David Grace (snooker player)

David Grace (born 5 May 1985) is an English professional snooker player and painter.[2] After being a successful junior and amateur player, notably winning the English Amateur Championship in 2005 and 2008, he became a professional in 2008, gaining his place by winning the 2008 European Snooker Championships, where he beat Craig Steadman in the final.

David Grace
Paul Hunter Classic 2012
Born (1985-05-05) 5 May 1985
Leeds, England
Sport country England
NicknameAmazing
Professional2008/2009, 2011–2018, 2019–
Highest ranking43 (August 2017)[1]
Current ranking 84 (as of 17 August 2020)
Career winnings£163,148
Highest break139:
2011 PTC - Event 3
Century breaks52
Best ranking finishSemi-finals (2015 UK Championship)
Medal record
Men's snooker
Representing  Great Britain
World Games
2009 Kaohsiung Individual

In 2009, Grace took part in the men's singles snooker competition at the World Games in Kaohsiung, finishing as the runner-up in this event, winning the silver medal. He entered the 2015 UK Championship as the world number 81, but progressed through to his first ranking event semi-final which he lost 6–4 to Liang Wenbo. Grace fell off the tour in 2018, but regained his place on the tour in 2019 after finishing in the top two on the Challenge Tour 2018/2019 ranking list. This earned him a two-year card for the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons.

Career

2011/2012 season

As a new player on the tour Grace would need to win four qualifying matches in order to reach the main draw of the ranking events. He failed to win more than one match in each of his first six attempts to do this until he played in the qualifying for the China Open.[3] There he beat Daniel Wells, Barry Pinches and Matthew Selt, before losing 4–5 to Tom Ford in the final round.[4]

Grace played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events throughout the season, with his best finishes coming in Event 10 and Event 12, where he reached the last 16. He was ranked 63rd in the PTC Order of Merit.[5] Grace ended the season ranked world number 77 and would ordinarily be relegated from the snooker tour as he did not finish in the top 64 who retain their places.[6] However, due to his performances in the PTC events, he earned his place for the 2012–13 season.[5]

2012/2013 season

Grace reached the final round of qualifying for the 2012 Shanghai Masters after seeing off Michael Leslie, Li Yan and Xiao Guodong, but was edged out 4–5 by former world champion Peter Ebdon just one match away from reaching the main stage of a ranking event for the first time.[7] He played in all ten Players Tour Championship events this season, where he enjoyed his best result in the PTC Event 1 by beating James Gillespie, Jimmy White and Gareth Allen, before losing to Jack Lisowski.[7] Grace was placed 74th on the PTC Order of Merit.[8] His season ended when he was beaten 9–10 by Craig Steadman in the first round of World Championship Qualifying.[9] Grace fell 11 places in the rankings during the year to finish it world number 88.[10]

2013/2014 season

Grace went one better than last season in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 Shanghai Masters by winning four matches, concluding with a 5–2 victory over Tom Ford, to reach the main stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career where he was whitewashed 5–0 by Barry Hawkins.[11] He lost his first match in all eight remaining ranking events after this.[11] Grace also had his best form in the early part of the season in the European Tour events by reaching the last 16 of the second event, the Rotterdam Open, where he was beaten 4–1 by Mark Davis.[11] This helped him to finish 53rd on the Order of Merit, which saw Grace earn a fresh two-year place on the tour for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.[12]

2014/2015 season

At the minor-ranking Yixing Open, Grace won three matches to reach the last 16 where he was whitewashed 4–0 by Ryan Day.[13] Grace qualified for the first ranking event of the 2014–15 season, the Wuxi Classic by beating Jimmy Robertson 5–4, but he lost 5–1 to Judd Trump.[14] This last 64 appearance proved to be his best result in a ranking event this year.[13]

2015/2016 season

In the qualifying rounds for the 2015 Shanghai Masters, Grace beat Joe O'Connor 5–3, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–2 and Cao Yupeng 5–4 to reach the final round. He faced Ali Carter and defeated him 5–3, a victory he described as the best of his career afterwards. Grace was due to play Mark Selby in the first round, but he received a bye after Selby withdrew due to family bereavement.[15][16][17] In the second round Grace was knocked out 5–1 by Mark Allen.[18] At the UK Championship, Grace defeated Andrew Higginson 6–1, Robert Milkins 6–2, Jack Lisowski 6–4 and Peter Ebdon 6–2 to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career.[19] He fell 5–1 down to Martin Gould, but remarkably won five successive frames to eliminate him 6–5.[20] In the semi-finals, Grace built a 4–2 advantage over Liang Wenbo, but saw it erased to be 5–4 behind. He then missed a simple pink in the next frame which would have taken the match to a decider, stating afterwards that he had twitched on it. Despite this, Grace earned £30,000 for his first last four showing after he had made £13,000 in the previous two seasons.[21] His form continued into the Gibraltar Open where he won four matches to meet Liang in the quarter-finals and was beaten 4–1.[18] However, Grace could only win two out of nine matches during the rest of the season which included making his debut at the World Grand Prix (lost 4–2 to Mark Allen in the first round).[18] Grace finished a season inside the top 64 in the world rankings for the first time as he was 60th.[22]

