Steve James (snooker player)

Steve James

Born	(1961-05-02) 2 May 1961 (age 64) Cannock, Staffordshire
Sport country	England
Professional	1986–2002, 2004–2006
Highest ranking	7 (1991/1992)
Tournament wins
Ranking	1

Stephen James (born 2 May 1961 in Cannock) ^{[1] [2]} is an English retired professional snooker player.

Career

James became a professional snooker player in 1986 based on his results in the Professional Ticket Tournaments in 1985. ^[2]

In 1988, he was involved in a car accident ten days prior to his World Championship debut which flipped his car over into a field, although he escaped with only cuts, bruises and a black eye. ^[3] He subsequently became the first debutant to score two centuries at The Crucible in his first round match of the 1988 Snooker World Championship against Rex Williams. He went on to reach the quarter-finals that year. ^[4]

The high point of his career was his sole ranking title – the Classic in 1990, beating Australian Warren King 10–6 in the final. His world ranking peaked at number seven the following season, the best of his five seasons in the top sixteen. ^[5]

On 14 April 1990, in his match against Alex Higgins at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, James became the first player to produce a 16-red total clearance in competitive play. In other words, he potted 16 reds and 16 colours consecutively, followed by all the coloured balls in order: a situation that was only possible because he was awarded a free ball before any red had been potted. ^[6]

A year later he reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, beating defending champion Stephen Hendry in the quarter-finals. ^[7] He was defeated in the semi-final by Jimmy White. ^[7]

He made his final appearance at the Snooker World Championship in 1999. ^[4] He dropped off the World Snooker Tour in 2002, having failed to win a match that season. ^[8]

Personal life

A former postman, he was born in Cannock, Staffordshire. ^{[2] [9]} James became wealthy through snooker, but was banned from driving in 1996, ^[10] and in 1998 declared himself bankrupt after spending £700,000 on "fast living", even having to sell his practice table. ^[11] His financial problems saw him turn to drinking heavily. ^[5] A diabetic, James missed the British Open in 2004 due to a kidney infection. ^[12]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	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
Ranking [13] [nb 1]	[nb 2]	66	32	16	9	7	10	13	17	26	24	24	37	44	64	62	[nb 3]	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	85
Ranking tournaments
Grand Prix [nb 4]	LQ	1R	2R	1R	SF	3R	3R	3R	1R	SF	2R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	2R	QF	3R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ
Malta Cup [nb 5]	Not Held		1R	SF	3R	2R	3R	1R	1R	2R	LQ	NH	LQ	Not Held		LQ	A	A	LQ	A
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held					QF	2R	3R	1R	1R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	1R	WD
China Open [nb 6]	Tournament Not Held											NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held		LQ	WD
World Championship	LQ	QF	1R	2R	SF	1R	2R	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Non-ranking tournaments
Pot Black	Tournament Not Held					1R	1R	SF	Tournament Not Held											A
The Masters	A	A	A	1R	QF	1R	QF	QF	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters	NR		2R	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open [nb 7]	NR		NH	2R	Tournament Not Held				NR		Tournament Not Held
Classic	LQ	1R	2R	W	1R	2R	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held					2R	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic [nb 8]	Not Held		NR	3R	2R	SF	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	Tournament Not Held
German Masters [nb 9]	Tournament Not Held									1R	LQ	2R	NR	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held								Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters [nb 10]	NR		Not Held		2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Not Held
Scottish Open [nb 11]	LQ	3R	SF	3R	Not Held		3R	3R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	LQ	A	A	Not Held
British Open	2R	2R	1R	SF	1R	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	A	A	WD	NH
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event																A	A	LQ	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
English Professional Championship	2R	LQ	1R	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
European Challenge	Tournament Not Held					QF	A	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters	A	Not Held		Ranking		QF	Ranking Event										NR	Not Held
Hong Kong Challenge	A	A	A	NH	QF	QF	Tournament Not Held
Indian Challenge	Tournament Not Held					QF	Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters	A	A	NH	A	SF	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Not Held
Belgian Masters	Tournament Not Held					QF	Not Held		A	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Not Held		A	A	1R	1R	A	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Challenge	Tournament Not Held					1R	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Ranking Event			NH
Indian Masters	Tournament Not Held						F	Tournament Not Held
Pontins Professional	A	A	A	A	A	W	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	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				event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				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 also called the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
5. The event was also called the European Open (1988/1989–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004) and Irish Open (1998/1999)
6. The event was also called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
7. The event was also called the Australian Masters (1986/1987–1987/1988 and 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995)
8. The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
9. The event was also called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
10. The event was also called the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
11. The event was also called the International Open (1986/1987–1989/1990 and 1992/1993–1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1990	The Classic	Warren King	10–6

Non-ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1992	Pontins Professional	Neal Foulds	9–8
Runner-up	1.	1992	Indian Masters	Steve Davis	6–9
Runner-up	2.	2004	Challenge Tour - Event 3	Brian Salmon	2–6

Pro-am finals: 3 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1985	Warners Open	David Roe	4–2 [14]
Runner-up	1.	1992	Pontins Spring Open	Declan Hughes	2–7
Runner-up	2.	1993	Pontins Spring Open (2)	Mike Hallett	6–7

References

1. White, Jason (2002) "Steve James: Crucible or bust for James; Last act beckons in great entertainer's compelling snooker tale", Sports Argus , 26 January 2002, (confirms May 1961)
2. Morrison, Ian (1988). Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker. London: Hamlyn. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-600-55713-5.
3. Smith, Terry (1988). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year. Pelham Books. p. 60. ISBN   0-7207-1830-9.
4. "Crucible characters day 13: Steve James". Jersey Evening Post. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
5. "Booze nightmare for snooker star who blew fortune", Sunday Mercury , 28 June 1998
6. Guinness World Records 2001, IBS Books, ISBN   978-1-892051-01-1
7. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
8. "James bids for Crucible return". BBC Sport. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 12 April 2002.
9. McCann, Liam (2013). Snooker player by player. Demand Media. p. 55. ISBN   978-19092-17454.
10. "Snooker: James steps up a gear", The Independent , 15 February 1997, Retrieved 22 May 2010
11. Larner, Tony (1999) "Bankrupt snooker ace Steve on cue for return", Sunday Mercury , 18 April 1999
12. McLaughlan, Lee (2004) "Steve's Fit For Fresh Start", Sunday Mercury , 7 November 2004
13. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
14. Morrison, Ian (1986). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 147. ISBN   0600501922.