David Gray (snooker player)
Encyclopedia
David Gray was an English
professional snooker
player.
10–9 in the first round of the 2000 World Championship
, a match in which O'Sullivan scored 5 . However, he was unable to repeat this success in the second round and lost 1–13 to Dominic Dale
, scoring just 208 points, a record low for a best-of-25 match.
After winning the non-ranking
1998 Benson & Hedges Championship and following his World Championship performance in 2000, Gray was a consistent tournament quarter-finalist over the next eighteen months, but did not reach his first ranking final until the 2002 Scottish Open
. In this tournament, Gray eliminated defending champion Peter Ebdon
6–3 in the semi-finals, having already taken out Stephen Hendry
and John Higgins. Stephen Lee
eventually defeated Gray in the final, 9–2. However, in the same tournament a year later, Gray again eliminated Higgins and Hendry en route to the final, and this time won the event, defeating newcomer Mark Selby
9–7.
Although Gray was unable to qualify for the 2003 World Championship
, his success at the 2003 Scottish Open (to date, his only ranking tournament win) saw him break into the top 16 in the 2003/2004 world rankings
, where he remained through 2005/2006
. In the 2004 World Championship
, he advanced to the quarter-finals, losing 13–9 to Graeme Dott
. This performance helped him to no. 12 in the 2004/2005 world rankings
(to date, his best-ever position).
On 28 November 2004 he reached his third – and to date, latest – ranking final in the UK Championship
. He lost 10–1 to Stephen Maguire
in the final. It was during this tournament that Gray scored his first maximum break – the 50th ever made in professional play – in the fifth of his last-32 match against Mark Selby
(whom he had defeated in the 2003 Scottish Open final). His semi-final against Joe Perry
was particularly memorable as he was 7–8 down and requiring Snookers. However a simple missed red by Perry enabled Gray to extract the required points and he managed to clinch the frame. Gray sealed victory by constructing a majestic 139 total clearance in the decider.
Gray bested Jimmy White
(his long-time practice partner) at the 2006 World Championship
, but in the second round Peter Ebdon beat Gray 13–2 with a , becoming one of the few players to have lost two best-of-25-frame matches in a World Championship so emphatically. Gray has yet to advance beyond the quarter-finals in a World Championship.
In the 2006 Grand Prix
, he advanced from the group stage (in which the world's top 32 plus sixteen qualifiers are split into groups of six, who play each other round-robin
with the two most successful players in each group progressing), before losing 2–5 to O'Sullivan in the last 16. He did not qualify for the 2007 World Championship
, losing to 1991 winner
John Parrott
, and dropped out of the top 32 in the 2007/2008 rankings
. A lack of success continued into the next season, with defeat to Liu Chuang
in World Championship qualifying ensuring that he would be outside the top 40 of the rankings for the following year.
Gray fell off the circuit after the 2008–09 season but a World Snooker wildcard was awarded to him to allow him to remain on tour for the 2009–10 season.
After a disappointing 2009/2010 season he finished 77th for the 2010/2011 season and on 28 May 2011 Gray failed to qualify for the professional tour for the next season losing in the Q school qualifying stages.
, Surrey.
On 7 October 2009, whilst on holiday in Thailand, Gray was found unconscious and rushed to hospital after blacking out. The 30-year-old was rescued by paramedics after being found collapsed and wearing only his underpants in a grove in the Thai holiday resort of Pattaya. He blacked out after drinking with friends and woke to find himself on a trolley in the Banglamung Hospital. 110sport Group chairman Lee Doyle said he will offer every assistance to help Gray.
| valign=top width=40% align=left |
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|Legend
|- bgcolor="#e5d1cb"
| World Championship (0–0)
|- bgcolor="dfe2e9"
| UK Championship (0–1)
|- bgcolor=
| Other (1–1)
|}
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
|width="80"|Outcome
|width="20"|No.
|width="50"|Year
|width="250"|Championship
|width="200"|Opponent in the final
|width="100"|Score
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 1.
| 2002
| Scottish Open
|
| 2–9
|-
| style="background:#98FB98"|Winner
| 1.
| 2003
| Scottish Open
|
| 9–7
|- bgcolor="dfe2e9"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 2.
| 2004
| UK Championship
|
| 1–10
|}
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
professional snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
player.
Career
Gray turned professional in 1996, after becoming the youngest winner of the English amateur title in 1995. He first demonstrated his potential by beating future World Champion Ronnie O'SullivanRonnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan , is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style and nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on three occasions , and is second on the all-time prize-money list, with career earnings of over £6 million, behind only Stephen...
10–9 in the first round of the 2000 World Championship
World Snooker Championship 2000
The 2000 Embassy World Snooker Championship professional ranking snooker tournament took place between 15 April and 1 May 2000 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England....
