Joe Swail


Northern Irish professional snooker player





























Joe Swail

Joe Swail PHC 2016-1.jpg
Paul Hunter Classic 2016

Born
(1969-08-29) 29 August 1969 (age 49)
Sport country
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
NicknameThe Outlaw
Professional1991–2012, 2013–
Highest ranking10 (2001/02)
Current ranking91 (as of 17 December 2018)
Career winnings
£1,273,086[1]
Highest break

142:
1999 China Open (qualifying)
Century breaks122[2]
Best ranking finish
Runner-up (2009 Welsh Open)
Tournament wins
Minor-ranking
1
Non-ranking7

Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a professional snooker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships but only one final. Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions. He is also a former English amateur champion and Northern Ireland amateur runner-up, and has captained Northern Ireland internationally.[3] He was Irish champion in 1992 and 2005.




Contents





  • 1 Career


  • 2 Playing style


  • 3 Personal life


  • 4 Performance and rankings timeline


  • 5 Career finals

    • 5.1 Ranking finals: 1 (1 runner-up)


    • 5.2 Minor-ranking finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


    • 5.3 Non-ranking finals: 7 (7 titles)


    • 5.4 Pro-am finals: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner-ups)


    • 5.5 Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)



  • 6 Notes and references


  • 7 External links




Career


Swail has had a very mixed history in the rankings. He took just two seasons to reach the Top 32, and three to reach the top sixteen, but only remained there for one season,[4] before sliding out of the Top 32 after winning just two matches in 1997/1998. His 2000 Crucible achievement made him the second player (after Rex Williams) to return to the Top 16 in the rankings after dropping out of the Top 32 in between. He climbed to No. 10 after his 2001 semi-final, but dropped to 16–27–30–40 in the next few years, finishing with a nightmare season in 2004/2005. He then bounced back with an impressive and consistent showing in 2005/2006 that brought him back into the Top 32. He came close to the Top 16 in 2006/2007, finishing one place short at 17 despite beating Mark Williams in round 1 of the 2007 World Championships from 0–4 down[5][6] He came from 7–9 behind to beat Judd Trump 10–9 in qualifying for the 2008 World Championship.[7] Swail scored a comprehensive 10–4 victory over Stephen Lee in the first round at the Crucible, before a 12–13 defeat by Liang Wenbo in the second round, after a trademark comeback from 8–12 down, due to a bad miss on the brown in the decider. This caused him to again miss the top 16, finishing the season in 20th place.


He started 2008/2009 poorly, with four successive first-round defeats. His first victory of the season was against Liang Wenbo in qualifying for the 2008 UK Snooker Championship. He then reached his first[8] ever ranking final in his 18-year professional career at the 2009 Welsh Open.[9] Swail led the match 5–2, but never won another frame, losing 9–5 to Ali Carter.


After finishing 69th the end of the 2011/2012 season, outside of the top 64 that retain their professional status, Swail dropped of the tour after 21 years as a professional.


As an amateur, Swail played in many of the Players Tour Championship events. At the Paul Hunter Classic, Swail defeated players such as Jimmy White, Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins en route to the final, doubling the black ball in a final frame decider against Hawkins. In the final, he was defeated 1–4 by Mark Selby. This not only booked his place on the tour for the following season, but also qualified him for the PTC Finals in Galway, Ireland, where he defeated Stephen Maguire 4–3, despite being 0–3 down. He lost 0–4 in the Last 16 to fellow Northern Irishman Mark Allen. At the 2013 World Snooker Championship, Swail entered the Pre-Qualifying rounds for amateur players, he won 3 of these matches, as well as his Last 96 and Last 80 matches against Pankaj Advani, and Adam Duffy respectively. He lost his Last 64 match against Mark Joyce 7–10, picking up £4,600 for his efforts.


After regaining his professional status due to his performances in the previous season's PTC events, Swail was able to play in ranking events during the season. He lost in the Last 96 of the Wuxi Classic, 2–5 to Ken Doherty, in the qualifiers for the Australian Open, he beat Darren Cook 5–2, before losing 4–5 in the Last 96 to Pankaj Advani.



