Jamie Rhys Clarke

Jamie Rhys Clarke
birthday	5th October 1994 (age 25)
place of birth	Llanelli
nationality	Wales
Nickname (s)	The Welsh Whirlwind
professional	2018–
Prize money	£ 71,391 as of August 31, 2020
Highest break	136 ( Snooker World Championship 2020 )
Century Breaks	9 (as of August 31, 2020)
Main tour successes
World championships	-
Ranking tournament victories	-
Minor tournament victories	-
World rankings
Highest WRL place	116 ( February 2019– )
Current WRL location	76 (as of August 17, 2020)

Jamie Rhys Clarke (born October 5, 1994 in Llanelli , Carmarthenshire ) is a Welsh snooker player .

Career

2010–2013: youth and first PTC tournaments

Jamie Rhys Clarke achieved his first major success in early 2010 when he won the last edition of the Junior Pot Black . In August 2010 he then moved to the quarter-finals of the U-21 World Cup , in which he was defeated by the Chinese Li Hang 5-1. In the 2010/11 season he took part in six tournaments of the Players Tour Championship , which was held for the first time , in which, however, he did not get beyond the round of 128. At the end of the season he took part in the Q School , a qualifying competition for the Snooker Main Tour , in which he did not get past the round of 16 in the third tournament .

In the 2011/12 season Clarke took part in three PTC tournaments ( No. 5 , 7 and 10 ) and was eliminated from each qualification. In March 2012 he reached the quarter-finals of the U-21 European Championship , which he lost 5-0 to Shane Castle from England . At Q School 2012, he didn't get past the round of 32. In June 2012 he made it to the last sixteen of the Pro-am Pink Ribbon tournament . A month later he reached the round of 32 at the U-21 World Cup . In the 2012/13 season he again took part in three PTC tournaments, in which he was eliminated in the qualification or the first round. At the 2013 European Championships he reached the round of 16, in which he was defeated 3: 4 by the German Lukas Kleckers .

2013–2014: Welsh champion and amateur player on the Main Tour

At the second Q School tournament in 2013, Clarke made it to the final, where he lost 4-1 to Ahmed Saif and thus missed qualifying for the 2013/14 Main Tour . Via the Order of Merit of the Q School he was nevertheless able to take part in the qualifying tournament of the Australian Goldfields Open 2013 , and thus for the first time in a world ranking tournament. However, he was eliminated in the first qualifying round 4-5 against the Englishman Elliot Slessor . In July 2013 he again reached the round of 32 at the U-21 World Cup . After he had already reached the main round of the Paul Hunter Classic and the Antwerp Open 2013 in the season, he achieved his first in February 2014 at the Gdynia Open Main round win at a PTC tournament. In the first round he won 4-1 after a 0-1 deficit against the Belgian Luca Brecel , before he lost 4-0 to Sam Baird in the second round . A month later he was eliminated from the U-21 European Championship in the round of 32. In April 2014, he made it into the final at the playoff of the EBSA Qualifying Tour 2013/14 , in which he lost to Ian Glover 2: 4 and thus missed qualifying for the 2014/15 Main Tour season . Two weeks later he reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Championship with a 6-0 win against Darren Morgan , in which he then defeated Lee Walker 8-6.

In May 2014, Clarke tried again to qualify for the Main Tour through the Q School. After losing 3: 4 to Zhang Anda in the first tournament in the final , he was eliminated in the second tournament in the quarter-finals. He missed the qualification again, but was able to take part in the qualifying tournaments of several world rankings in the 2014/15 season via the Q-School Order of Merit. Just a few days after the Q School, he met Scotsman Jamie Burnett in qualifying for the 2014 Wuxi Classic , to whom he lost 3-5. In June 2014 he reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship . After he was eliminated in the first qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters and entered the second round of a PTC tournament for the second time at the Paul Hunter Classic 2014 , he took part in an invitation tournament on the Main Tour, the 6-Red World Championship, for the first time in September 2014 , part and reached the last sixteen there, where he lost 6-0 to Stephen Maguire , who then won the tournament.

