Alan McManus

This article is about the snooker player. For the professional footballer, see Allan McManus.

Alan McManus

Alan McManus at the 2014 German Masters
Born (1971-01-21) 21 January 1971
Sport country  Scotland
Nickname Angles
Professional 1990–
Highest ranking 6 (4 years)
Current ranking 20 (as of 2 May 2016)
Career winnings £2,484,123[1]
Highest break 143 (1994 World Snooker Championship)
Century breaks 208[2]
Tournament wins
Ranking 2
Non-ranking 2

Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish professional snooker player. A mainstay of the world's top 16 during the 1990s and 2000s, McManus has won two ranking events, the 1994 Dubai Classic and the 1996 Thailand Open, and was a world semi-finalist in 1992, 1993 and 2016. He also won the 1994 Masters, ending Stephen Hendry's five-year, 23-match unbeaten streak at the tournament with a 9–8 victory in the final.

Career

McManus has long been considered a consistently good player as his record of fourteen consecutive seasons in the Top 16 shows, but never managed to achieve the success of his contemporaries such as Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins. He was ranked in the Top 16 from 1990 to 2006, dropping out after an unsuccessful 2005/2006 season. His highest ranking was sixth (in 1993/94 and 1996/97). He has reached twenty-one professional semi-finals, but won only four events. He has reached the semi-finals of the World Championship three times, but has never appeared in a final. Until 2005 he had gone eleven years without reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament, despite consistent achievements in other events.

The highlight of his career to date has been claiming the Masters title at Wembley in 1994, defeating Stephen Hendry 9–8 in the final and thus ending Hendry's unbeaten run in the tournament, which dated back to 1989.

His last major final was at the 2002 LG Cup at the Preston Guild Hall where he lost 5–9 to fellow-countryman Chris Small.

A series of poor results in the 2005–2006 season saw him drop out of the top 16 for the first time since 1991. He reached the semi-finals of the 2006 Snooker Grand Prix, losing to Neil Robertson. He lost a World Championship qualifier 10–9 to journeyman Joe Delaney in 2007. This loss began an extremely quiet six-to-seven-year period for the Scot, who then failed to qualify for any UK or World Championships between 2007 and 2013, and also struggled to qualify for the other ranking events (during the period between the 2006 Grand Prix and the 2013 Welsh Open, McManus failed to qualify for the main stages of 42 ranking events). This saw him quickly drop out of the top 16, then out of the top 32. His poor form reached a trough in the 2009/2010 season, where he failed to qualify for any of the main stages of the tournaments he took part in.

McManus was unable to qualify for any of the major venues during the 2011/12 season and he finished it ranked as number 52 in the world.

McManus made a good start to the 2012/2013 season, beating Tony Drago and Robert Milkins to qualify for the final stages of the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo; there he beat local wildcard James Mifsud 5–0, before exiting the tournament by the same scoreline against Ding Junhui.[3]

At the 2013 Welsh Open McManus reached his first quarter-final since the 2006 Grand Prix with a 4–2 win over the number 16 seed Barry Hawkins, followed by a superb comeback to beat Joe Perry 4–3, after having trailed 0–3.[4] He was beaten in the quarter-final 5–3 by compatriot Stephen Maguire.[5] The following tournament, the Haikou World Open saw McManus win three matches in qualifying to reach the latter stages of the tournament; he then beat local wildcard Lin Shuai 5–3, before facing compatriot John Higgins. McManus put in a good performance; he ultimately lost 3–5, but picked up valuable ranking points in the process.

McManus made a good start to the Players Tour Championship, reaching the quarter-finals of the first event, losing to Andrew Higginson by 4 frames to 3. He carried this good form to the PTC event 2, once again reaching the quarter-finals before losing 1–4 to eventual runner-up Stephen Maguire. However he only managed four last-32 results from the rest of the events. This led to him being ranked 31st in the Order of Merit, just missing out on the top 28 players that qualified for the finals

At the 2013 World Snooker Championship McManus, in qualifying, beat one of India's rising stars Aditya Mehta 10–9, in an epic encounter that lasted just over 9 hours.[6] He then defeated 1995 World finalist Nigel Bond 10–8 in the penultimate qualifying round. In the final qualifying round he led Tom Ford 5–4 after the first session; he then reeled off five of the next six frames to book his place at the Crucible Theatre for the first time since 2006. In the first round he lost to Ding Junhui 5–10, picking up £12,000 for his efforts.

