Robbie Williams (snooker player)

Last updated

Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams PHC 2016-3.jpg
Paul Hunter Classic 2016
Born (1986-12-28) 28 December 1986 (age 37)
Wallasey, England
Sport countryFlag of England.svg  England
Professional2012–present
Highest ranking 45 (March 2024–present)
Current ranking 45 (as of 8 April 2024)
Best ranking finishSemi-final (x3)

Robbie Williams (born 28 December 1986) is an English professional snooker player.

Contents

Williams turned professional in 2012 after qualifying in Event 3 of the Q School and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 snooker seasons.

Amateur career

He has represented England in a number of amateur competitions, including the World Under 21 Championships in India. [1] Williams has won the Merseyside Open five times.

In 2010, he won the Paul Hunter English Open. [2] In June 2011, he reached the last 16 of a PTC event, beating Peter Ebdon, Nick Jennings and Ali Carter, before losing to Graeme Dott. [3] In March 2012, he was part of the England team who claimed victory in the European Team Championships. [4] In May, he qualified for the main snooker tour by coming through the third 2012 Q School event with a 4–3 win over Mitchell Mann in his final match, with a break of 102 in the deciding frame. [5]

Professional career

Debut season

2012 Paul Hunter Classic Robbie Williams PHC 2012-1.jpg
2012 Paul Hunter Classic

Williams' first match as a professional was in qualifying for the 2012 Wuxi Classic, where he lost 2–5 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. [6] He won two matches, but lost in the third qualifying round three times during the season in the ranking events. [6] Williams played in all ten of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events, with his best finish coming in the first European Tour Event where he beat established players Tom Ford, Robert Milkins and Jamie Cope, before losing a last frame decider to Mark Selby. [6] It was largely down to this result which saw Williams finish 47th on the PTC Order of Merit. [7] His season ended when he was beaten 7–10 by Li Yan in the first round of World Championship Qualifying, which saw him finish his first year on tour ranked world number 79. [8] [9]

2013/14 season

Williams' enjoyed a superb spell of play in October 2013. It began at the minor-ranking Ruhr Open where he won five games to reach the semi-finals, but he lost 4–0 against Mark Allen. [10] At the Indian Open he beat Shaun Murphy to qualify and received a bye through the first round due to Kyren Wilson's withdrawal. Williams then swept into his first ranking event semi-final with the loss of just one frame as he eliminated Andrew Higginson (4–1), Mike Dunn (4–0) and Anthony McGill (4–0). [11] A last four meeting with Ding Junhui followed and it proved a match too far for Williams as he was beaten 4–1. [12] His aforementioned semi-final run in Germany helped him to finish 26th on the European Order of Merit, just one spot short of qualifying for the Finals. [13]

In World Championship qualifying, Williams earned wins over Lü Haotian, Liu Chuang and Pankaj Advani to face Fergal O'Brien for a spot in snooker's biggest event for the first time. [10] Williams produced a superb comeback from 7–2 down to force a deciding frame at 9–9, which he led by 57 points. However, O'Brien then compiled a break of 57 to level the scores meaning a respotted black was required to settle the match which Williams duly potted to seal his first round berth. [14] Williams played world number one Neil Robertson and was beaten 10–2. [15] He ended the season in top 64 of the world rankings for the first time as he was placed 62nd. [16]

2014/15 season

Williams made his debut at a Chinese ranking event at the 2014 Wuxi Classic and lost 5–1 to Mark Selby in the first round. [17] He soon played in his second by qualifying for the International Championship, but lost 6–4 against Stuart Bingham. [18] Williams' only win at the venue stage of a ranking event this season came at the UK Championship, with a 6–4 victory over Sam Baird, before missing a good chance when 5–4 up against Ricky Walden to be ultimately knocked out 6–5. [19]

Williams qualified for his second successive World Championship courtesy of beating Lee Page 10–3, Dechawat Poomjaeng 10–8 and Michael Holt 10–5. [17] He edged the first session against Bingham 5–4, but went on to be defeated 10–7. [20] Williams finished the season with a career high world ranking of 50th. [21]

2015/16 season

The first ranking event Williams could reach in the 2015–16 season was the International Championship and he was beaten 6–5 by Ben Woollaston in the first round. At the UK Championship he overcame both Mitchell Mann and Joe Perry 6–3 and described the latter as the best win of his career, with Perry stating that his opponent's style and speed of play was a joke. [22] Williams went on to lose 6–3 against Matthew Selt in the third round. He reached the second round of the Welsh Open and was edged out 4–3 by Barry Hawkins. [23] Williams qualified for the World Championship for the third year in a row by beating Gareth Allen 10–7, Mark Joyce 10–4 and Anthony Hamilton 10–9. [23] Even though Williams said afterwards that he felt like the worst player in the tournament, he led Ricky Walden (a player who had lost in the final of the previous two ranking events) 5–4 and 7–5, but would ultimately lose 10–8. [24]

