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Barry Pinches
Pinches at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1970-07-13) 13 July 1970 (age 53)
Catton, Norwich, England
Sport country England
NicknameThe Canary[1]
Professional1989–1997, 1998–2016, 2019–2023
Highest ranking18 (2005/2006)
Maximum breaks1
Century breaks159
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (x2)
Tournament wins
Minor-ranking1

Barry Pinches (born 13 July 1970 in Catton, Norwich) is an English former professional snooker player, recognisable for his bright and flamboyant waistcoats, which usually feature the yellow and green colours of Norwich City F.C. He is a former top 32 player and ranking-event quarter-finalist. He has compiled over 100 century breaks in his career.[2] He has also made one maximum break.[3]

Career

Pinches was born on 13 July 1970.[4] He won the English Amateur Championship in 1988, enabling him to turn professional in 1989.[5] He was runner-up to James Wattana at the 1988 World Amateur Championship.[5]

After a largely unsuccessful start to his career, he hit good form for a while in the 2000s.[4] He defeated Jimmy White 10–8 in the 2004 World Championship, in a match which overran and had to be completed after other matches,[6] then led Stephen Hendry 11–9 before losing 12–13 and has lost in the first round twice more – the 13-year gap between his first two Crucible appearances (1991–2004) is an all-time record. In his first appearance at the Crucible, in 1991 he lost 3–10 to Terry Griffiths. His best ranking tournament run to date, was in the 2003 UK Championship, where he reached the quarter-finals with victories over Marco Fu, Graeme Dott and Stephen Lee, before Stephen Hendry ended his run.

At one point he was established in the world's top 32, and provisionally 14 at one point – advancing 82–56–36–21 in the rankings over a strong sequence of seasons up to 2003–04. However, he dropped out of the top 32 two years later, and then won only one knock-out match in 2006–07, dropping to number #56. He attributed this loss of form to attempting to change his cue action.[7] However, he won an invitational event that featured many top players, the 2007 Paul Hunter Classic that August, beating Neil Robertson and Ken Doherty en route.[8] He also showed a return to form in the 2008 China Open by reaching the last 16, beating the defending champion, Graeme Dott 5–1 in the process, before going down by the same scoreline to Nigel Bond, who also beat him 7–10 in the final qualifying round of the 2008 World Championship.[9] The 2008/2009 season was less successful for him however.

After reaching the final of Event 2 of the Players Tour Championship where he lost 3–4 to Mark Selby he went one better in Event 4 beating Mark Williams 4–1 and Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 in the semi-final and final respectively to record the best win of his career to date.

In the 2011–12 season Pinches narrowly missed out on a maximum 147 break at Event 2 of the Players Tour Championship in Gloucester, making it to the final black.[10][11] He would later finish the season ranked world number 64, grabbing the final spot on offer through the world rankings to play in the 2012–13 season. He fell 23 places in the rankings during the season – the most of anyone on the snooker tour.[12]

Pinches won two matches but then lost in the final round in qualifying for the first three ranking events of the season.[13] He made it to the main draw at the next event, the 2012 International Championship, thanks to wins over Daniel Wells, Xiao Guodong and Joe Perry.[13] He had to play in a wildcard round once at the venue in Chengdu, China, and lost 5–6 to Lu Ning.[14] This was the furthest Pinches got in a ranking event this season, with it coming to an end when he was defeated 9–10 by Liam Highfield in the second round of World Championship Qualifying.[15] He finished the year ranked world number 62.[16]

Pinches qualified for the 2013 Indian Open, the fourth ranking event of the 2013–14 season with a 4–1 victory over Chris Wakelin. He almost pulled off a huge shock in the first round as he led Ding Junhui 3–2, but was beaten 4–3.[17] Pinches also reached the main draw of the World Open and China Open but lost in the first round both times.[18] Due to all 128 players on the tour earning a place in the first round of the Welsh Open, Pinches did not need to qualify and beat Nigel Bond 4–1, to set up a second round meeting with Ronnie O'Sullivan. Pinches stated before the match that he would stick to his percentage game with a defensive approach as he has always played the same no matter who the opponent is and he was defeated 4–1.[19] Pinches had a consistent season in the European Tour events with his deepest runs being last 16 defeats at the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup and Gdynia Open which saw him finish 49th on the Order of Merit.[20] He dropped out of the top 64 in the rankings during the season as he ended it at number 76, but his European Tour results earned him a place on the tour for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons as the sixth highest non-qualified player.[21]

