Liam Highfield

Liam Highfield (born 1 December 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2010, after finishing second in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings.[1] He plays left-handed.

Liam Highfield
Paul Hunter Classic 2016
Born (1990-12-01) 1 December 1990
Swindon, England
Sport country England
Professional2010–
Highest ranking55 (October 2019)
Current ranking 59 (as of 27 June 2020)
Career winnings£205,150
Highest break140:
2017 English Open
2019 Welsh Open
Century breaks81
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (2017 Indian Open)

Career

Amateur years

In the 2007/2008 season he won the last event of International Open Series, and finished 12th in the rankings. The following season he finished as number 33.

In the 2009/2010 season he won the second event and was runner-up in the first and sixth event of the International Open Series and finished second in the rankings. Thus, Highfield received a place on the 2010/2011 professional Main Tour.

2011/2012 season

At the beginning of this season, Highfield was ranked number 68 in the world, meaning he was required to win four qualifying matches to reach the main stage of the ranking events.[2] He did not manage this throughout the season, coming closest in the first event of the year, the Australian Goldfields Open. He beat Simon Bedford and Xiao Guodong both by deciding frames and received a bye through to the final qualifying round because Steve Davis withdrew. There he lost to Dominic Dale 3–5.[3] He could only win three more matches in qualifying for the remainder of the season and finished it ranked number 66, out of the top 64 who retained their places for the 2012/2013 season.[3]

However, Highfield's performances in the 10 PTC events he played in (where he reached the last 16 twice) were enough to ensure him a spot on the tour for next year.[4]

2012/2013 season

Highfield reached the final qualifying round of ranking events on two occasions during the 2012/2013 season. The first of these was in World Open qualifying in December, where he beat Daniel Wells 5–2, Barry Pinches 5–1 and Liang Wenbo 5–4.[5] He faced 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon in the final round and, in a match which lasted five hours and 40 minutes, Highfield was edged out 4–5.[6] His other run to the last round was in World Championship qualifying, which saw him defeat Simon Bedford 10–6, Pinches and Jamie Jones both by 10–9 scorelines, before losing 4–10 to Marcus Campbell.[7] Throughout the season Highfield played in nine of the ten Players Tour Championship events, with his best result coming in the sixth European Tour Event, where he saw off Yu Delu, Tony Drago and Dominic Dale, but then lost 1–4 to Kurt Maflin in the last 16.[5] He was placed 69th on the PTC Order of Merit and dropped 10 places in the world rankings during the season to end it world number 76.[8][9]

2013/2014 season
Liam Highfield at 2015 German Masters

In his opening match, Highfield defeated Barry Pinches 5–2 to qualify for the 2013 Wuxi Classic in China where narrowly lost 5–4 to Mark Williams in the first round.[10] He also qualified for the Indian Open but withdrew from the event before it began.[11] Highfield received automatic entry into both the Welsh Open and UK Championship as all 128 players on the snooker tour began these events in the first round, but he lost on both occasions.[10] His disappointing season saw him finish 83rd in the world rankings and, as Highfield had now been relegated from the main tour, he played in Q School to regain his place.[12] Highfield beat Canada's Alex Pagulayan in his final match of the second event to earn a new two-year tour card for the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 seasons.[13]

2014/2015 season

Highfield won four matches to qualify for the 2014 Australian Goldfields Open, but lost 5–2 to Xiao Guodong in the first round. He also made his debut at the International Championship where he was beaten 6–4 by Marco Fu in the first round.[14] Highfield's first win at a ranking event of his career came at the UK Championship when he defeated Jamie Jones 6–3, before losing 6–4 to Mark Davis in the second round.[15] He saw off Fu 5–2 to qualify for the German Masters and was 4–3 ahead of Xiao in the opening round, but lost 5–4 having led 47–0 and 50–0 in the last two frames.[16] Highfield had his best run in a European Tour event this season at the Gdynia Open when he knocked out the likes of Stuart Bingham and Mark Selby to reach the last 16, where Mark Williams beat him 4–2. This helped Highfield finish 38th on the Order of Merit.[17] Highfield's sixth and final appearance at a ranking event this year was the China Open and he lost 5–1 to Ryan Day in the first round.[14]

