 Paul Hunter Classic 2016 | |
| Born | 24 November 1984 Bridgend, Glamorgan |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Wales |
| Professional | 2002/2003, 2016–2018 |
| Highest ranking | 75(June 2017) |
David "Dai" John (born 24 November 1984 in Bridgend, Glamorgan) is a Welsh former professional snooker player. John was banned from snooker until 21 December 2023 after being found guilty of match fixing by the WPBSA in February 2019. [1]
John drew attention in 2000 by reaching the quarter-finals at the European Under-19 Championship. His first major success occurred in 2002 when he won the EBSA European Championship after defeating David McLellan 7–2, he continued this success at amateur level for the remainder of the year and reached the final of the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship lost but 9–11 against China's Ding Junhui.
For the 2002–03 snooker season John joined the main tour. In the first world ranking tournament of the season, the 2002 LG Cup, John secured a 5–3 win against Andrew Higginson before being eliminated in the following round by Martin Dziewialtowski. After this John struggled for much of the season with his best performance of the season came in the 2003 Welsh Open where John reached the third qualifying round before losing 4–5 to future World Champion Mark Selby in a final frame decider. John finished the season ranked 111th .
In June 2003, John defeated fellow countryman Andrew Pagett 7–3 to retain the EBSA European Championship, becoming the first person to do so. [2] As of 2022, John, Robin Hull and Maltese player Alex Borg are the only players to have won the EBSA European Championship consecutively. [3]
“I should’ve knuckled down for three or four years. I thought I could do both, get up at 5, get back at 2, but you can’t do both. That’s when my snooker started going downhill. I know the ability is still there, it’s just the practice.”
— David John [4]
Having dropped off of the tour at the end of the 2002–03 snooker season John spent the next 13 years playing as an amateur. During this time he twice won the Welsh Amateur Championship. [5]
In June 2015, John entered Australian Goldfields Open, defeating world number 44 Alfie Burden in the first qualifying round 5–1. Although he was ultimately defeated by Peter Lines by the same score in the following round, this performance encouraged John that he could still make a full-time return to the game at a professional level.
After a 13-year absence John earned a place on the main tour by coming through the 2016 Q School. He beat Zak Surety 4–1 in the final round of the second event to secure a two-year tour card. [6]
In May 2018 he was suspended from the tour for suspected match fixing, although he had not accrued enough ranking points to stay on the main tour in any case. [7]
| Tournament | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2004/ 05 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking [nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 95 | |||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| Riga Masters [nb 4] | Tournament Not Held | MR | WD | LQ | ||||||||||||
| China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | |||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | Tournament Not Held | MR | 1R | 1R | ||||||||||||
| Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | NH | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||
| World Open [nb 5] | A | LQ | A | A | NH | LQ | LQ | |||||||||
| European Masters | A | LQ | A | A | NH | LQ | LQ | |||||||||
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | A | |||||||||||||
| International Championship | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | A | ||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | A | ||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | A | |||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | LQ | A | A | A | 1R | A | |||||||||
| Scottish Open | A | LQ | A | Not Held | 1R | A | ||||||||||
| German Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | A | ||||||||||||
| Shoot-Out | Tournament Not Held | VF | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | LQ | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | |||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | 2R | A | ||||||||||||
| Players Championship [nb 6] | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||
| China Open | A | Not Held | A | A | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | |||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| The Masters | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| British Open | A | LQ | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||
| Irish Masters | A | LQ | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Not Held | |||||||||||||
| 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. | |||
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2001 | Welsh Amateur Championship | David Mills | 9–7 |
| Winner | 1. | 2002 | EBSA European Snooker Championship |  David McLellan | 7–2 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2002 | IBSF World Under-21 Championship |  Ding Junhui | 9–11 |
| Winner | 2. | 2003 | EBSA European Snooker Championship (2) | Andrew Pagett | 7–3 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2011 | Welsh Amateur Championship (2) | Daniel Wells | 4–8 |
| Winner | 3. | 2013 | Welsh Amateur Championship | Alex Taubman | 8–4 |
| Winner | 4. | 2016 | Welsh Amateur Championship (2) | Darren Morgan | 8–7 |
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