Joe Delaney

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Joe Delaney
birthday 4th August 1972 (age 48)
place of birth Dublin
nationality IrelandIreland Ireland
Nickname (s) The iceman
professional 1991-2001, 2003-2011
Prize money 106,544
Highest break 132
Century Breaks 18th
Main tour successes
World championships -
Ranking tournament victories -
Minor tournament victories -
World rankings
Highest WRL place 58 ( 07/08 )

Joe Delaney (born August 4, 1972 in Dublin ) is an Irish professional snooker player .

Career

First professional time in the 1990s

Joe Delaney had been a successful youth player in Ireland and began his professional career in 1991 at the age of 19 when there were no restrictions on participation in the professional tournaments. His best result in his freshman year was reaching the round of 64 at the 1991 UK Championship , where he lost to Nigel Bond . Previously, he had to win seven qualifying rounds due to the large field of participants. Only at the European Open did he make it into the top 96 again, but benefited from two failures. At the end of the season he was ranked 137th in the world snooker rankings. In the following year, however, he could not use the advantage as a seeded player, he lost almost all opening games, only at the Grand Prix he was among the last 128.

In the following years, thanks to minor successes, he stayed between 128th and 200th place in the ranking. In 1994 he was among the last 64 at the Welsh Open and in 1997 at the European Open. The year before he had reached the last 96 there, as well as in the UK Championship in 1995 . But that never allowed him to get past 137th place in the world rankings and when a participation restriction was reintroduced for the 1997/98 season , he missed direct qualification and first had to earn a Main Tour place again through the WPBSA Qualifying School and the UK Tour . In either series, however, he never got past the round of 16. At the open World Snooker Championship in 1998 , however, he managed to advance into the final qualifying round with victories over Jamie Burnett and Gary Ponting, among others, and only the 7:10 defeat to Dave Harold prevented his entry into the finals at the Crucible Theater . The round of the last 48 was his best professional result to date. He moved up to number 109 in the world rankings and was back in 1998/99 for the Main Tour. But after the round of the last 96 at the Grand Prix was his only better result this year, he kept switching between the Main Tour and the UK Tour or the Challenge Tour over the next few years. There he achieved his best result in January 2002 when he reached the final at the Challenge tournament in Harrogate , which he lost 3: 6 to Lee Spick . In 2000 he won the European Masters Championship as an amateur , in 2001 and 2003 he was in the finals. In 2004 he won the tournament's team competition with Patsy Farrell.

Main tour returns in the 2000s

In 2003 Delaney started a serious comeback on the Main Tour after successfully re-qualifying. At the UK Championship he defeated Alfie Burden and Jamie Burnett, among others, and made it into the main tournament of the last 48 for the first time. At the Irish Masters he was among the last 64. Three further opening wins in a total of only 8 world rankings in the season brought him to 81st place in the world rankings . In the next two years he came under the last 64 four times, including twice at the World Cup. The Dubliner had his most successful season in 2006/07 . At the UK Championship 2006 he reached the first main round one more time. He was also in the last 48 at the Welsh Open . And at the 2007 World Snooker Championship , he defeated Ian Preece , Barry Pinches and Alan McManus and moved into the main round. At 34, this was the greatest success of his career. In his only match at the Crucible, he was defeated by former runner-up Matthew Stevens 2:10. At the end of the season he achieved his best world ranking with 58th place.

The following year Delaney achieved his best tournament result at an invitation tournament of the Main Tour with the semi-finals of the last Irish Professional Championship . In the ranking tournaments he was not so successful, only at the Welsh Open he came under the last 48. In the 2008/09 season , the round of the last 48 at the UK Championship 2008 was the best result, but he came four more times under the last 64 and stayed just on the main tour. In the following year, however, there were only three opening wins. In the 2010/11 season there was a reform of the tour, the number of tournaments increased and with it the requirements. At the Shanghai Masters 2010 he reached the main tournament of the last 32 and thus his second-best result in a ranking tournament. After all, he made it to the third qualifying round at the 2011 China Open . At the Players Tour Championship and at the other ranking tournaments he never managed more than one victory and so he fell back to 81st place in the world rankings and again lost his Main Tour status.

The following year he only played a few Pro-Am tournaments of the Players Tour Championship with minor successes, it was not until 2012 that he tried to qualify for the Main Tour again via the Q School . In the third tournament he also reached the final of his group, but then lost the decisive game 4-0 against Rod Lawler . Another attempt to return to the tour in 2016 was also unsuccessful.

Joe Delaney works in the family business that makes upholstered furniture. As a result, he often had more freedom in his career than other semi-professionals with a permanent position. Although he was one of the best Irish snooker players of his time, he could not come close to players like Ken Doherty and Fergal O'Brien .

swell

  1. a b c Profile of Joe Delaney at CueTracker
  2. a b Tables turn for trailblazers , John O'Brien, Irish Independent, April 17, 2011
  3. ^ Profile of the Republic Of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association , Pj Nolan, RIBSA, May 28, 2016
  4. ^ Dab-hand Delaney set for Crucible , Saj Chowdhury, BBC Sport, April 18, 2007

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