, a match in which O'Sullivan scored 5 . However, he was unable to repeat this success in the second round and lost 1–13 to Dominic Dale
Dominic Dale
-External links:**...
, scoring just 208 points, a record low for a best-of-25 match.
After winning the non-ranking
Snooker world rankings
The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. They are maintained by the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association...
1998 Benson & Hedges Championship and following his World Championship performance in 2000, Gray was a consistent tournament quarter-finalist over the next eighteen months, but did not reach his first ranking final until the 2002 Scottish Open
Players Championship (snooker)
The Players Championship was a professional snooker tournament. It is the most recent name of the ranking tournament held in Scotland every year. The tournament has had a bewildering number of name changes in its history. Until recently it was commonly known as the Scottish Open, and prior to that...
. In this tournament, Gray eliminated defending champion Peter Ebdon
Peter Ebdon
Peter "Ebbo" Ebdon is an English professional snooker player and former world champion renowned for his remarkably focused, determined style of play.-Early years:...
6–3 in the semi-finals, having already taken out Stephen Hendry
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...
and John Higgins. Stephen Lee
Stephen Lee
Stephen Lee is a professional snooker-player from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, whose smooth cue action is regarded by some pundits as the most natural in the game. He has won four ranking titles, and spent 10 seasons in the Top 16 of the world rankings before dropping out for the snooker...
eventually defeated Gray in the final, 9–2. However, in the same tournament a year later, Gray again eliminated Higgins and Hendry en route to the final, and this time won the event, defeating newcomer Mark Selby
Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker and pool player. Runner up in the World Snooker Championship 2007, he was the 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball Champion. Selby has won the Masters on two occasions, the Welsh Open and the Shanghai Masters...
9–7.
Although Gray was unable to qualify for the 2003 World Championship
World Snooker Championship 2003
The 2003 Embassy World Snooker Championship professional ranking snooker tournament took place between 19 April and 5 May 2003 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield....
, his success at the 2003 Scottish Open (to date, his only ranking tournament win) saw him break into the top 16 in the 2003/2004 world rankings
Snooker world rankings 2003/2004
Snooker world rankings 2003/2004: The professional world rankings for the top 64 snooker players in the 2003/2004 season are listed below.-References:...
, where he remained through 2005/2006
Snooker world rankings 2005/2006
Snooker world rankings 2005/2006: The professional world rankings for the top 64 snooker players in the 2005/2006 season are listed below.-Note:...
. In the 2004 World Championship
World Snooker Championship 2004
The 2004 Embassy World Snooker Championship took place between 17 April and 3 May 2004 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.Mark Williams was the defending champion, but he lost in the second round 11–13 against Joe Perry....
, he advanced to the quarter-finals, losing 13–9 to Graeme Dott
Graeme Dott
Graeme Dott is a Scottish professional snooker player from Larkhall in Scotland. He won the 2006 World Championship, which was his first ranking title after four previous runner-up spots...
. This performance helped him to no. 12 in the 2004/2005 world rankings
Snooker world rankings 2004/2005
Snooker world rankings 2004/2005: The professional world rankings for the top 64 snooker players in the 2004/2005 season are listed below. This was Chris Small's only top 16 season, and Paul Hunter's only appearance in the top 4.-References:...
(to date, his best-ever position).
On 28 November 2004 he reached his third – and to date, latest – ranking final in the UK Championship
UK Championship (snooker)
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is the second biggest ranking tournament after the World Championship and is one of the Triple Crown events.-History:...
. He lost 10–1 to Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire is a Scottish professional snooker player.-Early career:Maguire almost qualified for the 2000 World Championships, leading eventual semi-finalist Joe Swail 9–6 in the final qualifying round before losing 9–10, but first served notice of his true potential by knocking out Stephen...
in the final. It was during this tournament that Gray scored his first maximum break – the 50th ever made in professional play – in the fifth of his last-32 match against Mark Selby
Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker and pool player. Runner up in the World Snooker Championship 2007, he was the 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball Champion. Selby has won the Masters on two occasions, the Welsh Open and the Shanghai Masters...
(whom he had defeated in the 2003 Scottish Open final). His semi-final against Joe Perry
Joe Perry (snooker player)
-External links:*...
was particularly memorable as he was 7–8 down and requiring Snookers. However a simple missed red by Perry enabled Gray to extract the required points and he managed to clinch the frame. Gray sealed victory by constructing a majestic 139 total clearance in the decider.
Gray bested Jimmy White
Jimmy White
James Warren "Jimmy" White MBE is an English professional snooker player. Nicknamed the "Whirlwind" and popularly referred to as the "People's Champion", White is a multiple World Championship finalist renowned for losing each of the six finals he contested.White's extensive list of achievements,...