Playing style


Swail is known for his very unorthodox way of cueing up. Instead of keeping his cue-arm vertical as most players do, Swail cues up with his arm bent at least 45 degrees outwards, and his elbow towards his back. Although it appears to be extremely difficult to actually pot balls when cueing like that it has worked for Swail and provides him with an abundance of cue power.



Personal life


Swail is congenitally hearing-impaired, and his brother Liam is completely deaf.[10] He has told BBC that he regards this as an advantage for snooker, as he is less likely to be distracted by crowd and other background noise. The two-table nature of the Crucible Theatre, in which cheering from the other table can often occur as a player takes a shot, may be one reason his World Championship record is especially strong.


Swail's nickname, "the Outlaw", is a pun on his name "Joe Swail" and The Outlaw Josey Wales, the 1976 film. He has a son, also called Joe,[11] and supports Liverpool F.C.



Performance and rankings timeline







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Tournament

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

2017/
18

2018/
19

Ranking[12][nb 1]
[nb 2]
53

25

12

19

17

22

36

28

16

10

16

27

30

40

30

17

20

22

39

54
[nb 3][nb 4]
72

64

53
[nb 5]
91

Ranking tournaments

Riga Masters[nb 6]
Tournament Not Held
MR

1R
A

2R

World Open[nb 7]
LQ

1R

1R

SF

QF

1R

1R

1R

2R

2R

SF

2R

1R

2R

3R

RR

QF
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
A
LQ
Not Held
LQ
LQ
LQ

Paul Hunter Classic[nb 8]
Tournament Not Held
Pro-am Event
Minor-Ranking Event

2R

3R

2R

China Championship
Tournament Not Held
NR
LQ
LQ

European Masters[nb 9]
LQ

QF
LQ

1R

SF

1R
NH
LQ
Not Held

1R

2R

2R

1R

1R
LQ
NR
Tournament Not Held
LQ

1R
LQ

English Open
Tournament Not Held

3R

2R

1R

International Championship
Tournament Not Held
A
LQ

3R
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ

Northern Ireland Open
Tournament Not Held

1R

1R

3R

UK Championship
LQ

QF

1R

3R

1R

2R

1R

2R

3R

2R

2R

2R

1R

1R

2R

2R

1R

1R
LQ
LQ
LQ
A

1R

1R

4R

1R

1R

2R

Scottish Open[nb 10]
NH
LQ

QF

1R

2R

3R

1R

1R

1R

QF

2R

QF

1R
Tournament Not Held
MR
Not Held

3R

2R

2R

German Masters[nb 11]
Tournament Not Held

1R
LQ
LQ
NR
Tournament Not Held

QF
LQ
A
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ

World Grand Prix
Tournament Not Held
NR
DNQ
DNQ
DNQ
DNQ

Welsh Open
LQ

SF

3R

QF

1R

2R

1R

SF

2R

QF

QF

2R

2R

2R

3R

2R

1R

F
LQ
LQ
LQ
A

1R

1R

2R

1R
A


Shoot-Out
Tournament Not Held
Non-Ranking Event

3R

2R


Indian Open
Tournament Not Held
LQ

2R
NH

2R
LQ


Players Championship[nb 12]
Tournament Not Held
DNQ
DNQ

2R
DNQ
DNQ
DNQ
DNQ
DNQ


Gibraltar Open
Tournament Not Held
MR

1R
WD


Tour Championship
Tournament Not Held


China Open[nb 13]
Tournament Not Held
NR

1R

1R

1R

1R
Not Held
LQ

QF

2R

1R
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
A
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ


World Championship
LQ

1R
LQ

2R
LQ
LQ

1R
LQ

SF

SF

1R

1R

2R
LQ

1R

2R

2R

1R
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ


Non-ranking tournaments

The Masters
LQ
LQ
LQ

1R
LQ
A
LQ
LQ
LQ

WR

1R

WR
LQ
A
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
LQ
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A

