Kristjan Helgason

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Kristjan Helgason
birthday 27th March 1974 (age 46)
place of birth Reykjavík
nationality IcelandIceland Iceland
professional 1995-1997, 1998-2004
Prize money £ 87,070
Highest break 140
Century Breaks 24
Main tour successes
World championships -
Ranking tournament victories -
Minor tournament victories -
World rankings
Highest WRL place 66 ( 2003/04 )

Kristján Helgason (born March 27, 1974 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic snooker player . He is the Icelandic record champion with thirteen titles . The U21 World Champion of 1993 and amateur European champion of 1998 played between 1995 and 2004 a total of eight seasons as a professional on the World Snooker Tour . In 2000 he was the only Icelander to qualify for the finals of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theater .

Career

1993–1996: beginnings and first professional years

Kristján Helgason achieved his first major international success in 1993 when he won the U21 World Cup in his hometown of Reykjavík by beating Indika Dodangoda 11-7 in the final . In the same year he took part in the men's amateur world championship for the first time and, as third in his group, narrowly missed the finals. In 1994 he won the final against Gunnar Valsson 9-4, his first of thirteen titles in the Icelandic championship .

In the 1994/95 season Kristján Helgason was eligible to start as Junior World Champion from 1993 on the World Snooker Tour . However, he withdrew his participation in all eight ranking tournaments and did not register for the 1995 Professional World Championship . At the Amateur World Cup in 1994 , he moved into the quarter-finals, in which he had to admit defeat to the future amateur world champion Mohammed Yousuf 3: 5. In the following season Kristján Helgason took part in the UK Championship 1995 , the third ranking tournament of the season, for the first time in a world ranking tournament with wins against Mark Ganderton and Jonathan Bagley in the third qualifying round, in which he failed 5-1 to Robert Chapman . Another win he succeeded in qualifying for the Welsh Open 1996 against Stephen Waldron . In his three other tournaments he remained without a win, including the qualification for the Professional World Cup in 1996 , in which he lost his opening game against Kevin Smith (4: 5). In the world rankings , he finished 453rd at the end of the season.

1996–1999: return to the main tour

In the 1996/97 season he did not take part in professional tournaments. After that, the field of players was reduced and because he was not among the top 64, he lost his tour place. He got some good results at amateur championships. At the European Championships in 1996 he had to admit defeat to the Scot Graham Horne 5-8 in the final and reached the second round at the 1996 Amateur World Cup . After losing the European Championship final against Robin Hull in 1997 (3: 7), he became European amateur champion in 1998 with a 7-2 win over Alex Borg and thus managed to return to the professional tour.

After an opening defeat at the Grand Prix , Kristján Helgason achieved his first victories at the UK Championship in the 1998/99 season . He won three games, including against Mark Gray , before narrowly knocking out Marco Fu in the penultimate qualifying round (4-5). At the Irish Open 1998 he achieved his best result in a ranking tournament. He survived six rounds and only had to admit defeat 3: 5 to the Scottish Billy Snaddon in the round of the last 48, the last qualification stage . Three more times he was in the top 96 during the season. In qualifying for the 1999 World Cup , after defeating Ali Carter , among others, he was eliminated in round 5 against Troy Shaw (7:10). In the world rankings, he finished the season in 105th place.

1999–2003: Moving into the Crucible

In the following season Kristján moved into the main round of a world ranking tournament for the first time at the 1999 Grand Prix with victories over Stefan Mazrocis and Jason Prince . In the round of the last 64 he was defeated by the six-time vice world champion Jimmy White by just 4: 5, after having led 3: 2 and 4: 3 in the meantime. At the Thailand Masters 2000 he was among the best 64. At the Scottish Open 2000 , the last tournament before the World Cup, he made it to the sixteenth finals for the first time and lost it to Mark Williams . In April 2000 Kristján was the only Icelander to take part in the finals of the World Cup in Sheffield . However, after beating Joe Jogia , John Lardner , Joe Johnson , Rod Lawler and Terry Murphy in qualifying , he suffered a 3-10 first-round loss to Stephen Lee at the Crucible Theater . By qualifying for the World Cup finals, he improved over 30 places to 74th place in the world rankings compared to the previous year.

In the 2000/01 season he came twice in ranked tournaments under the best 48. At the British Open 2000 he survived three rounds and defeated Alfie Burden , among others , before he lost almost six-time world champion Steve Davis (4-5). At the UK Championship 2000 he lost in the round of 48 against Joe Perry after winning against Mark Selby and Björn Haneveer , among others . In the six other ranking tournaments up to the World Cup, he remained without a win. In qualifying for the 2001 World Cup , he defeated Lee Spick and was eliminated in the round of 96 against David Gray . At the end of the season he improved to 70th place in the world rankings. In the first half of the following season Kristján did not get beyond the round of 96 at any tournament. He did not succeed until 2002 when he reached the round of 48 at the China Open and the Scottish Open . In qualifying for the 2002 World Cup , he survived three rounds before being eliminated in the round of 64 against Stuart Bingham . In the world rankings, he then fell five places compared to the previous year.

