament first held in 2019. The event features the twelve highest ranked players on the one-year ranking list, which reflects prize money won at ranking events since the beginning of the season. The Tour Championship is the third and final tournament in the Players Series, following the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship. The event features a prize fund of £380,000, with the winner receiving £150,000. The tournament is broadcast by ITV Sport in the United Kingdom and Eurosport across the rest of Europe. The reigning champion is Shaun Murphy, who won the 2023 Tour Championship with a 10–7 win over Kyren Wilson in the final.

The 2020 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 31 July to 16 August 2020 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 44th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible. The final ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, the tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 18 April to 4 May 2020, but both the qualifying stage and the main rounds were postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was one of the first to allow live audiences since the onset of the pandemic, but on the first day it was announced that the event would be played behind closed doors for subsequent days. A limited number of spectators were allowed in for the final two days of the championship.

The Players Series is a bonus competition for players who have earned the most money in a series of professional snooker tournaments. The series involves three events: the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship. It was established in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 in cue sports</span> Overview of the events of 2020 in cue sports

Professional tournaments in table-top cue sports took place in 2020. These events include snooker, pool disciplines and billiards. Whilst these are traditionally singles sports, some matches and tournaments are held as doubles or as teams. The snooker season runs between May and April, whilst the pool and billiards seasons is listed over the calendar year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was disrupted with many events being cancelled or postponed. Cue sports events were played in January and February, before tournaments were discontinued for all disciplines due to the pandemic, returning in June without an audience.

The 2021 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 45th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre and the 15th and final ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was organised by the World Snooker Tour. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred and broadcast by the BBC, Eurosport and Matchroom Sport. It featured a total prize fund of £2,395,000 of which the winner received £500,000.

The 2021 Tour Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 to 28 March 2021 at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the third edition of the Tour Championship and the third and final event of the third season of the Cazoo Cup. It was the 14th and penultimate ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season, following the conclusion of the WST Pro Series and preceding the World Championship.

The 2021–22 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played from July 2021 to May 2022, including the professional World Snooker Tour but also featuring events for female, senior, and Q School players. The season saw a record five players claim their first professional ranking titles: David Gilbert, Zhao Xintong, Hossein Vafaei, Fan Zhengyi, and Robert Milkins. Nutcharut Wongharuthai won her first World Women's Snooker Championship, becoming the only player besides Reanne Evans and Ng On-yee to win the women's world title in 19 years. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Snooker Championship, equalling Stephen Hendry's modern era record of seven world titles and becoming the oldest world champion in snooker history at the age of 46 years and 148 days. Lee Walker won his first World Seniors Championship.

The 2021 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 November to 5 December 2021 at the York Barbican, in York, England. The event was the first Triple Crown and fifth ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season. The tournament featured a prize fund of £1,009,000, with the winner receiving £200,000. It was sponsored by car retail company Cazoo and broadcast in the UK by the BBC and Eurosport.

The 2023 World Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 22 January 2023 at The Centaur in Cheltenham, England. The eighth ranking event of the 2022–23 snooker season, it preceded the 2023 Players Championship and the 2023 Tour Championship as the first of three events in the Players Series. Sponsored for the first time by cryptocurrency casino Duelbits, the tournament was broadcast by ITV domestically, by Eurosport in Europe, and by Matchroom Sport and other broadcasters internationally. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £380,000.

References

  1. "Ben Hancorn - Player Profile - Snooker". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. "Hancorn Wins 100th English Amateur Snooker Championship". 8 February 2020. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. Bickell, Dave. "Tournament success for Ben". North Somerset Times. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. "Hancorn pots way to 100th English Amateur Championship crown". North Somerset Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. "Q School 2 (2020) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. "Portishead snooker player Ben Hancorn wins first two professional matches | North Somerset Times". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  7. "WST Pro Series snooker: 'Beating Ronnie key to glory' – World number 120 Hancorn stuns O'Sullivan". Eurosport. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  8. "World Seniors Snooker Championship 2023: Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White & Ken Doherty among players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  9. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2011.