Simon Bedford

Simon Bedford
birthday	8th February 1976 (age 44)
place of birth	Bradford , West Yorkshire
nationality	England
professional	1995-2001, 2003-2006, 2008-2014
Prize money	£ 135,594
Highest break	141
Century Breaks	44
Main tour successes
World championships	-
Ranking tournament victories	-
Minor tournament victories	-
World rankings
Highest WRL place	63 ( 05/06 )

Simon Bedford (born February 8, 1976 in Bradford , West Yorkshire ) is an English snooker player .

Career

Professional years 1995-2006

Professional years 1995–1997

Bedford became a professional snooker in 1995 and moved to the fourth to last of nine qualifying rounds at the first ranking tournament of the season - the Thailand Masters , where he was eliminated by Ian Graham . After an opening defeat at the Benson & Hedges Championship , he reached the sixth qualifying round at the Grand Prix . After a third round participation in qualifying for the UK Championship , Bedford reached the fourth qualifying round at the Welsh Open and International Open . After two early losses, he moved into the sixth qualifying round of the British Open , where he lost to John Giles . In the World Cup qualification , he was eliminated in the second round. On the world rankings , he placed 323.

At the start of the next season , Bradford reached the fifth qualifying round of the Grand Prix after two opening defeats , where he was eliminated by Sean Storey . After a four-round participation in qualifying for the UK Championship and several early defeats, Bedford moved into the sixth qualifying round of the Thailand Open . At the British Open he reached the fourth qualifying round and at the end of the season the fifth round of the World Cup qualification . In the world rankings he was able to improve to 215th place, but he lost his Main Tour status.

UK tour year 1997/98

In his third professional season , Bedford took part in the UK Tour , where he surprisingly won the third event 6: 3 against Robert Milkins . After another round of 16 participation on the UK Tour, he defeated Paul Davison , Mark Johnston-Allen , Euan Henderson and Tony Jones , among others, in the World Cup qualifying , so that he met Gary Wilkinson in the very last qualifying round . Bedford beat him 10: 9 and qualified for the finals at the Crucible Theater , where he met six-time world champion Steve Davis . Davis defeated him 10-6. At the beginning of the next season he became a professional again on the Main Tour.

Main tour year 1998/99

After numerous early defeats at the beginning of the 1998/99 season , Bedford moved into the round of the last 96 at the Scottish Open , the Thailand Masters , the China International and the British Open , but where he failed every time. In qualifying for the World Cup , he lost his opening game against Icelandic Kristján Helgason . On the world rankings, he placed 128th.

UK tour year 1999/2000

In the next season Bedford focused again on the UK Tour, where he once reached the second round and once the quarter-finals. At the Benson & Hedges Championship he surprisingly reached the final, where he did not get the Masters ticket due to a 4: 9 against Ali Carter . At the third event of the UK Tour he also made it to the final, but this time he defeated Barry Hawkins 6-5. He placed second on the UK tour rankings and turned pro again.

Main tour year 2000/01

In the 2000/02 season he often reached the round of 128 in ranked tournaments, but he rarely came further. At the Grand Prixy he made it one lap, in the World Cup qualifying he even made it to the penultimate lap, where he was defeated by the Northern Irishman Patrick Wallace . Located at world number 110, he was relegated to the UK tour.

UK tour year 2001/02

During the 2001/02 season Bradford reached the quarter-finals once and twice the semi-finals on the UK Tour , but he did not get further. In the World Cup qualification he lost in the third round to Mehmet Husnu . His results were still enough for a qualification for the next Main Tour season.

Main tour 2002-2006

In the 2002/03 season he won - with the exception of the UK Championship - his opening game, but he only got ahead at the Welsh Open and Scottish Open , where he was eliminated in the following round. On the world rankings, he placed 93rd.

At the beginning of the 2003/04 season Bedford reached the final qualifying round of the LG Cup , where he was eliminated by Marco Fu after victories over Joe Meara , Jason Prince , Andy Hicks and Gary Wilkinson . After three opening defeats in a row, he reached the fourth last qualifying round at the Welsh Open , in which he was eliminated by Luke Simmonds . At the European Open he finally made it into the main round of a ranking tournament after the 1998 World Cup. He was able to defeat Jamie Cope and Dave Harold in qualifying before he failed in the first main round against the Australian Quinten Hann . After two more participations in the round of 96, where he was eliminated both times, he reached the third round in World Cup qualification , in which Andy Hicks was eliminated. On the world rankings, he landed in 75th place, so he could remain on the Main Tour.

Right at the start of the next season, Bedford reached the main round at the Grand Prix , where he was eliminated by Peter Ebdon . After losing to Andy Hicks in the third to last qualifying round at the British Open , he moved into the penultimate qualifying round at the UK Championship and the Welsh Open , where he was eliminated by James Wattana and Robin Hull . That very round he reached after a second round participation in the qualification for the Malta Cup also at the Irish Masters , this time he was defeated by the Englishman Nigel Bond . After an opening defeat at the China Open , Bedford moved into the second qualifying round for the World Snooker Championship , where he was defeated by Andy Hicks. On the world rankings, he achieved his best placement with 64th place.

After an opening defeat early next season Bedford reached the round of 32 at the Masters Qualifying Event , where he was eliminated by Tony Drago . After three further defeats at the opening, he reached the penultimate qualifying round at the China Open , in which he was defeated by the Scots Drew Henry after victories over Gary Wilkinson and Shokat Ali . In the World Cup qualification he was directly defeated by the Maltese Alex Borg . At the end of the season he fell to 69th place in the world rankings, which was not enough for a re-qualification.