In the 2002/03 season Kristján won his opening game in all eight ranking tournaments and six times he survived the second qualifying round. In November 2002 he moved into the sixteenth-finals of a ranking tournament for the third time at the British Open and was defeated there by the Englishman Paul Hunter (3-5). At the Scottish Open 2003 he was eliminated in the round of the last 48 against James Wattana (4-5). In the 2003 World Cup qualification , he won against Darren Clarke and lost in the round of 96 with 9:10 to Tom Ford . At the end of the season he achieved his best placement in the world rankings with rank 66.

Since 2003: Loss of professional status and success as an amateur

In the following season Kristján lost his opening game in the first two tournaments. At the LG Cup 2003 he was defeated 4: 5 to Ian Brumby and at the British Open 2003 he also had to admit defeat to Michael Wild 4: 5. He withdrew his participation in the following five tournaments and did not register for the 2004 World Cup . As a result, he fell back to 101 in the world rankings and lost his professional status.

After he reached the final of the European Amateur Championship for the fourth time in 2005 and lost 7-2 to Alex Borg, Kristján did not take part in international championships for a few years. Only in 2009 he was back at the EM and reached the quarter-finals, in which he was defeated by the German Sascha Lippe 3: 5. A year later he was eliminated in the semifinals with 3: 6 against the eventual European champion Luca Brecel . In 2012 he made it to the quarter-finals again. In September 2013 he took part in the 6-Red World Championship , an invitation tournament as part of the Main Tour. At the tournament in Bangkok he reached the round of 32, in which he was defeated by Matthew Stevens 2-6 from Welsh . At the European Championships in 2014 and 2015 , he again made it to the quarter-finals. In 2015 he lost there against the German Lukas Kleckers . At the 6-Red World Championship 2015 he was eliminated again in the round of 32, this time against Liang Wenbo (1: 6).

After being eliminated in the round of 32 at the 2016 European Championship , Kristján reached the round of 16 in 2017 , where he lost 5-2 to Oliver Brown . Back in January 2017, he won the Nordic championship with a 5-2 final win against Patrik Tiihonen from Finland . At the beginning of June 2017 he became European champion in Six-Red-Snooker with a 5-2 victory in the final against the Englishman Wayne Brown . A few days later he started for the first time at the European Amateur Championship in the senior age group (Masters) and reached the round of 16, in which Wayne Brown, however, managed to take revenge. At the 6-Red World Championship 2017 , he defeated professional Ricky Walden 5-1 in the preliminary round . However, because this was his only win out of three group games, he was eliminated as third party.

In the WSF Championship , which was newly introduced in 2018 , Kristján reached the quarter-finals among the seniors. A few days later he moved into the semi-finals in the open class, in which he was defeated by Poland's Adam Stefanów 3: 4 despite a 3-1 lead. As a semi-finalist, Kristján was allowed to start qualifying for the 2018 professional world championships . His first World Cup participation in 15 years, however, ended in the first qualifying round. He took a 3-0 lead against Lee Walker , but the Welshman won the following five frames. Kristján was able to equalize again to 6: 6, but in the end he had to admit defeat 6:10.

Pool

In billiards it formed in 2008 together with Bjorgvin Hallgrímsson the Icelandic team at the World Cup of Pool . They eliminated in the first round against the Americans Shane van Boening and Rodney Morris . It was the only participation of an Icelandic team in the Scotch Doubles tournament so far .

Russian billiards

In 2013 Kristján Helgason was the only Icelander to take part in the World Championship in the Combined Pyramid , a discipline of Russian billiards , in Kemerovo , and was defeated in the first round by Belarusian Jauhen Kurta (1: 6).

successes

Final participation

output year competition Final opponent Result
Amateur tournaments
winner 1993 U21 world championship Sri LankaSri Lanka Indica Dodangoda 11: 7
Second 1996 European Championship ScotlandScotland Graham Horne 5: 8
Second 1997 European Championship FinlandFinland Robin Hull 3: 7
winner 1998 European Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 7: 2
Second 2005 European Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 2: 7
winner 2017 Nordic championship FinlandFinland Patrik Tiihonen 5: 2
winner 2017 6-Red European Championship EnglandEngland Wayne Brown 5: 2

More Achievements

  • Icelandic champion : 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 1
1 In addition to the years indicated, Kristján Helgason also became Icelandic champion in 2006, 2008 or 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Profile of Kristjan Helgason at CueTracker (as of April 13, 2018)
  2. ↑ Kristján Helgason. In: global-snooker.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2013 ; Retrieved July 3, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Ranking History For Kristjan Helgason. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  4. ^ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1993–1994. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1994–1995. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1995–1996. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  7. ↑ a b Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1996–1997. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  8. ^ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1997-1998. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  9. ↑ a b Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1998–1999. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  10. ^ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 1999–2000. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2000-2001. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2001-2002. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  13. ^ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2002–2003. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  14. ^ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2003-2004. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2005-2006. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2009-2010. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2012-2013. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2013-2014. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2014–2015. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2015-2016. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2016–2017. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  22. ↑ a b c Prize Money Won By Kristjan Helgason In Season 2017-2018. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  23. ^ WSF Championship Set for Knockout Rounds. In: worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association , March 21, 2018, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  24. ^ Tournament Record - Kristjan Helgason in World Championship. In: cuetracker.net. Ron Florax, accessed April 13, 2018 .
  25. ^ Kristján Íslandsmeistari í snóker. In: mbl.is. May 18, 2013, accessed July 3, 2016 .
Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .
personal data
SURNAME Kristjan Helgason
BRIEF DESCRIPTION icelandic snooker player
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH Reykjavík