Jamie Cope

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Jamie Cope
Jamie Cope
birthday 12th September 1985 (age 34)
place of birth Stoke-on-Trent
nationality EnglandEngland England
Nickname (s) The shotgun
professional 2002-2004, 2005-2017
Prize money £ 619,596
Highest break 147 (3 ×)
Century Breaks 164
Main tour successes
World championships -
Ranking tournament victories -
Minor tournament victories -
World rankings
Highest WRL place 13 (Sep. 2010 and
Dec. 2010 – Feb. 2011)

Jamie Cope (born September 12, 1985 in Stoke-on-Trent ) is an English snooker player .

Career

Beginnings

Jamie Cope began playing snooker when he was eight years old. He practiced both sports successfully for a long time before he decided to play billiards at the age of 14. He was one of the most successful youth players and won around 50 youth and amateur tournaments. In 1999 he reached the round of 32 at an adult tournament with amateurs and professionals (Pontin's Open in Prestatyn ). He was also part of the youth team of the English Snooker Federation and won titles in team competitions.

In the 2001/02 season he successfully took part in tournaments of the WSA Open Tour and qualified for the Snooker Main Tour in 2002 at the age of 17 . At his first professional tournament, the LG Cup 2002 , he already made it into round 4 and defeated Stuart Pettman , among others . In two other ranking tournaments he reached round 3. In the second half of the season, however, he remained without a win. The following year he was in the 4th round of the UK Championship . He also won a few opening matches, but after two years it was only enough for 89th place in the world rankings and he lost his professional status again.

Years of success

In the 2004/05 season he therefore played again in the Challenge Tour to make the return. He won two of the four tournaments and reached the second round once more. This made him the sovereign tour winner and secured himself a professional ticket for the 2005/06 season . Even at the Grand Prix , the successor to the LG Cup, he surpassed his best professional result by reaching the round of 16. At the Welsh Open and the China Open , he repeated the result, defeating players such as Steve Davis , John Parrott and Alan McManus , among others . This made it into the top 48 in the world rankings in the first year. The following year it was again the Grand Prix that ushered in a successful season. Although he only just qualified for the finals, he scored the first maximum break of his career in the group stage . Then he reached his first ranking final with wins over Joe Perry and Mark King , which he lost to Neil Robertson 5: 9. His second final followed at the China Open , this time losing to Graeme Dott with the same result. Previously, he had defeated Barry Hawkins in the semi-finals in the decision frame, which was only decided with the last black ball, 6: 5. Although there were otherwise a lot of defeats at the beginning, he was already among the top 22 in the world after the season.

In the years that followed, Jamie Cope's performance stagnated. Although he consistently reached the main rounds of the tournaments, it almost always ended in the round of 16 at the latest. Only at the UK Championship 2007 and the Grand Prix 2008 he reached the quarter-finals. In the round of 16 of the Shanghai Masters 2008 , Cope played his second official maximum break, but was eliminated 2-5 by Mark Williams . At the 2008 World Cup he reached the main tournament at the Crucible Theater for the first time , and the year after he made it to the round of 16. Until 2010, he held his ranking position, but missed the advance into the top 16, which were automatically qualified for the finals and the major invitation tournaments.

In the 2010/11 season , the introduction of the Players Tour Championship (PTC) increased the number of tournaments considerably. At the very first tournament of the new series he reached the semifinals after a 4-0 win over Ronnie O'Sullivan and lost just 3: 4 to Mark Williams . The other of these small tournaments were rather changeable, once he reached the second round. At the Shanghai Masters he reached the semifinals in a major tournament in the same year and thus his third-best Main Tour result. Since the world rankings were continuously updated and he had moved up to 13th place after these results, he was invited to the Masters for the first time . After victories over Shaun Murphy and Mark King , he also reached the semifinals where he lost to Ding Junhui . He missed out on other tournaments, but after his second round of 16 at the World Cup at the Crucible , he ended the season in the top 16.

Illness and decline

When he reached that peak, there was a major setback. A motor disorder called Yips resulted in uncontrolled twitching during the thrusting movement. For many years he fought with psychological means against the disease and to stay in snooker. The big slump began in the 2011/12 season . He lost the opening game 6 times in ranked tournaments, 2 times it ended in the second game, only at the World Open did he reach at least the second round. Even at the PTC tournaments he didn't get very far, the quarterfinals at the fourth tournament in Sheffield was the best result. In the following tournament in the same place he scored the third maximum break of his career in round 3 . But then he lost his round of 16 match against Judd Trump 4-0. In the following year, there were five rounds of 16 in ranking and minor ranking tournaments, but little more than that. This meant that he was unable to defend the points he had previously won in the two-year standings and not only fell from the top 16, but also fell back to 38th place. And the free fall continued for the next two years. Not even in the PTC tournaments did he get past the third round. Only his fifth participation in the final at the 2014 World Cup with another win over Mark King and then an extremely narrow 9:10 defeat by Shaun Murphy delayed the loss of his professional status. 66th place after the 2014/15 season was no longer enough for an automatic extension.

Jamie Cope benefited from a special classification. In all six European tournaments of the Players Tour Championship he had reached either round 2 or round 3. In the overall ranking, the European Tour Order of Merit , he finished fourth minus the top 64 players. In return, he received a new Tour Card for the following two seasons. He had to start again from scratch and with the last 16 at the Paul Hunter Classic and then also at the Shanghai Masters with a 5-4 win over Neil Robertson he was halfway to return to the top 64. But in the 2016/17 season , in which there were no longer any PTC tournaments, he achieved only six opening wins in 17 tournaments and 76th place in the final accounts meant his second tour exclusion. This time he had to try to regain his tour spot immediately via the Q School , but in the first tournament he failed in the group semi-finals to Paul Davison and he did not use the second chance, so that after 12 years without interruption and 14 years in total, he lost his professional status again .

Breakbuilding

Jamie Cope is not only known for his fast play style, which earned him the nickname The Shotgun (shotgun). He also scored many high breaks, especially in his early years. In 2011 he was the 40th player to play his 100th official century break in the semi-finals of the Hainan Classic . In the same year he also managed his third maximum break . So many had previously only scored five players. He is also the first player to be guaranteed the highest possible break of 155 points (16 Reds clearance) . The number of points is determined with the help of an additional ball, a so-called free ball . In 2005 he played it in front of witnesses in a training game.

swell

  1. ↑ a b Profile of Jamie Cope on CueTracker (as of January 27, 2019)
  2. ↑ Snooker Info - 100Centuries (as of January 24, 2019)
  3. ↑ It's tough to Cope: Snooker star Jamie back at Crucible after sports psychologist help , Hector Nunns, Daily Star, April 16, 2014
  4. ^ Murphy shows the form and confidence of a champion , Clive Everton, The Guardian, October 12, 2005

Web links

Commons : Jamie Cope  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Cope, Jamie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Shotgun (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English snooker player
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1985
PLACE OF BIRTH Stoke-on-Trent , England