McManus's resilience in snooker matchplay is shown by the fact that his first whitewash of his professional career came in his 0–5 defeat by Peter Ebdon at the 1998 Grand Prix, his 312th match as a professional player.[7]

Alan McManus (2013).

McManus earned £49,442 during the 2012/2013 season.[8]

At the start of the 2013/2014 season McManus was ranked 49th in the World Rankings. At the 2013 Wuxi Classic qualifiers he won his match against Darryl Hill 5–3 to qualify for the last 64 of the event held in Wuxi. At the venue he defeated Ken Doherty 5–3 before losing to Dave Gilbert 2–5. At the first Asian Tour event, he bested players such as Michael White before beating local favorite Ding Junhui 4–2 in the last 16. He then defeated Yu Delu 4–1 in the quarter-finals; in the semi-final he lost to eventual winner Joe Perry 2–4, despite having been 2–1 up.

McManus qualified for the inaugural Indian Open, beating amateur Sydney Wilson 4–1 in qualifying. He was then beaten 1–4 in the last 64 by Zhang Anda. McManus followed up this result by qualifying for the International Championship in beating Darren Cook 6–0. He then defeated local wildcard Zhou Yuelong 6–5, coming back from 2–4 down. In the last 64 he produced the shock of the tournament by beating defending champion Judd Trump 6–5, having been 3–4 down.[9] However he was defeated 4–6 by Ryan Day in the following round. At the UK Championship, McManus defeated Joel Walker 6–5, winning the match on a respotted black, before losing to Michael Holt 4–6 in the last 64. McManus reached the last 16 of the German Masters, defeating Jak Jones 5–1 in qualifying. At the Tempodrom he defeated Peter Ebdon and Jack Lisowski, both by 5–2 scorelines, before being himself beaten 5–2 by Michael Holt.

McManus continued his good form into the final European Tour event of the season, where he reached the last 16 by defeating players such as Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott before losing to Fergal O'Brien. Despite also reaching the last 16 of the final Asian Tour Event of the season, McManus narrowly missed out on qualification for the Players Championship Grand Final by one place. McManus lost to Mark King in the second round of the Welsh Open and failed to qualify for the China Open, but was to finish the season strongly. He reached the quarter-final of the World Open, losing to Mark Selby. He then enjoyed a run to the quarter-final of the 2014 World Snooker Championship beating John Higgins 10–7 and then Ken Doherty 13–8 to set up another quarter-final with Mark Selby. McManus performed well early on, but Selby ran away with the match in the second session to leave McManus trailing 4–12. McManus was able to claw back the first frame of the final session but Selby won the next frame to clinch the match 13–5.

McManus continued his good form into the 2014/2015 season by reaching the last 16 of the first ranking event of the season, the 2014 Wuxi Classic, where he was beaten 5–2 by Barry Hawkins. He then reached the last 16 of the Australian Goldfields Open, before losing 5–3 to Judd Trump.[10] McManus reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters by beating Jamie Jones to qualify, before defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–3 and Stephen Maguire 5–1 but then lost to the eventual winner of the tournament Stuart Bingham 5–1.[11][12] McManus was able to keep up his 100% record in qualifying matches for the season by comfortably defeating Michael Georgiou to qualify for the International Championship, but was edged out by Anthony McGill in the last 64 of the tournament. McManus lost in the first round of the UK Championship to Joel Walker.[10] He won his first qualifier for the 2015 German Masters against Zak Surety but was then defeated in the final qualifying round by Matthew Selt. McManus had a good run in the Welsh Open, reaching the last 16 before losing to Maguire. He performed well in the season's European Tour Events, finishing 18th on the Order of Merit. He played in four of the six events, reaching one quarter-final with a further three last 16 appearances.[13] This gave him entry into the Grand Final where he was defeated 4–1 by Bingham in the first round.[10] McManus won all three of his World Championship qualifying matches, defeating Michael Wasley, Andrew Pagett and Mitchell Mann to reach the main draw at the Crucible. However, an inconsistent performance against Ali Carter saw McManus bow out 5–10 in the last 32.[14]

McManus started strongly in the 2015/2016 season, reaching the quarter-finals of the first event, the Riga Open, with wins over Stephen Maguire,[15] Judd Trump and others before losing to the eventual champion Barry Hawkins 2–4.[16] As McManus did not enter the Australian Goldfields Open, his first ranking event of the season came at the Shanghai Masters. He defeated Rory McLeod 5–4 to qualify for the tournament, and then defeated wildcard Yao Pengcheng 5–2, before losing 1–5 to Ding Junhui.[17][18] After an early exit in the Paul Hunter Classic, McManus reached the quarter-finals of the Ruhr Open, losing 3–4 to Tian Pengfei.[19] It was during his first-round match in this tournament that he and his opponent Barry Pinches broke the record for the longest official frame of snooker.[20] The frame lasted for 100 minutes and 24 seconds, with Pinches eventually winning the frame, although McManus would go on to win the match.