2015/2016 season

Highfield advanced to the final qualifying round for the Shanghai Masters by beating Michael Wild 5–0, Robin Hull 5–2 and Ken Doherty 5–0, but he lost 5–2 to Martin Gould. However, he could only pick up one match win between August until the Gdynia Open in February 2016. There, Highfield defeated Anthony McGill 4–2, Stuart Carrington 4–0 and Robin Hull 4–3 (on the final black after being 3–0 down).[18] He lost in the last 16 4–1 to Gould, but by finishing 65th on the Order of Merit he earned the final two-year tour card on offer to players outside of the top 64 in the world rankings.[19] 10–2 and 10–8 victories over Luke Simmonds and Luca Brecel respectively saw Highfield stand one match away from qualifying for the World Championship. He was 4–0 down to Sam Baird but recovered to be just 5–4 behind and would go on to narrowly lose 10–9.[20]

2016/2017 season

By eliminating Luca Brecel 4–2 and Sean Harvey and Ricky Walden both 4–3, Highfield reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he lost the final two frames against Mark Davis to be beaten 4–3.[21] Another last 16 appearance came at the UK Championship by defeating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6–5, Wang Yuchen 6–5 and Peter Lines 6–2.[22] Highfield had a chance of reaching the quarter-finals when he led Mark Williams 5–4, but lost 6–5.[23] Highfield had a 4–1 win over Tom Ford at the Scottish Open, before losing by a reversal of this scoreline in the second round to Marco Fu.[22]

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
Ranking[24][nb 1] [nb 2] 68 [nb 3] 76 [nb 4] 74 [nb 5] 68 60 61
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 6] Tournament Not Held MR LQ WD 1R 2R
International Championship Not Held LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR WD 1R 1R
English Open Tournament Not Held 3R 3R 1R 2R
World Open LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ WD
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A 4R 2R 1R
UK Championship LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R 1R 4R 2R 2R 2R
Scottish Open Not Held MR Not Held 2R 2R 1R 3R
European Masters Tournament Not Held A LQ 1R LQ
German Masters LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R 1R 1R 4R 1R 2R
Shoot-Out Non-Ranking Event 3R 2R 1R 2R
Players Championship[nb 7] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 1R 1R 3R 1R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NR LQ 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open NH LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NR
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 4R 2R 3R NR
Indian Open Not Held WD LQ NH 1R QF 1R NH
China Open LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ NH
Former variant tournaments
Shoot-Out A A A 2R A 1R Ranking Event
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.
RV / Ranking & Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking & variant format event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
VF / Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. Players qualified through the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit started the season without ranking points.
  4. Players qualified through the Q School started the season without prize money ranking points.
  5. Players qualified through the European Tour Order of Merit started the season without ranking points.
  6. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  7. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014−2015/2016)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 4 (2 title, 2 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2006 PIOS – Event 8 Justin Astley 6–2
Runner-up 1. 2009 PIOS – Event 1 Jack Lisowski 5–6
Winner 2. 2010 PIOS – Event 2 Neal Jones 6–2
Runner-up 2. 2010 PIOS – Event 6 Kyren Wilson 4–6
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References
  1. "2009–10 PIOS Rankings". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  2. "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  3. "Liam Highfield 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. "Order of Merit". WWW Snooker. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  5. "Liam Highfield 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  6. "Snooker – Ebdon wins World Open marathon". Eurosport. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  7. "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 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. "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. "Liam Highfield 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  11. "Snooker: Lilly wins first round berth". Headlines India. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  12. "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  13. "Highfield Breaks Lion's Heart". World Snooker. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  14. "Liam Highfield 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  15. "Neath's Jamie Jones frustrated after UK Snooker Championship exit". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  16. "Trump and Robertson Enjoy Whitewashes". World Snooker. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  17. "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  18. "Liam Highfield 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  19. "European Order of Merit 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  20. "Uffculme's Sam Baird qualifies for World Snooker Championship". The Gazette. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  21. "Liam Highfield 3–4 Mark Davis". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  22. "Liam Highfield 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  23. "Mark Williams survives Liam Highfield scare to reach UK Championship quarter-finals". Live Snooker. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  24. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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