He edged out Peter Ebdon 5–4 to qualify for the 2014 Wuxi Classic, but lost 5–1 to Yan Bingtao in the first round. Pinches won three games to play in the final qualifying round for the Australian Goldfields Open where he lost 5–3 to Ebdon. He qualified for the International Championship and was beaten 6–2 by Robert Milkins in the opening round.[22] Pinches' sole win in a ranking event this season came at the Welsh Open by defeating Jimmy White 4–3, but he was knocked out 4–2 by home favourite Mark Williams in the second round.[23]-

Pinches had a very poor 2015–16 season as he only won two matches all year, both of these coming at the Haining Open. He was involved in two frames of note during the season. At the Ruhr Open, Pinches and Alan McManus set the record for the longest official snooker frame at 100 minutes and 24 seconds.[24] The record stood until April 2017. In the final frame of his 4–1 defeat of Pinches in the first round of the Welsh Open, Ronnie O'Sullivan learned that the prize for making a 147 was £10,000 and decided after potting the 14th red to pot a pink and make a 146 instead as the prize money was not enough.[25] Pinches dropped off the tour at the end of the season and he failed to regain his place on the main tour through the 2016 Q School.[26] He qualified for the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic, but lost 4–3 to Cao Yupeng in the first round.[27]

2016 Paul Hunter Classic

In the 2017 Gibraltar Open, Pinches lost in the second qualifying round; however, during the 2017–18 season, having again lost in Q-School in his attempt to re-qualify for the main tour, he qualified for that season's Paul Hunter Classic. He recovered from 1–3 behind in the first round to beat Matthew Bolton 4–3, but lost in the last 64 to fellow amateur George Pragnall by the same scoreline.[28] On 14 October 2017 Barry entered the World Seniors Championship 1st Qualifying in Newbury for the Snooker Legends Tour. He lost 1–3 in the semi-finals to fellow amateur Matt Ford. In the frame that he won in the semi-finals he made a total clearance of 133 and won a pair of Oakley sunglasses for the highest break of the event. He entered the 2018 Q School in May in the hope of winning back his place on the main snooker tour. In the second round he was drawn against his son Luke. It was the first time a father played his son in a world snooker event since Neal Foulds played his father Geoff Foulds in 1986.[29] Barry beat son Luke 4–1.[30] In the following round he defeated fellow former pro Fang Xiongman.[31]

In June 2019, Pinches came through the third event of the 2019 Q School by winning six matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2019–2020 and 2020–21 seasons.

In June 2021, Pinches came through event 2 of the 2021 Q School by winning five matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 seasons.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1989/
90 		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 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23
Ranking[nb 1] [nb 2] 82 73 103 109 141 132 79 [nb 3] [nb 2] 113 97 82 56 36 21 18 33 56 50 52 57 41 64 62 [nb 4] 94 [nb 3] [nb 3] [nb 3] [nb 5] 75 [nb 5] 83
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event RR RR RR
European Masters[nb 6] 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NH LQ Not Held LQ 1R 1R 1R 2R LQ NR Tournament Not Held A A A LQ 1R LQ 1R
British Open LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 3R Tournament Not Held 2R LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A A A 1R 3R LQ LQ
UK Championship LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ A LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R QF 3R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R A A A 1R 1R 1R LQ
Scottish Open[nb 7] LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R Tournament Not Held MR Not Held A A A 1R 1R LQ LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held A A A 1R 1R LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Shoot Out NH NR Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event A A 3R 1R 2R 2R 2R
German Masters[nb 8] Tournament Not Held LQ LQ A NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A A LQ LQ 1R LQ
Welsh Open Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R A LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R 1R A A A 1R 1R LQ LQ
Players Championship[nb 9] Tournament Not Held 2R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A A LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters A LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A A A A A A A A A A A A
Six-red World Championship Tournament Not Held A A A NH A A A A A A A A Not Held LQ
World Seniors Championship Not Held A Tournament Not Held A A A A LQ LQ A 1R NH A QF A
Former ranking tournaments
Classic LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open Not Held LQ MR NR Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic[nb 10] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 11] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ A LQ LQ LQ 1R NR Not Held NR Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ 1R NH NR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 12] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 13] 2R Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Tournament Not Held 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A Non-Ranking Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 14] Tournament Not Held Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R 1R NR Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 1R LQ NH A A A Tournament Not Held
China Open[nb 15] Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ A A A Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 16] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank A A A LQ Not Held
International Championship Tournament Not Held WR LQ 1R LQ A A A LQ Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR A A LQ Not Held
World Open[nb 17] LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ A LQ 3R LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R QF LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held A A A 1R Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ NH
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR LQ 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Malta Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
Shoot Out NH 1R Tournament Not Held 1R QF 1R 1R A A Ranking Event
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 Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means 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. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking
  3. ^ a b c d He was an amateur
  4. ^ Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ a b Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
  6. ^ The event was called the European Open (1989/1990-1996/1997, 2001/2002-2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  7. ^ The event was called the International Open (1989/1990, 1992/1993-1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  8. ^ The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  9. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  10. ^ The event was called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  11. ^ The event was called the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  12. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  13. ^ The event was called the Hong Kong Open (1989/1990), the Australian Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  14. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  15. ^ The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  16. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  17. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1989/1990–2000/2001, 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)