McManus qualified for the 2016 World Championship with comfortable victories over Michael Wasley, David Morris and Jimmy Robertson. In the first round at the Crucible he defeated his fellow-countryman Stephen Maguire 10–7, before overcoming Ali Carter 13–10 in round two. His quarter-final saw him come from 9–11 down against John Higgins to take the final four frames and win 13–11, setting up a first semi-final appearance at the World Championships since 1993. In that semi-final he lost to Ding Junhui 17–11.[21]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1990/
91		 1991/
92		 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		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17
Ranking[22][nb 1] UR[nb 2] 41 13 6 6 6 6 10 8 8 8 12 15 10 10 12 19 38 37 41 46 51 52 49 29 23 20
Ranking tournaments
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 3] Not held NR Not held LQ 1R LQ 2R A
Shanghai Masters Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ QF 1R
International Championship Not Held LQ 2R 1R LQ
UK Championship SF LQ SF 1R 1R 1R SF QF 1R 3R 6R 3R 3R 3R 3R 2R 3R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R 2R
German Masters[nb 4] Not Held SF LQ LQ NR Not Held LQ LQ LQ 3R LQ 1R
Welsh Open NH 2R F F 2R 2R 1R QF 3R 1R QF 1R 2R QF 2R 2R 2R 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ QF 2R 4R 3R
World Grand Prix[nb 5] 1R SF SF 3R 3R SF 1R 4R 3R 4R 3R 3R F 2R 2R 1R SF LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ 1R QF NR DNQ
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 6] Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R 1R
China Open[nb 7] Not Held NR SF LQ QF 1R Not Held SF 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R
World Championship 2R SF SF 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R QF 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R QF 1R SF
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters 1R LQ SF W QF SF 1R 1R SF 1R 1R SF 1R 1R 1R SF A A A A A A A A A A
World Seniors Championship NH A Not Held A A A A LQ A
Variant format tournaments
Snooker Shoot-Out[nb 8] SF Not Held 2R 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R
Former ranking tournaments
Classic 3R QF Not Held
Strachan Open[nb 9] NH 1R MR NR Not Held
Dubai Classic[nb 10] 1R LQ SF SF W 2R SF Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Not Held Non-ranking 2R NR Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 11] LQ F 3R SF 2R W 1R QF F LQ 1R 2R NR Not Held NR Not Held
Scottish Open[nb 12] Not Held QF SF QF 1R QF 2R QF 4R QF 2R QF 3R Not Held MR Not Held
British Open 1R 1R 2R QF 2R 3R QF 3R 2R QF SF QF QF 2R 2R Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event 1R 1R 2R NH NR Not Held
Malta Cup[nb 13] LQ 1R 1R QF 2R 1R QF NH F Not Held 2R 1R 1R QF 2R LQ NR Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Not Held NR 1R 1R 3R Not Held
Bahrain Championship Not held LQ Not held
Wuxi Classic[nb 14] Not held Non-ranking LQ 2R 3R NH
Indian Open Not Held 1R 1R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
World Matchplay A A SF Not Held
German Masters[nb 4] Not Held Ranking Event QF Not Held Ranking Event
Champions Cup[nb 15] Not Held SF 1R SF A QF A A A Not Held
Scottish Masters A 1R 1R F 1R 1R F F 1R 1R QF LQ LQ Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Not Held SF Ranking Event Not Held
Irish Masters A A F F 1R 1R 1R A 1R QF QF A Ranking Event NH A Not Held
Premier League[nb 16] A A F SF RR A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Not held
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 1R R
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
DQ disqualified from the tournament
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.
  1. ↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ↑ The event run under different names as Australian Open (1994/1995) and Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  4. 1 2 The event run under different name as German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  5. ↑ The event run under different names as Grand Prix (1990/1991–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  6. ↑ The event run under different name as Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  7. ↑ The event run under different name as China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  8. ↑ The event run under different name as Shoot-Out (1990/1991)
  9. ↑ The event run under different name as Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
  10. ↑ The event run under different names as Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  11. ↑ The event run under different names as Asian Open (1990/1991–1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/97)
  12. ↑ The event run under different names as International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004)
  13. ↑ The event run under different names as European Open (1990/1991–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004) and Irish Open (1998/1999)
  14. ↑ The event run under different name as Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  15. ↑ The event run under different name as Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)
  16. ↑ The event run under different names as Matchroom League (1990/1991–1991/1992) and European League (1992/1993–1996/1997)