2016/2017 season

At the Paul Hunter Classic, Grace beat Sean O'Sullivan 4–0 and Matthew Stevens 4–3 and then did not drop a frame in eliminating Jack Lisowski and Robbie Williams.[23] This saw him play in his second career ranking event quarter-final in which he led Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3–1, but lost 4–3.[24] Grace was beaten 4–1 by Barry Hawkins in the third round of the English Open and lost in the quarter-finals of the Shoot-Out to Shaun Murphy.[23]

Grace then qualified for his first World Championship by overcoming Thor Chuan Leong 10–6, Mark Joyce 10–6 and Akani Songsermsawad 10–3 and played Kyren Wilson in the first round.[25] Grace only trailed 5–4 at the end of the first session after being 5–1 down and then made a century to be 7–6 behind. However, Wilson then took three successive frames to win 10–6.[26] His end-of-year ranking of 44 is the highest Grace has ever been.[27]

2017/18 season

He dropped off the tour at the end of the 2017/18 season but entered Q School in an attempt to win back a place.[28] However, his bid to regain professional status ended unsuccessfully, as he lost in all three 2018 q school events.[29][30]

Personal life

Grace also works at the Northern Snooker Centre and sells his own portrait paintings of snooker players to make extra money.[16]

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2008/
09		 2010/
11		 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20
Ranking[31][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 2] [nb 4] 88 [nb 5] 111 60 44 [nb 3] [nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 6] Tournament Not Held MR LQ LQ A 1R
International Championship Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R A 1R
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 2R A LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 3R 1R A 1R
World Open[nb 7] LQ A LQ LQ LQ Not Held 1R LQ A LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R A 1R
UK Championship LQ A LQ LQ 1R 1R SF 1R 1R A 2R
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held MR Tournament Not Held 1R 4R A 2R
European Masters Tournament Not Held 1R LQ A LQ
German Masters NH A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A 1R
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open LQ A LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R A 1R
Shoot-Out NH Variant Format Event QF 1R A 1R
Players Championship[nb 8] NH DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 1R 2R 4R QF
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Tournament Not Held MR 2R A A A
The Masters LQ A A A A A A A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Northern Ireland Trophy LQ Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship LQ Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ 1R Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held
Shanghai Masters LQ A LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R A LQ Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic PA Minor-Ranking Event QF 2R 1R NR
Indian Open Tournament Not Held A LQ NH 1R LQ A NH
China Open LQ A LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ A NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Masters Qualifying Event 1R 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 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.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
VF / Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a variant format 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. Players qualified through Players Tour Championship Order of Merit started the season without ranking points.
  5. Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points.
  6. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  7. The event was called the Grand Prix (2008/2009), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  8. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)

Career finals

Pro-am tournament finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent Score
Winner 1. 2008 Pontins Spring Open Nigel Bond 5–1
Runner-up 1. 2009 World Games Nigel Bond 0–3
Winner 2. 2017 Vienna Snooker Open Nigel Bond 5–2

Amateur tournament finals: 5 (5 titles)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent Score
Winner 1. 2005 English Amateur Championship Andy Symons-Rowe 8–3
Winner 2. 2008 English Amateur Championship Ben Hancorn 9–7
Winner 3. 2008 EBSA European Snooker Championships Craig Steadman 7–6
Winner 4. 2018 Challenge Tour - Event 2 Mitchell Mann 3–0
Winner 5. 2018 Challenge Tour - Event 6 Ben Hancorn 3–0
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References
  1. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2017 Evergrande China Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. "Meet David Grace, professional snooker player and artist".
  3. "David Grace 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  4. "2012 China Open Results". Snooker Database. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  5. "Order of Merit". WWW Snooker. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  6. "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. "David Grace 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  8. "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.
  9. "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  10. "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.
  11. "David Grace 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  12. "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  13. "David Grace 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  14. "Trump, Higgins and Robertson through at Wuxi". ESPN (UK). Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  15. "Good Grace". World Snooker. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  16. "New Confidence is Saving Grace". World Snooker. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  17. "Selby Withdraws Due to Family Bereavement". World Snooker. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  18. "David Grace 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  19. "David Grace ousts Peter Ebdon in York to earn life-changing windfall". Eurosport. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  20. "Amazing Grace stuns Gould to reach UK semi-finals". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  21. "David Grace misses out on UK Championship final after Liang Wenbo loss". Daily Mail. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  22. "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  23. "David Grace 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  24. "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4–3 David Grace". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  25. "Yan Secures Crucible Debut". World Snooker. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  26. "Warrior Too Strong for Grace". World Snooker. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  27. "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  28. http://www.worldsnooker.com/grace-remains-course-tour-return/
  29. http://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/Matches/Result/14018/609847/q-school-2018-event-3
  30. http://www.worldsnooker.com/page-keeps-q-school-hopes-alive/
  31. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

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