Amateur years 2006-2008

Directly in the next season Bedford took part in the Pontin's International Open Series , where he did not make it through the round of 32. In the 2007/08 season he reached the quarter-finals once and the final two more times at PIOS. In the first event he won 6: 3 against Gary Wilkinson , in his second final in the sixth event he lost 5: 6 against Kuldesh Johal . He finished third on the PIOS ranking and qualified for the next season on the Main Tour .

Professional years 2008-2014

At the start of the 2008/09 season Bedford reached the second qualifying round for the Northern Ireland Trophy , where he lost to David Gray . After an opening defeat, he reached the main round of the Grand Prix after beating Mark Williams , where he was eliminated by Peter Ebdon . After further early defeats, Bedford moved into the penultimate qualifying round for the World Snooker Championship , where he was eliminated by Jamie Burnett . On the world rankings, he landed in 72nd place, and he qualified for the next season via the one-year ranking.

After two defeats at the start of the next season , Bedford reached the final qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters , where he was defeated by Barry Hawkins . After several early defeats, he reached the penultimate qualifying round at the UK Championship , in which he was defeated by Andrew Higginson . After another series of defeats in the beginning, he managed to move into the second qualifying round for the Snooker World Championship , but he was defeated by Robert Milkins 6:10. On the world rankings he missed the jump into the safe top 64 with rank 66, but Bedford was again eligible for the next season via the one-year ranking.

After many early defeats at the beginning of the next season , he reached the penultimate qualifying round at the World Open and the UK Championship , in which he was defeated by Marcus Campbell and Joe Swail . At the German Masters he advanced to the final qualifying round, but lost to Matthew Stevens 3: 5. In the last three tournaments of the season he reached the second qualifying round twice, at the China Open he was eliminated in the first round. On the world rankings he slipped to 79, so that he lost his Main Tour place again. But Bedford was able to re-qualify directly with a 4: 3 win over Lee Walker in the Q School . He also took part in tournaments of the Pontin's Pro / Am tour during the season, but he did not come out of the round of 16.

During the 2011/12 season , Bedford lost his opening game in every ranked tournament in which he entered. He was significantly more successful at the Players Tour Championship , where he reached the round of 32 three times and the second round once. In the world rankings he slipped to 89th place, but he was able to qualify for the next season via the PTC.

In July 2012 Bedford won the Vienna Snooker Open , a Pro / Am tournament in Vienna, with 5-2 against Jamie Jones . At the beginning of the next season , Bedford was eliminated early in numerous tournaments. Only at the Wuxi Classic and the German Masters did he move into the second qualifying round, where he was eliminated both times. At the PTc he reached the round of 32 only twice during this period. But at the World Open he won over Pankaj Advani , Peter Lines , Gerard Greene and ex-world champion Ken Doherty , so that he actually qualified for the main round would have. But Bedford had to take part in the wildcard round, where he failed to Lü Haotian . After two further defeats at the beginning of the season, he placed 85th in the world rankings, but Bedford was able to remain on the main tour.

After several early defeats at the beginning of the 2013/14 season , he reached the final qualifying round at the Australian Open , in which he lost to Ken Doherty. After further early defeats, he reached the penultimate qualifying round at the Shanghai Masters , but there, too, he was eliminated. At the UK Championship he lost his opening game against Jamie Burnett . It was supposed to be his last game as a professional to date, after which he did not appear in any tournament of the season and lost his main tour status to 95th place in the world.

Another amateur career

In 2016 and 2017, Bedford participated unsuccessfully in the English Amateur Championship . In 2017 he tried to qualify for the Main Tour again via the Q School , but he failed in the first event in the semifinals against eventual group winner Ashley Hugill . Also in the next year he took part in the Q School and after two early defeats he moved into the final in the third event , but where he failed with 2: 4 to Kishan Hirani . The following season Bedford took part as an amateur at the Riga Masters , where he won over Mike Dunn and Niu Zhuang before he was eliminated by Kyren Wilson . He was also allowed to take part in the Indian Open and European Open , but there he lost his opening games.

After another unsuccessful participation in the English amateur championship in 2018, Bedford took part in the second event of the Challenge Tour 2018/19 , where he lost to David Grace in the second round .

successes

output	year	competition	Final opponent	Result
Amateur tournaments
winner	1998	UK Tour - Event 3	Robert Milkins	6: 3
Second	1999	Benson & Hedges Championship	Ali Carter	4: 9
winner	2000	UK Tour - Event 3	Barry Hawkins	6: 5
winner	2007	PIOS - Event 1	Gary Wilkinson	6: 3
Second	2008	PIOS - Event 6	Kuldesh Johal	4: 9
winner	2011	Q School	Lee Walker	4: 3
winner	2012	Vienna Open	Jamie Jones	5: 2
Second	2018	Q School	Kishan Hirani	2: 4
winner	2018	Challenge Tour - Event 8	David Lilley	3: 1

Web links

• Profile on World Snooker ( Memento from April 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
• Profile on Pro Snooker Blog
• Profile of Simon Bedford on CueTracker
• Simon Bedford in the snooker Database (English)
• Profile on snooker.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Profile of Simon Bedford on CueTracker (as of May 20, 2017)
2. ↑ PIOS ranking - 2007/2008 season. (No longer available online.) Brownball.de, 2008, archived from the original on March 14, 2012 ; accessed on November 18, 2018 (English).