Career finals

Minor-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2010 Players Tour Championship Event 2 England Mark Selby 3–4
Winner 1. 2010 Players Tour Championship Event 4 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2019 Seniors Masters Qualifying Event Jersey Aaron Canavan 3–1
Runner-up 1. 2019 The Seniors Masters England Joe Johnson 1–2

Pro-am finals: 4 (2 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1987 Pontins Spring Open England Stefan Mazrocis 2–7
Winner 1. 2007 Paul Hunter Classic Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 4–0
Runner-up 2. 2007 Dutch Open England Michael Holt 4–6
Winner 2. 2010 Dutch Open Belgium Bjorn Haneveer 6–3

Amateur finals: 5 (3 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1986 British Under-19 Championship Thailand James Wattana 3–0[32]
Winner 2. 1988 English Amateur Championship England Craig Edwards 13–6
Runner-up 1. 1988 World Amateur Championship Thailand James Wattana 8–11
Runner-up 2. 1989 English Amateur Championship England Nigel Bond 11–13
Winner 3. 2018 Challenge Tour – Event 3 Wales Jackson Page 3–2

References

  1. ^ "Barry Pinches". wst.tv. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Chris Turners Snooker Archive – Top Century Makers". 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Baizewatch: Ormskirk claim league title". 30 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Profile on Sporting Life". Sporting Life. 2005. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  5. ^ a b Smith, Terry, ed. (1989). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Sixth ed.). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7207-1944-4.
  6. ^ "White falls to Pinches". BBC. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  7. ^ [1] Archived 11 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Barry pinches German Open". Yahoo!. 2007. Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  9. ^ "Pinches crashes out of China Open". BBC. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  10. ^ "Barry Pinches misses 147 break at the PTC2". YouTube. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Pinches on Top in PTC". Global Snooker. Cuefactor Limited. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  12. ^ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Barry Pinches 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  14. ^ "International Championship 2012: schedule and results". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Higgins beats Walker in Indian Open Snooker". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  18. ^ "Barry Pinches 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  19. ^ "Snooker - O'Sullivan coasts into Welsh Open last 32 with win over Pinches". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  20. ^ "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  21. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  22. ^ "Barry Pinches 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  23. ^ "Mark Williams burns the midnight oil to set up all-Welsh clash". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Pinches and McManus Set Longest Frame Record". World Snooker. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  25. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan criticised after turning down 'too cheap' 147 at Welsh Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  26. ^ "Q School Order of Merit". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  27. ^ "Barry Pinches 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  28. ^ "CueTracker - 2017 Paul Hunter Classic - Snooker Results & Statistics Database".
  29. ^ "Father Vs Son Showdown My Toughest Match – Pinches". 15 May 2018.
  30. ^ "Zhao Storms Through in Burton". 16 May 2018.
  31. ^ "Craigie Charges to Maintain Q School Hopes". 18 May 2018.
  32. ^ "Sport in Brief". Leicester Mercury. Leicester. 15 May 1986. p. 46.

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