Matthew Couch

Matthew Couch

Born	(1974-06-30) 30 June 1974 (age 51)
Sport country	England
Professional	1992–2004, 2005–2007, 2008–2012
Highest ranking	47 (1999/2000)
Best ranking finish	Quarter-final (x1)

Matthew Couch (born 30 June 1974) is an English former professional snooker player.

Career

During a professional career lasting from 1992 to 2012, Couch had little success in ranking events, although he reached the quarter-finals of the UK Championship in 1998, ^[1] and he made his highest break of 141 in 2002. He returned to the Main Tour for the 2008–09 season, and produced a fine run in the World Championship qualifiers, including a 10–3 victory over former world champion John Parrott. ^[2] In October 2010, Couch had one of his best results to date, reaching the final of the Brugge Open, where he lost 2–4 against another former world champion Shaun Murphy. ^[3] He dropped off the snooker tour at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Personal life

Couch is also an official World Snooker coach, ^[4] and currently resides in Scunthorpe.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1992/ 93	1993/ 94		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	2008/ 09	2009/ 10	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2012/ 13	2013/ 14
Ranking [5] [nb 1]	[nb 2]	347		135	76	83	94	78	47	57	77	79	79	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	70	[nb 2]	69	67	70	[nb 2]	[nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Australian Goldfields Open [nb 4]	Not Held			Non-Ranking		Tournament Not Held														LQ	A	A
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held																LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A
UK Championship	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	QF	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A
German Masters [nb 5]	Tournament Not Held				LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held										LQ	LQ	A	A
Welsh Open	LQ	LQ		1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	A
World Open [nb 6]	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	A	A	A
Players Tour Championship Grand Final	Tournament Not Held																		DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
China Open [nb 7]	Tournament Not Held						NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held		A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	A
World Championship	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	LQ	A		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	A	A
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held																		1R	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Asian Classic [nb 8]	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters [nb 9]	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held
Scottish Open [nb 10]	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held							MR	NH
British Open	LQ	1R		LQ	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event											LQ	LQ	A	NH	NR	Tournament Not Held
Malta Cup [nb 11]	LQ	LQ		WR	LQ	LQ	NH	2R	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy	Tournament Not Held														NR	1R	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship	Tournament Not Held																LQ	Tournament Not Held
Former non-ranking tournaments
Strachan Open	MR	LQ	LQ	Tournament 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.

1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
2. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
3. He was an amateur.
4. The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
5. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996-1997/1998)
6. The event was called the Grand Prix (1992/1993–2000/2001, 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
7. The event was called the China International (1997/1998-1998/1999)
8. The event was called the Dubai Classic (1992/1993-1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
9. The event was called the Asian Open (1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994-1996/1997)
10. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993-1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
11. The event was called the European Open (1992/1993-1996/1997 and 2001/2002-2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)

Career finals

Minor-ranking finals: 1

Outcome	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	2010	EPTC Event 2	Shaun Murphy	2–4

Non-ranking finals: 4 (1 title)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1995	WPBSA Minor Tour – Event 4	Colin Morton	5–6
Runner-up	1999	UK Tour – Event 3	Stuart Bingham	1–6
Winner	2002	WPBSA Open Tour – Event 4	Munraj Pal	5–3
Runner-up	2005	Challenge Tour – Event 4	Jamie Cope	0–6

Pro-am finals: 14 (7 titles)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1996	Marseille International Open	Graeme Dott	5–4 [6]
Winner	1996	Pontins Autumn Open	Gary Ponting	5–4
Runner-up	1997	Austrian Open	Graeme Dott	6–7
Runner-up	1997	Pontins Autumn Open	James McGouran	3–5
Winner	1998	Pontins Autumn Open (2)	Brian Salmon	5–1
Winner	1999	Hannover International Masters	Shaun Murphy	6–5 [7]
Runner-up	2000	Austrian Open (2)	Robin Hull	1–5
Winner	2006	Austrian Open	Patrick Einsle	6–2
Winner	2006	Swiss Open	Dave Harold	4–3 [8]
Winner	2007	Paul Hunter English Open	Neil Robertson	6–5 [9]
Runner-up	2009	Pontins Spring Open	Stuart Bingham	1–5
Runner-up	2009	Dutch Open	Bjorn Haneveer	3–6
Runner-up	2010	3 Kings Open	Dominic Dale	1–5
Runner-up	2012	Austrian Open (3)	Mark Williams	5–6

Team finals: 1

Outcome	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	2006	World Mixed Doubles Championship	Sonia Chapman	Mark Allen Reanne Evans	0–3 [10]

References

1. "Finn fights back to win on black" . The Independent . 7 January 1999. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
2. "Couch ends Parrott's Crucible bid". BBC News . 4 March 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
3. "Glory for Murphy in Belgium". Yahoo! Sports . 3 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
4. "WWW Snooker: China International 1999 (March)" . Retrieved 3 February 2010.
5. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
6. "Matt takes Marseille title" . Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph. 3 June 1996. p. 28.
7. "Karl and Sean Open accounts" . Grimsby Daily Telegraph. 9 September 1999. p. 36.
8. "BUSY MONTH". snookerscene.blogspot.com. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
9. "Other Non-Ranking and Invitation Events". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
10. "Hard labour for Evans to retain title". Snooker Scene. No. May 2006. Everton's News Agency. p. 5.

External links

• Matthew Couch at Worldsnooker.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 31 July 2008)
• Matthew Couch at Pro Snooker Blog