Craig Steadman

Craig Steadman

Steadman at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1982-07-14) 14 July 1982 (age 42) Farnworth, England
Sport country	England
Nickname	Rock-steady [1]
Professional	2009/2010, 2012–2020, 2021–2023
Highest ranking	66 (July–August 2015, March 2016) [2] [3] [4]
Best ranking finish	Semi-final (2021 Snooker Shoot Out)

Craig Steadman (born 14 July 1982) is an English former professional snooker player.

Career

Early career

Steadman began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. ^[5] He reached the quarter final at the 2006 IBSF World Championships in Amman, Jordan, where he was eliminated by Manan Chandra 6–3. He reached the final of the 2008 European Snooker Championships but was defeated 7–6 by David Grace. He first entered Main Tour for the 2009–10 season, after finishing the 2008/09 PIOS rankings on the rank 8. On 23 May 2009 he won the English Team Championship with Manchester. ^[6]

2011/2012 season

He made it to the main draw of a ranking event for the first time in 2012, by beating Mike Dunn 5–3 in the wildcard round for the German Masters. He played Matthew Stevens in the first round, but was comfortably beaten 5–1. ^[7] Despite not being on the main snooker tour Steadman played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events throughout the season, reaching the last 32 on four occasions. These performances were enough to see him earn a place back on the tour for the 2012–13 season. Steadman decided to accept the invitation back on to the main tour only at the last minute, as he felt snooker was distracting him from his main career as a professional artist. ^[8]

2012/2013 season

Steadman took advantage of a new flatter structure used in the qualifiers for the 2013 Welsh Open, whereby he would only need to win two matches to reach the venue by defeating Yu Delu and Jamie Burnett with the loss of only one frame. ^[9] However, in Newport he was whitewashed 0–4 by Stuart Bingham. ^[10] Steadman played in all ten PTC's this season, with his best results being three last 32 defeats to finish 65th on the Order of Merit. ^[11] His season ended when he lost 6–10 to Kurt Maflin in the second round of World Championship Qualifying to finish the year ranked world number 83. ^{[12] [13]}

2013/2014 season

In his opening match, Steadman defeated Marcus Campbell 5–3 to qualify for the 2013 Wuxi Classic in China where he faced Lü Haotian in the first round and lost 5–3. ^[14] He also qualified for the International Championship and World Open, but lost in the opening round of each. ^[14] At the China Open, Steadman beat Michael Holt and Martin O'Donnell to advance to the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, where he was defeated 5–2 by Mike Dunn. ^[15] In qualifying for the World Championship, Steadman saw off Jak Jones 10–7 to play Steve Davis in the second round. He led 9–5 before Davis won three frames in a row but Steadman then took a 46-minute 18th frame on the colours to win 10–8, in a result that relegated six-time world champion Davis from the main tour. ^[16] Steadman himself lost his place on the tour in the next round when he was defeated 10–6 by Dechawat Poomjaeng as he was ranked world number 78, outside of the top 64. ^{[17] [18]} He entered the 2014 Q School and dropped just two frames in his five matches of the first event to earn a new two-year tour card for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons. ^[19]

2014/2015 season

2014 Paul Hunter Classic

Steadman began the 2014–15 season by qualifying for the Wuxi Classic for the second year in a row and was beaten 5–2 by Marco Fu in the first round. ^[20] He also qualified for the International Championship by defeating Cao Yupeng 6–4 and he saw off Graeme Dott 6–1 in the first round, before losing 6–3 to Ian Burns. ^[21] Despite Anthony Hamilton being docked a frame for arriving late to their first round UK Championship meeting, Steadman was edged out 6–5 in a scrappy six-and-a-half-hour match. Steadman described his performance as pathetic afterwards, but responded in his very next event the Lisbon Open. ^[22] He began the tournament with a 4–1 win over Shaun Murphy, a player who had won the last two European Tour events, and then earned a pair of deciding frame victories against Kyren Wilson (came back from 3–0 down to win 4–3) and Joe Swail (came back from 3–1 down to win 4–3). ^[23] Steadman then whitewashed Stuart Bingham 4–0 to reach his first quarter-final in a professional event, where he lost 4–3 to Mark Davis. ^[24]

