Luke Simmonds
Born (1979-12-07) 7 December 1979
Cornwall, United Kingdom
Sport country England
Professional2001/2002, 2003/2004
Highest ranking94 (2003–04)
Best ranking finishLast 32 (x2)

Luke Simmonds (born 7 December 1979) is an English former professional snooker player.

Career

Early career

Simmonds won the World Under-21 Championship in Malta in 1998, defeating Robert Murphy 11–2 in the final, before beating Ryan Day 11–10 to become World Amateur champion in the same year.[1]

He first experienced competitive snooker during the 1997/1998 season, when he entered three tournaments; in the Benson & Hedges Championship, he won his first match 5–0 against Rajan Sharma, but lost in the next round 1–5 to Philip Seaton. First-round defeats in Event 1 of that season's UK Tour and qualifying for the World Championship followed, and he thereafter took a year-long hiatus from competing.

Upon his return in 1999, Simmonds entered the 2000 World Championship, losing in the fifth pre-qualifying round. During the 2000/2001 season, he played on the Challenge Tour, reaching the semi-finals at Event 1 - where he lost 1–5 to Andrew Norman - and the quarter-finals at Event 3, where Kurt Maflin beat him 5–3, before reaching his first career final at Event 4. Drawn against nineteen-year-old Shaun Murphy, Simmonds lost 2–6, but his performances over the course of the season were sufficient for him to earn a place on the main tour.

Professional - 2001 to 2004

Simmonds' debut season as a professional began well, as he recorded back-to-back victories over David McDonnell and Surinder Gill in the British Open, before losing in the third round 2–5 to Jonathan Birch. He could not progress any further than the last 96 in any other tournament, however, and a 5–10 loss to Barry Pinches at this stage of the 2002 World Championship meant he dropped off the tour after only one season.

Back in the amateur ranks, Simmonds once again found success, notably reaching his second final at Event 3 of the 2003 Challenge Tour. Michael Rhodes defeated him 6–5, but this was enough to assure him of a return to the main tour for the 2003/2004 season.

Simmonds began that season ranked 126th, but it heralded no more success than his first. He reached the last 80 in three tournaments - the 2004 Welsh Open, where he lost 4–5 to Patrick Wallace, the Irish Masters, where Andy Hicks defeated him 5–1, and the Players Championship, where he was whitewashed 5–0 by Murphy - but, after a 5–10 loss to Ian Preece in World Championship qualifying, he was ranked 94th at the season's conclusion. Although he had broken into the top 100 for the first time, he was again relegated from the main tour.

Amateur return

After a three-year break, Simmonds entered several Pontin's International Open Series events in the 2007/2008 season; he reached the last 16 at Event 2, but lost there 2–4 to Andrew Pagett.

He entered Q-School in 2011 and 2015 attempting to regain a place on the tour, and as a result of his performances in 2015, where he lost his final match in Event Two 4–3 to Paul Davison, he was allowed to participate as a wildcard entry in several ranking tournaments in the 2015/2016 season. However, Simmonds did not win a match; he lost 1–5 to Michael Leslie in the Shanghai Masters, 0–6 to Ali Carter in the International Championship, and 2–5 to Barry Hawkins in the German Masters, and led Robbie Williams 3–0 in the Welsh Open before succumbing 3–4.

In qualifying for the 2016 World Championship, Simmonds lost 2–10 to Liam Highfield; since his last involvement with the professional game, he has been active on the English amateur tour.[2]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1997/
98		 1999/
00		 2000/
01		 2001/
02		 2002/
03		 2003/
04		 2015/
16		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2022/
23
Ranking[3][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event RR
European Masters[nb 4] Tournament Not Held LQ A LQ NH A A LQ
British Open A A A LQ A LQ Tournament Not Held A
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A 1R A
UK Championship A A A LQ A LQ A A 1R A
Scottish Open[nb 5] A A A LQ A LQ NH A 2R A
English Open Tournament Not Held A 1R A
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Shoot Out Tournament Not Held NR A 3R 1R
German Masters[nb 6] A Tournament Not Held LQ A A A
Welsh Open A A A LQ A LQ 1R A A A
Players Championship[nb 7] Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ A
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters LQ A A A LQ LQ A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Thailand Masters A A A LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event A LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held LQ A NR NH
Riga Masters Tournament Not Held MR A 1R NH
World Open[nb 8] A A A LQ A LQ NH A LQ NH
Paul Hunter Classic Tournament Not Held MR LQ 1R NH
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ A A NH
Indian Open Tournament Not Held A 2R NH
China Open[nb 9] NR A A LQ Not Held A A A NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. ↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 He was an amateur
  3. 1 2 New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ↑ The event was called the European Open (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  5. ↑ The event was called the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  6. ↑ The event was called the German Open (1997/1998)
  7. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2015/2016)
  8. ↑ The event was called the Grand Prix (1997/1998–2000/2001)
  9. ↑ The event was called the China International (1997/1998)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2001 Challenge Tour - Event 4 England Shaun Murphy 2–6
Runner-up 2. 2003 Challenge Tour - Event 3 England Michael Rhodes 5–6

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1999 Pontins Spring Open Republic of Ireland John Gallagher 4–7
Winner 1. 2001 Pontins Spring Open England Brian Morgan 7–5

Amateur finals: 9 (5 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1997 English Open England Mark Gray 4–8
Winner 1. 1998 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship Republic of Ireland Robert Murphy 11–2
Winner 2. 1998 IBSF World Snooker Championship Wales Ryan Day 11–10
Runner-up 2. 2018 Challenge Tour – Event 1 England Brandon Sargeant 1–3
Runner-up 3. 2021 EPSB Open Series - Event 2 (Breakers) England Jenson Kendrick 1–3
Winner 3. 2021 EPSB Open Series - Event 6 (Breakers) Australia Ryan Thomerson 3–0
Runner-up 4. 2021 EPSB Open Series - Event 7 (Breakers) England Ryan Davies 2–3
Winner 4. 2021 EPSB Open Series - Event 8 (Breakers) England Andy Marriott 3–0
Winner 5. 2021 EPSB Open Series - Event 9 (Breakers) England Chae Ross 3–2

References

  1. ↑ "Luke Simmonds".
  2. ↑ "Easb.co.uk".
  3. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
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