2014–2016: Vice European Champion and U-21 Vice World Champion

In November 2014, he made it into the final round of the Amateur World Championship for the first time , where he was eliminated in the round of 32 against Lucky Vatnani . At the Lisbon Open 2014 he made it to the round of 32 of a PTC tournament for the first time after victories against Anthony McGill and Zack Richardson , in which he was defeated by Joe Perry 1: 4. In the qualification for the German Masters 2015 , which took place a few days later , he was eliminated in the first round against defending champion Ding Junhui . After he was eliminated in the qualifying tournaments for the Indian Open and the China Open in February 2015 , he lost to Alan McManus in the first round at the Welsh Open 2015 , in which all 128 participants were directly qualified for the main round lost. In March 2015 he reached the round of 16 of the U-21 European Championship . In April 2015 he took part for the first time in the qualification for the professional world championship , in which he was eliminated in the first round after a 4-2 lead with 7:10 against his compatriot Ryan Day .

At the EBSA Amateur Play Offs he made it into the final, but lost 3: 4 to Martin O'Donnell . At Q School 2015, he did not get past the second round of the second tournament and thus again missed qualifying for the Main Tour 2015/16 . In June 2015 he reached the final of the European Championship , which he lost to Michael Wild 4-7 . A month later he also reached the final of the U-21 World Cup, where he was defeated by the Thai Boonyarit Keattikun 7: 8. In September 2015 he moved back into the finals of the 6-Red World Championship and lost in the round of sixteen with 5-6 against Noppon Saengkham . At the Amateur World Cup in 2015 , he was eliminated in the round of 32 against Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn . In February 2016, after victories against Alex Borg , Adam Stefanów and Rhydian Richards , Clarke made it into the final of the European Championship for the second time . There, however, as in the previous year , he lost 4: 7 to a former Main Tour professional, his compatriot Jak Jones .

In qualifying for the 2016 Professional World Cup , to which he was invited as a finalist of the U-21 World Cup 2015, he defeated Jamie Burnett in the first round 10: 9 and then met the Chinese Xiao Guodong , against whom he followed A 6-1 deficit won six frames in a row, but finally lost 8:10. A few days later, like last year, he just missed qualifying for the Main Tour at the EBSA Amateur Play Offs. In the decisive game he was defeated by the Englishman Elliot Slessor 3: 4.

After his repeated misfortunes in the qualifying tournament finals, fans began to refer to Clarke as "Welsh Jimmy White " or the "Welsh whirlwind", the latter of which has since been adopted as his permanent nickname at the touring events.

successes

Final participation

output	year	competition	Final opponent	Result
Amateur tournaments
winner	2014	Junior Pot Black	Tom Rees	1-0
winner	2014	Welsh Amateur Championship	Lee Walker	8: 6
Second	2015	European Championship	Michael Wild	4: 7
Second	2015	U-21 world championship	Boonyarit Keattikun	7: 8
Second	2016	European Championship	Jak Jones	4: 7
Qualifying tournaments
Second	2013/2	Q School	Ahmed Saif	1: 4
Second	2013/14	EBSA Qualifying Tour	Ian Glover	2: 4
Second	2014/1	Q School	Zhang Anda	3: 4
Second	2014/15	EBSA amateur play offs	Martin O'Donnell	3: 4
Second	2015/16	EBSA amateur play offs	Elliot Slessor	3: 4
winner	2017/18	EBSA amateur play offs	George Pragnall	4: 3

Web links

• Jamie Rhys Clarke at snooker.org
• Jamie Rhys Clarke in the Snooker Database (English)

swell

1. ^ Breezy and easy for Ronnie and Williams. South Wales Argus. Retrieved July 19, 2018 . 
2. ↑ 2010 World Under-21 Championship - Men. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
3. ↑ 2012 Pink Ribbon. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
4. ↑ 2012 World Under-21 Championship - Men. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
5. ↑ 2013 World Under-21 Championship - Men. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
6. ↑ 2014 European Tour - Event 8. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Jamie Clarke crowned Welsh Amateur Champion 2014. In: welshsnooker.com. Welsh Snooker, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Llanelli's Jamie Clarke crowned amateur snooker champ. In: llanellistar.co.uk. Llanelli Star, May 7, 2014, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
9. ↑ 2015 World Championship. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2015 . 
10. ↑ WPBSA Finalises World Championship Invitations. In: worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association, April 4, 2016, accessed April 4, 2016 .