Summary
Ian McCulloch (born 28 July 1971) is an English former professional snooker player from Walton-Le-Dale, Preston, Lancashire. He is known for his ability to grind opponents down through protracted safety exchanges and disjointed breakbuilding. He compiled 105 century breaks in his career.[citation needed]
 Paul Hunter Classic 2011 | |
| Born | 28 July 1971 Walton-le-Dale, Preston, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Nickname | The Preston Potter[1] |
| Professional | 1992–2012 |
| Highest ranking | 16 (2005/06) |
| Century breaks | 105 |
| Best ranking finish | Runner-up (x2) |
Career edit
McCulloch turned professional in 1992, and after steadily climbing up the rankings for many years, he reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in the 1999 Welsh Open. He also made his debut in the Crucible stages of the 1999 World Championship.
Like Barry Pinches he entered his best form in his early 30s. He reached two ranking event finals – the 2002 British Open (losing to Paul Hunter) and the 2004 Grand Prix in his home town (losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan).[2]
He beat David Gray to qualify for the 2003 World Championship in a clash between players who share their names with musicians, and went on to reach the quarter finals in 2004. He went one stage further in 2005, losing 14–17 to Matthew Stevens in the semi-final, beating Graeme Dott, Mark Williams and Alan McManus en route. He was ranked number 16 in the rankings in 2005/2006 season, which would normally guarantee a seeding in the ranking tournaments, but was pushed out by Shaun Murphy, who as the reigning world champion was not in the top 16 of the rankings, and was seeded ahead of him in tournaments.
In his 2005–06 season a quarter-final appearance in the Welsh Open was the highlight. He failed to qualify for the World Championship, losing to Dave Harold, causing him to drop down the rankings. He made his first appearance as a BBC pundit during the tournament.
An improved 2006–07 campaign included a quarter-final run in the Grand Prix. He qualified for the World Championship, and in the first round he eliminated defending champion Graeme Dott 10–7, but he lost in the second round 8–13 to Anthony Hamilton.
In the 2007 UK Championship he also knocked out the defending champion, by coming from 0–5 down against Peter Ebdon to beat him 9–8 in a remarkable comeback. He lost to Stephen Maguire 5–9 in the last 16. He missed out on the 2008 World Championship after losing 5–10 to eventual quarter-finalist, Liang Wenbo.[3]
The 2008–09 season was a struggle, with only two wins in the first five tournaments. He failed to qualify for the World Championship again, losing to Rory McLeod despite scoring three centuries. After the 2011/12 season, he decided to quit the game for good after finishing number 68 in the world. This was in part motivated by an occupational shoulder injury.[4] His best run was at the Welsh Open where he reached the final qualifying round before losing to Tom Ford 3–4.
On 11 October 2009, he won the Bodensee Open, although he was the only professional player taking part.[5][6]
Broadcasting edit
McCulloch is a regular pundit for William Hill and can be heard in their shops previewing snooker tournaments and as a regular in-studio guest on their In-Play Radio service.
Performance and rankings timeline edit
| Tournament | 1992/ 93 |
1993/ 94 |
1994/ 95 |
1995/ 96 |
1996/ 97 |
1997/ 98 |
1998/ 99 |
1999/ 00 |
2000/ 01 |
2001/ 02 |
2002/ 03 |
2003/ 04 |
2004/ 05 |
2005/ 06 |
2006/ 07 |
2007/ 08 |
2008/ 09 |
2009/ 10 |
2010/ 11 |
2011/ 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[7][nb 1] | [nb 2] | 404 | 257 | 193 | 105 | 76 | 60 | 39 | 38 | 48 | 43 | 26 | 17 | 16 | 26 | 28 | 25 | 35 | 48 | 63 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open[nb 3] | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters[nb 4] | Not Held | LQ | LQ | 1R | NR | Tournament Not Held | WD | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Open[nb 5] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | F | 2R | QF | RR | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship Grand Final[nb 6] | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Open[nb 7] | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | Not Held | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | QF | SF | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Masters | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Tournament Not Held | RR | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dubai Classic[nb 8] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Malta Grand Prix | Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thailand Masters[nb 9] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open[nb 10] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | QF | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 2R | F | 1R | 1R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | 1R | 2R | NH | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Malta Cup[nb 11] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | LQ | Not Held | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | NR | 2R | 3R | QF | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bahrain Championship | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | WR | Ranking Event | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shoot-Out | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NH / Not Held | event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
- ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
- ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
- ^ The event was also called the Australian Open (1994/1995)
- ^ The event ran under a different name as the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
- ^ The event ran under different names such as the Grand Prix (1992/1993–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004), World Open (2010/2011) and Haikou World Open (2011/2012)
- ^ The event ran under a different name as the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
- ^ The event ran under a different name as the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
- ^ The event ran under different names such as the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
- ^ The event ran under different names such as the Asian Open (1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
- ^ The event ran under different names such as the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004)
- ^ The event ran under different names such as the European Open (1992/1993–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004) and Irish Open (1998/1999)
Career finals edit
Ranking tournaments: 2 edit
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2002 | British Open | Paul Hunter
|
4–9 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2004 | Grand Prix | Ronnie O'Sullivan
|
5–9 |
References edit
- ^ "Ian McCulloch". WPBSA. 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ "Profile on BBC Lancashire". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
- ^ World Snooker News: ? Archived 10 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Preston potter's got no regrets - Lancashire Evening Post". Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ^ Bodensee Open: Who plays? [dead link]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
External links edit
- "Official player profile of Ian McCulloch". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. "Players Alphabetical" section. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- Profile on Global Snooker
- Profile on Yahoo! Sport