Career finals

Ranking event finals: 8 (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

Legend
World Championship (0–0)
UK Championship (0–0)
Other (2–6)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1992 Asian Open England Davis, SteveSteve Davis 3–9
Runner-up 2. 1993 Welsh Open Republic of Ireland Doherty, KenKen Doherty 7–9
Runner-up 3. 1994 Welsh Open (2) England Davis, SteveSteve Davis 6–9
Winner 1. 1994 Dubai Classic England Ebdon, PeterPeter Ebdon 9–6
Winner 2. 1996 Thailand Open Republic of Ireland Doherty, KenKen Doherty 9–8
Runner-up 4. 1998 Irish Open Wales Williams, MarkMark Williams 4–9
Runner-up 5. 1999 Thailand Masters Wales Williams, MarkMark Williams 7–9
Runner-up 6. 2002 LG Cup Scotland Small, ChrisChris Small 5–9

Minor-ranking finals: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1992 Benson & Hedges Championship Scotland Small, ChrisChris Small 9–1

Non-ranking finals: 8 (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

Legend
Masters (1–0)
Premier League (0–1)
Other (1–5)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1990 Benson & Hedges Satellite Championship Thailand Wattana, JamesJames Wattana 9–5
Runner-up 2. 1993 Premier League Snooker England White, JimmyJimmy White 10–7
Runner-up 3. 1993 Irish Masters England Davies, SteveSteve Davies 9–5
Runner-up 4. 1993 Scottish Masters Republic of Ireland Doherty, KenKen Doherty 10–9
Winner 5. 1994 The Masters Scotland Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry 9–8
Runner-up 6. 1994 Irish Masters England Davies, SteveSteve Davies 9–5
Runner-up 7. 1996 Scottish Masters England Ebdon, PeterPeter Ebdon 9–6
Runner-up 8. 1997 Scottish Masters England Bond, NigelNigel Bond 9–8

Team finals 3 (2 titles, 1 runners-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final core
Winner 1. 1996 World Cup
(with team Scotland)		  Ireland 10–7
Runner-up 4. 1999 Nations Cup
(with team Scotland)		  Wales 6–4
Winner 4. 2001 Nations Cup
(with team Scotland)		  Ireland 6–2

References

  1. ↑ "Prize Money - All-time, Professional". CueTracker - Snooker Database. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Centuries". Pro Snooker Blog. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  3. ↑ http://blogs.bettor.com/Ding-Junhui-whitewashes-Alan-McManus-to-book-second-round-place-2012-Australian-Goldfields-Open-a170656
  4. ↑ Fen Potter Joe Perry surrenders 3-0 lead to crash out of Welsh Open - Sport - Cambs Times
  5. ↑ BBC Sport - Welsh Open 2013: Schedule and results from Newport
  6. ↑ World Snooker | News | News | McManus Wins Nine-Hour Epic
  7. ↑ snooker.org: Alan McManus
  8. ↑ CueTracker - Snooker Database - Alan McManus - Season 2012/2013
  9. ↑ "Judd Trump beaten by Alan McManus at International Championship". 28 October 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  10. 1 2 3 "Alan McManus 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Shanghai Masters: Ronnie O'Sullivan suffers first-round exit to Alan McManus". Sky Sports. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "McManus continues Shanghai surprise". ESPN (UK). Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Alan McManus gutted as he falls at the first hurdle". Evening Times. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Doherty Stuns Selby In Riga". World Snooker. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Hawkins Rules In Riga". World Snooker. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "Shanghai Masters 2015: Results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "2015 Shanghai Masters". CueTracker. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "2015 European Tour - Event 3". CueTracker. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "The Longest Frame". World Snooker. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Alan McManus interview: 'I came close to quitting snooker, the sport I love'". Eurosport.
  22. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan McManus.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.