In April, Steadman qualified for the televised stages of the World Championship for the first time, courtesy of wins over Rhys Clark, Michael White and Jamie Burnett. ^[20] He described playing five-time winner of the event Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round an honour and was defeated 10–3. ^{[25] [26]}

2015/2016 season

2015 Paul Hunter Classic

A 6–2 triumph over Li Hang saw Steadman qualify for the International Championship for the third successive year, but he lost 6–2 to Ding Junhui in the opening round. He also lost in the first round of both the UK Championship (6–3 to Zhou Yuelong) and Welsh Open (4–1 to Dechawat Poomjaeng). ^[27] Steadman was knocked out in the fifth round of first event of the 2016 Q School and the final round of the second event. This meant that he earned a new two-year tour card by ending in first place on the Q School Order of Merit. ^[28]

2016/2017 season

Steadman lost in the second round of three events in the first half of the 2016–17 season and also let 3–0 and 5–3 leads slip against Anthony McGill in the first round of the UK Championship to be defeated 6–5. ^[29] His best form of the year came at the Welsh Open, where he reached the last 16 of an event for the second time in his career after eliminating Jak Jones 4–2, Sam Baird 4–1 and Anthony Hamilton 4–2. However, he was then whitewashed 4–0 by Barry Hawkins. ^[30]

2017/2018 season

Steadman reached the third round of three ranking events throughout the 2017–18 season. However, he wasn't able to accumulate enough ranking points by the end of the season and was thus relegated from the tour. He entered 2018 Q School in a bid to re-enter the professional snooker tour. ^[31] He did so defeating Adam Duffy 4–0 in the final round of the second event. ^[32]

2020/2021 season

Steadman this season competed as an amateur and in the Shoot Out he made it to the semi-finals. ^[33] His previous best in a ranking event was the last 16. He did not participate in qualifying for the World Championships. ^[34]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04	2004/ 05	2009/ 10	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2012/ 13	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 [35] [nb 1]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	83	[nb 4]	73	[nb 4]	82	[nb 4]	72	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	80	[nb 2]	[nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League	Tournament Not Held						Non-Ranking Event											A	2R	RR	RR	WD
English Open	Tournament Not Held													2R	2R	3R	1R	A	LQ	1R	A	A
British Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held												1R	2R	A	A
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held													2R	1R	1R	2R	A	LQ	1R	A	A
International Championship	Tournament Not Held									LQ	1R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	Not Held			A	A
UK Championship	A	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	LQ	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held							Non-Ranking Event						1R	1R	2R	4R	SF	2R	1R	A
Scottish Open [nb 5]	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held				MR	Not Held			1R	3R	1R	1R	A	1R	LQ	A
German Masters	Tournament Not Held							A	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	2R	LQ	A
Welsh Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	1R	2R	1R	1R	4R	3R	3R	1R	A	1R	LQ	A
World Open [nb 6]	A	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	LQ	1R	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	Not Held			A
World Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held											NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Players Championship [nb 7]	Tournament Not Held							DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held															DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	A
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	A	A	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Championship League	Tournament Not Held						A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic [nb 8]	Tournament Not Held						Non-Ranking Event			LQ	1R	1R	Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open	Tournament Not Held								A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held						LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Non-Ranking		Not Held			Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic [nb 9]	Tournament Not Held					Pro-Am		Minor-Ranking Event						2R	3R	3R	NR	Tournament Not Held
Indian Open	Tournament Not Held										LQ	LQ	NH	LQ	LQ	2R	Tournament Not Held
China Open	A	A	A	Not Held		A	LQ	A	A	LQ	3R	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	2R	Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters [nb 10]	Tournament Not Held											Minor-Rank		LQ	2R	3R	1R	Tournament Not Held
China Championship	Tournament Not Held													NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters	Tournament Not Held																		LQ	Not Held
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held												MR	2R	2R	1R	2R	A	1R	Not Held
WST Classic	Tournament Not Held																			1R	Not Held
European Masters [nb 11]	Not Held		A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held							LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	A	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Merseyside Professional Championship	A	A	1R	A	A	3R	Tournament Not Held
Six-red World Championship [nb 12]	Tournament Not Held						A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Not Held		LQ	Not Held
Haining Open	Tournament Not Held											Minor-Rank		3R	2R	A	3R	NH	A	NH	A	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.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.