(his long-time practice partner) at the 2006 World Championship
World Snooker Championship 2006
The 2006 888.com World Snooker Championship professional ranking snooker tournament was held at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, and was scheduled for 15 April through 1 May 2006, but continued into the early hours of 2 May 2006. Ending at 12:52 a.m...
, but in the second round Peter Ebdon beat Gray 13–2 with a , becoming one of the few players to have lost two best-of-25-frame matches in a World Championship so emphatically. Gray has yet to advance beyond the quarter-finals in a World Championship.
In the 2006 Grand Prix
Grand Prix (snooker)
The World Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It has previously been known as the Professional Players Tournament, the LG Cup and the Grand Prix. During 2006 and 2007, it was played in a unique round-robin format, more similar to association football and rugby tournaments than the...
, he advanced from the group stage (in which the world's top 32 plus sixteen qualifiers are split into groups of six, who play each other round-robin
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
with the two most successful players in each group progressing), before losing 2–5 to O'Sullivan in the last 16. He did not qualify for the 2007 World Championship
World Snooker Championship 2007
The 2007 888.com World Snooker Championship professional ranking snooker tournament began on 21 April and ran until 7 May 2007 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield....
, losing to 1991 winner
World Snooker Championship 1991
The 1991 Embassy World Snooker Championship snooker tournament took place at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield between 20 April and 6 May 1991.John Parrott took the title, beating Jimmy White 18–11 in the final...
John Parrott
John Parrott
John Parrott MBE is an English professional snooker player and TV personality.He won the World Snooker Championship in 1991, defeating Jimmy White in the final. Two years earlier he had lost 3–18 to Steve Davis, the heaviest final defeat in modern times...
, and dropped out of the top 32 in the 2007/2008 rankings
Snooker world rankings 2007/2008
Snooker world rankings 2007/2008: The professional world rankings for the top 75 snooker players in the 2007/2008 season are listed below...
. A lack of success continued into the next season, with defeat to Liu Chuang
Liu Chuang
Liu Chuang is a Chinese professional snooker player.-Early life:Liu grew up in Liaoning province in northeast China. Near his parents' house there was a snooker table and when he was 10 he played on it and liked it a lot...
in World Championship qualifying ensuring that he would be outside the top 40 of the rankings for the following year.
Gray fell off the circuit after the 2008–09 season but a World Snooker wildcard was awarded to him to allow him to remain on tour for the 2009–10 season.
After a disappointing 2009/2010 season he finished 77th for the 2010/2011 season and on 28 May 2011 Gray failed to qualify for the professional tour for the next season losing in the Q school qualifying stages.
Personal life
Gray lives in the notable development of The Hamptons in Worcester ParkWorcester Park
Worcester Park is a suburb of London, England covering both the extreme north west of the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London , part of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The area is south west of Charing Cross...
, Surrey.
On 7 October 2009, whilst on holiday in Thailand, Gray was found unconscious and rushed to hospital after blacking out. The 30-year-old was rescued by paramedics after being found collapsed and wearing only his underpants in a grove in the Thai holiday resort of Pattaya. He blacked out after drinking with friends and woke to find himself on a trolley in the Banglamung Hospital. 110sport Group chairman Lee Doyle said he will offer every assistance to help Gray.
Ranking event finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
{|| valign=top width=40% align=left |
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|Legend
|- bgcolor="#e5d1cb"
| World Championship (0–0)
|- bgcolor="dfe2e9"
| UK Championship (0–1)
|- bgcolor=
| Other (1–1)
|}
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
|width="80"|Outcome
|width="20"|No.
|width="50"|Year
|width="250"|Championship
|width="200"|Opponent in the final
|width="100"|Score
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 1.
| 2002
2002 Scottish Open (snooker)
The 2002 Regal Scottish Open professional ranking snooker tournament took place between 6 and 14 April 2002 in the A.E.C.C Aberdeen. It was the 8th ranking tournament of the 2001/2002 season....
| Scottish Open
Players Championship (snooker)
The Players Championship was a professional snooker tournament. It is the most recent name of the ranking tournament held in Scotland every year. The tournament has had a bewildering number of name changes in its history. Until recently it was commonly known as the Scottish Open, and prior to that...
|
| 2–9
|-
| style="background:#98FB98"|Winner
| 1.
| 2003
| Scottish Open
Players Championship (snooker)
The Players Championship was a professional snooker tournament. It is the most recent name of the ranking tournament held in Scotland every year. The tournament has had a bewildering number of name changes in its history. Until recently it was commonly known as the Scottish Open, and prior to that...
|
| 9–7
|- bgcolor="dfe2e9"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 2.
| 2004
| UK Championship
UK Championship (snooker)
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is the second biggest ranking tournament after the World Championship and is one of the Triple Crown events.-History:...
|
| 1–10
|}