Championship League
Tournament Not Held

RR

RR

RR
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A

World Seniors Championship
A
Tournament Not Held
LQ
A
A
A
LQ
A
A
A

Variant format tournaments

Six-red World Championship[nb 14]
Tournament Not Held
A
A
A
A
A
A

1R
A
A
A

Former ranking tournaments

Classic
LQ
Tournament Not Held

Strachan Open[nb 15]

2R
MR
NR
Tournament Not Held

Dubai Classic[nb 16]
LQ

1R

1R

1R

QF
LQ
Tournament Not Held

Malta Grand Prix
Not Held
Non-ranking

1R
NR
Tournament Not Held

Thailand Masters[nb 17]

SF

3R

QF

1R

2R
LQ

1R

2R

1R

2R

2R
NR
Not Held
NR
Tournament Not Held

British Open
LQ

2R

2R

1R

2R

1R

2R

1R

SF

2R

3R

2R

3R

1R
Tournament Not Held

Irish Masters
Non-Ranking Event

1R
LQ
LQ
NH
NR
Tournament Not Held

Northern Ireland Trophy
Tournament Not Held
NR

1R

2R

1R
Tournament Not Held

Bahrain Championship
Tournament Not Held
LQ
Tournament Not Held

Wuxi Classic[nb 18]
Tournament Not held
Non-Ranking Event
A
LQ
LQ
Tournament Not Held

Australian Goldfields Open[nb 19]
Not Held
NR
Tournament Not Held
LQ
A
LQ
LQ
LQ
Not Held

Shanghai Masters
Tournament Not Held
LQ
LQ

1R
LQ
LQ
A
LQ

1R
LQ
LQ
LQ
NR

Former non-ranking tournaments

Charity Challenge
Not Held

1R
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
Tournament Not Held

Malta Grand Prix
Not Held

SF
A

QF
A
A
R

RR
Tournament Not Held

Irish Masters
A
A
A

SF

SF
A
A
A
A
A

1R
Ranking Event
Tournament Not Held

Scottish Masters
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
LQ
LQ
LQ
Tournament Not Held

Northern Ireland Trophy
Tournament Not Held

QF
Ranking Event
Tournament Not Held

Irish Professional Championship

W

QF
Tournament Not Held

W

QF

QF
Tournament Not Held

Malta Cup
Ranking Event
Tournament Not Held
Ranking Event

RR
Tournament Not Held
Ranking

Shoot-Out
Tournament Not Held

1R

1R
A
A

1R

SF
Ranking
























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 Heldevent was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventevent is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventevent is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventevent 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. ^ He was not on the Main Tour.


  4. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.


  5. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points.


  6. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)


  7. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)


  8. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)


  9. ^ The event was called the European Open (1991/1992–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)


  10. ^ The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)


  11. ^ The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)


  12. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)


  13. ^ The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)


  14. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)


  15. ^ The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)


  16. ^ The event was called the Thailand Classic in 1995/1996 and the Asian Classic in 1996/1997


  17. ^ The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)


  18. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)


  19. ^ The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and Australian Masters (1995/1996)





Career finals



Ranking finals: 1 (1 runner-up)















Outcome

No.

Year

Championship

Opponent in the final

Score
Runner-up
1.

2009

Welsh Open

England Ali Carter
5–9


Minor-ranking finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)





















Outcome

No.

Year

Championship

Opponent in the final

Score
Winner
1.

1992

Strachan Challenge - Event 1

Netherlands Stefan Mazrocis
9–4
Runner-up
1.

2012

Paul Hunter Classic[13]

England Mark Selby
1–4


Non-ranking finals: 7 (7 titles)



















































Outcome

No.

Year

Championship

Opponent in the final

Score
Winner1.1991Kings CupN/A[14]
Winner2.1991Kent Cup
Scotland Marcus Campbell
5–0
Winner3.1992Kings Cup (2)
N/A[15]
Winner4.1992Irish Professional Championship
Northern Ireland Jason Prince
9–1
Winner5.1998UK Tour - Event 2
England Alfie Burden
6–1
Winner6.2005
Irish Professional Championship (2)

Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty
9–7
Winner7.2009Irish Classic
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien
5–0


Pro-am finals: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner-ups)










































































Outcome

No.