1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
2. He was an amateur
3. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
4. Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
5. The event was called the Players Championship (2003/2004)
6. The event was called the Grand Prix (1999/2000–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
7. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
8. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2009/2010)
9. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005)
10. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
11. The event was called the European Open (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005)
12. The event was called the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009–2010)

Career finals

Pro-am finals: 8 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2007	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 1	Andrew Norman	2–4 [36]
Winner	1.	2008	Pontins Autumn Open	Leo Fernandez	5–0
Runner-up	2.	2008	Pontins World Series Grand Final	Jamie Cope	1–4
Runner-up	3.	2012	Paul Hunter English Open	Adam Duffy	3–6
Runner-up	4.	2013	Paul Hunter English Open (2)	Stuart Carrington	3–5
Runner-up	5.	2013	Vienna Snooker Open	Mark King	0–5
Winner	2.	2019	Independence Day Cup	Mateusz Baranowski	4–0
Runner-up	6.	2024	Vienna Snooker Open (2)	Alexander Ursenbacher	4–5

Amateur finals: 5 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2004	English Open	Judd Trump	7–8 [37]
Runner-up	2.	2007	PIOS – Event 7	Bjorn Haneveer	2–6
Winner	1.	2008	PIOS – Event 4	Mike Hallett	6–1
Runner-up	3.	2008	European Snooker Championship	David Grace	6–7
Runner-up	4	2023	Q Tour – Event 1	Liam Davies	2–5
Runner-up	5	2024	Q Tour – Event 3	Zhao Xintong	3–4

References

1. "Craig Steadman". World Snooker Tour . Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
2. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2015 Australian Goldfields Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
3. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2015 The Paul Hunter Classic". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
4. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2016 Ladbrokes Players Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
5. "Craig Steadman – Season 2001/2002". Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
6. Global Snooker: 2009 Jury's English Finals Weekend ^[usurped]
7. "PartyPoker.net German Masters". WPBSA. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
8. "Order of Merit". Snooker.org. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
9. "Craig Steadman 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
10. "Stuart Bingham shows his class at Welsh Open". Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 13 April 2013.
11. "Issued after Munich Open 2013 (ET6)" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
12. "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
13. "Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
14. "Craig Steadman 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
15. "China Open 2014: Results". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 April 2014.
16. "Davis Faces Tour Relegation". World Snooker . Retrieved 30 April 2014.
17. "World Snooker Championship 2014: Poomjaeng to face Doherty". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 April 2014.
18. "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
19. "Melling / Steadman / Tian / Zhang Qualify". World Snooker. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
20. "Craig Steadman 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
21. "International Championship: John Higgins beaten by Li Hang". BBC Sport . Retrieved 15 April 2015.
22. "Craig Steadman stunned by disappointing early exit from UK Snooker Championship". The Bolton News. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
23. "Steadman Shines in Portugal". World Snooker . Retrieved 15 April 2015.
24. "Maguire Wins Lisbon Open". World Snooker . Retrieved 15 April 2015.
25. "Craig Steadman: It's an honour to face Ronnie O'Sullivan in World Snooker Championships". The Bolton News . Retrieved 6 May 2015.
26. "World Snooker Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan wins opener". BBC Sport . Retrieved 6 May 2015.
27. "Craig Steadman 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
28. "Q School Order of Merit 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
29. "Craig Steadman admits he is fed up of his York Barbican hoodoo after suffering". The Bolton News . Retrieved 11 April 2017.
30. "Craig Steadman 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
31. "Q School Event Two - Final Day Line up". 24 May 2018.
32. "Brown Earns Tour Return". 25 May 2018.
33. "Snooker Shoot Out a triumph for the amateurs". 8 February 2021.
34. "Craig Steadman - Players - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Archived from the original on 9 August 2013.
35. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
36. "2007 Pontins Pro-Am – Event 1". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 14 March 2008.
37. "English Open Snooker Championship Roll of Honour". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2021.

External links

• Craig Steadman at the World Snooker Tour (archived)
• Craig Steadman at snooker.org
• Craig Steadman at Global-snooker.com ^[usurped]