2016/17 season

2016 Paul Hunter Classic Robbie Williams PHC 2016-2.jpg
2016 Paul Hunter Classic

At the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic, Williams defeated Simon Lichtenberg 4–1, Joe Perry 4–2 and Andrew Higginson 4–3, but was then heavily beaten 4–0 by David Grace. In the third round of the Northern Ireland Open he levelled at 3–3 after being 3–0 down to Yan Bingtao, before losing the deciding frame. [25] At the UK Championship, Williams overcame Akani Songsermsawad 6–1 and then lost 6–2 to Ali Carter. Wins over Grace, Andy Hicks and Michael White at the Welsh Open saw him reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time this season and he was whitewashed 4–0 by Stuart Bingham. [26]

2017/18 season

Williams put on one of the most significant showings of his career to reach the quarter-finals of the 2017 International Championship. He defeated Joe Perry and Neil Robertson along the way, but eventually lost out to Mark Selby.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 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
Ranking [27] [nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 79 62 50 55 53 57 60 [nb 4] 68 61 48
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not Held RR RR RR 2R
European Masters Tournament Not HeldLQLQLQ 1R 2R LQLQ 2R
British Open Tournament Not Held 2R SF 2R
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 1R 2R QF 3R LQLQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not HeldLQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 3R 1R 4R 4R 1R LQLQ 3R
International Championship Not HeldLQLQ 1R 1R 1R QF LQ 1R Not Held 1R
UK Championship AALQ 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R LQLQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 1R A 1R A 2R SF 2R 2R
Scottish Open Not HeldMRNot Held 1R 1R 2R 1R 4R 1R 1R 1R
World Grand Prix Tournament Not HeldNRDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQ 1R DNQ 1R DNQ
German Masters AALQLQLQLQLQLQLQ 2R 2R LQLQ 1R
Welsh Open AALQ 1R 1R 2R 4R 3R 4R 2R 1R 1R 3R 3R
Players Championship [nb 5] DNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQ
World Open AALQLQNot Held 1R LQ 1R 1R Not Held 2R
Tour Championship Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQ
World Championship AALQ 1R 1R 1R LQLQLQLQLQLQLQ 1R
Non-ranking tournaments
Championship League AAAAAAAAA RR AAAA
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic Non-RankingLQLQ 1R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open NHALQLQLQLQTournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters AALQLQLQLQLQ 2R Non-RankingNot HeldNR
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 4R 2R 1R NRTournament Not Held
Indian Open Not Held SF LQNH 1R LQLQTournament Not Held
China Open AALQLQLQLQWD 1R 2R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters [nb 6] Tournament Not HeldMRLQ 3R 1R LQTournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not HeldNRLQLQ 1R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not HeldMR 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 4R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Shoot Out AA 2R 2R AARanking Event
Six-red World Championship AAAAAAAAAANot HeldLQNH
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 He was an amateur
  3. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ↑ Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
  5. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  6. ↑ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1.2008Pontins Pro-Am – Event 2 Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 1–4 [28]
Winner1.2010Paul Hunter English Open Flag of England.svg Stephen Craigie 6–4 [29]

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References

  1. ↑ "IBSF World U-21 Snooker Championship 2007".
  2. ↑ "2010 Paul Hunter English Open". Archived from the original on 31 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "World Snooker | News | News | Take That! Robbie Williams Beats Stars". worldsnooker.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Robbie Williams playing snooker
  5. ↑ "Robbie Williams 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "Robbie Williams 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "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.
  8. ↑ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. 1 2 "Robbie Williams 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Wallasey's Robbie Williams will face Ding Junhui in the semi-finals of the Indian Open". Sky Sports . Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Indian Open: Ding Junhui crushes Aditya Mehta in final of New Delhi event". Sky Sports . Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Heartache for Fergal O'Brien in qualifier". RTÉ Sport. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Neil Robertson shrugs off the challenge of qualifier Robbie Williams". Cambridge News . Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  17. 1 2 "Robbie Williams 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "International Championship: John Higgins suffers shock exit, Ronnie O'Sullivan through". Sky Sports . Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  19. ↑ "Bond – I'll Die Another Day". World Snooker. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  20. ↑ "Bingham Shrugs Off Illness to Beat Williams". World Snooker. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  21. ↑ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  22. ↑ "LISTEN – UK Championship: Joe Perry blasts "boring" Robbie Williams after UK Championship loss". The Press (York) . Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  23. 1 2 "Robbie Williams 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  24. ↑ "Ricky Walden beats Robbie Williams to reach second round of 2016 World Snooker Championship". Chester Chronicle . Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Yan Bingtao 4–3 Robbie Williams". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  26. ↑ "Robbie Williams 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  27. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  28. ↑ "2008 Pontins Pro-Am – Event 2". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009.
  29. ↑ "2010 Paul Hunter English Open". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011.
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