Year

Championship

Opponent in the final

Score
Runner-up
1.
1990

Pontins Autumn Open

England Anthony Hamilton
1–5[16]
Runner-up
2.
2003
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy

Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty
5–6[17]
Winner
1.
2005

Pontins Autumn Open

England Dave Harold
5–3[18]
Winner
2.
2006
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy

Northern Ireland Jordan Brown
6–1[19]
Runner-up
3.
2007
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (2)

Northern Ireland Mark Allen
1–3[20]
Runner-up
4.
2008
Dutch Open

England Stuart Bingham
3–6[21]
Runner-up
5.
2009
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (3)

Northern Ireland Jordan Brown
1–3[22]
Runner-up
6.
2012
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (4)

Northern Ireland Patrick Wallace
1–3[23]
Winner
3.
2014
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (2)

Republic of Ireland Michael Judge [24]
Winner
4.
2015
Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (3)

Northern Ireland Patrick Wallace
3–0[25]
Runner-up
7.
2018
PMK Invitational Pro-Am

Scotland Graeme Dott
0–4[26]


Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

































Outcome

No.

Year

Championship

Opponent in the final

Score
Runner-up1.1988Northern Ireland Amateur Championship
Northern Ireland Paul Doran
7–10
Winner1.1988British Under-19 Amateur ChampionshipN/A
Winner2.1990English Amateur Championship
Scotland Alan McManus
13–11
Runner-up2.1991Northern Ireland Amateur Championship (2)
Northern Ireland Michael Duffy
9–10


Notes and references




  1. ^ "Career-total Statistics for Joe Swail – Professional". CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Retrieved 16 April 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em


  2. ^ "Centuries". Pro Snooker Blog. Retrieved 8 November 2015.


  3. ^ "Profile on Sporting Life". Sporting Life. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2008.


  4. ^ Profile on Global Snooker Centre Archived 15 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine


  5. ^ "World Snooker Championship 2007 – Day 4". The Tablet. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.


  6. ^ "Donaldson applauds Northern Ireland Snooker Players". uuptoday.org. 2007. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2008.


  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 March 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2016.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)


  8. ^ The Strachan Challenge which Swail won in 1993 only carried a fraction of the points of a regular ranking tournament so is often dismissed as a ranking tournament since most of the top pros did not compete in it.


  9. ^ BBC Sport: Snooker – Swail makes semis after epic win


  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2007.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)


  11. ^ "Profile on northernshow.biz". Northern Show Biz. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.


  12. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.


  13. ^ Swail entered the tournament as amateur, having been relegated from the main-tour the previous season, so he received no ranking points.


  14. ^ http://joeswail.com/12/my-professional-snooker-career/


  15. ^ http://joeswail.com/12/my-professional-snooker-career/


  16. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20081219221716/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Pontins/pontins-roll-of-honour.htm


  17. ^ http://www.eurosport.com/snooker/on-this-week_sto2027471/story.shtml


  18. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20081219221716/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Pontins/pontins-roll-of-honour.htm


  19. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/6219223.stm


  20. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/7165382.stm


  21. ^ http://cuetracker.net/tournaments/dutch-open/2008/2379


  22. ^ http://snooker.blog.nl/snooker-internationaal/2009/09/30/barry-mcnamee-memorial-trophy-prooi-voor-jordan-brown


  23. ^ http://www.tyronetimes.co.uk/sport/super-wallace-retains-mcnamee-title-1-3385878/amp


  24. ^ https://www.tyronetimes.co.uk/sport/snooker-swail-wins-mcnamee-trophy-without-losing-a-frame-1-7070655


  25. ^ http://www.tyronetimes.co.uk/sport/snooker-swail-wins-mcnamee-trophy-without-losing-a-frame-1-7070655


  26. ^ http://www.thecueview.com/dott-defends-pmk-invitational-title.html



External links




  • Official website


  • "Official player profile of Joe Swail". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. "Tour Players" section.


  • Joe Swail at CueTracker: Snooker Results & Statistics Database

  • Profile at Pro Snooker

  • Profile on Yahoo! Sport


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