Joe O'Connor (snooker player)
Joe O'Connor (born 8 November 1995) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. He was the 2018 English Amateur Champion and a ranking event finalist at the 2022 Scottish Open.
 Paul Hunter Classic 2017 | |
| Born | 8 November 1995 Leicester, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 2018–present |
| Highest ranking | 30 (March 2023) |
| Current ranking | 33 (as of 2 May 2023) |
| Best ranking finish | Runner-up (x1) |
Career
Amateur
Previously a junior pool champion, O'Connor qualified for the snooker main draw as an amateur at the 2014 Wuxi Classic, then faced Neil Robertson at the 2014,[1][2] and Mark Selby at the 2015 UK Championship.[3] He won four events on the 2017–18 English amateur tour.[4]
Ahead of the 2018–19 season, O'Connor defeated Brandon Sargeant 4–1 and then Oliver Brown 4–0 to secure a two-year professional tour card for the first time at the 2018 EBSA Play-Offs at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.[5] In June 2018, he beat Andrew Norman 10–3 to become the English Amateur Champion before turning professional.
Professional
On 28 November 2018 O'Connor defeated world number 12 Ryan Day 6–2 in the first round at the 2018 UK Championship.[6]
In February 2019 O'Connor defeated top 10 players Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and John Higgins en route to his first ranking event semi-final at the Welsh Open,[7] eventually losing 6–2 to Stuart Bingham.[8]
In the 2021 German Masters he made it to the quarter-finals,[9] but he lost 5–1 to Tom Ford.[10]
In December 2022 he reached his first ranking final at the 2022 Scottish Open, defeating Zhao Xintong, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Neil Robertson throughout the tournament.[11][12] However, he lost 9–2 to Gary Wilson.[13] In February 2023 he defeated number one seed Mark Allen at the Players Championship,[14] before bowing out to Ali Carter at the semi-final stage.[15] In April 2023 he lost 8-10 to Andrew Higginson in the qualifying rounds of the World Championships.
Performance and rankings timeline
| Tournament | 2013/ 14 |
2014/ 15 |
2015/ 16 |
2016/ 17 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2020/ 21 |
2021/ 22 |
2022/ 23 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[16][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 68 | 62 | 62 | 47 | |||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | RR | RR | RR | |||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | A | LQ | LQ | 3R | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 4R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 3R | 1R | 3R | 2R | LQ | |||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Tournament Not Held | A | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | LQ | F | |||||||||||||||
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | |||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | NH | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | |||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Non-Ranking Event | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | |||||||||||||||
| German Masters | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | QF | LQ | 1R | |||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | SF | 1R | 3R | LQ | QF | |||||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 4] | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | SF | |||||||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | A | A | A | |||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Not Held | LQ | ||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuxi Classic | A | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open | A | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | Non-Ranking | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | Minor-Ranking Event | A | 3R | 3R | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||
| Indian Open | A | LQ | NH | A | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||
| China Open | A | 1R | A | A | A | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||
| Riga Masters[nb 5] | NH | Minor-Ranking | A | A | 2R | WD | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||
| China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | A | LQ | 1R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||
| World Open | A | Not Held | A | A | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | RR | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | 1R | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Not Held | MR | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | NH | ||||||||||||||
| 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. | |||
- It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
- He was an amateur
- New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
- The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014—2015/2016)
- The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
Career finals
Ranking finals: 1
| Outcome | No. | Year | Chanpionship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2022 | Scottish Open | Gary Wilson |
2–9 |
Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 2018 | English Amateur Championship | Andrew Norman |
10–3 |
References
- "UK Championship 2014: Neil Robertson test excites O'Connor". BBC Sport. 26 November 2014.
- "UK Snooker: Joe O'Connor to man up for crack at champion Neil Robertson". York Press. 21 November 2014.
- "Joe O'Connor awaits Mark Selby tie at UK Championship". BBC Sport. 12 November 2015.
- "Reports from the English Amateur Tour 2017/18 – EASB". www.easb.co.uk.
- "Clarke and O'Connor Win EBSA Play-Offs - WPBSA". www.wpbsa.com. 18 April 2018.
- "Murphy stunned by world number 124". BBC Sport.
- "O'Connor stuns Higgins at Welsh Open". BBC Sport.
- "Welsh Open: Neil Robertson to play Stuart Bingham in final". BBC Sport. 16 February 2019.
- "Ding Progresses To Continue Trophy Pursuit". wst.tv. 28 January 2021.
- "Lisowski Clinches Semi-Final Spot". wst.tv. 29 January 2021.
- "Outstanding O'Connor Reaches Maiden Final". wst.tv. 3 December 2022.
- "Scottish Open 2022: Joe O'Connor stuns Neil Robertson to book place in first final of his career". Eurosport. 3 December 2022.
- "Wonderful Wilson Crushes O'Connor In Scottish Final". wst.tv. 4 December 2022.
- "Players Championship: Joe O'Connor stuns Mark Allen in Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- "CARTER BATTLES PAST O'CONNOR". World Snooker. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
External links
- Joe O'Connor at worldsnooker.com