Ross Muir
Paul Hunter Classic 2016
Born (1995-10-06) 6 October 1995 (age 28)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Sport country Scotland
Professional2013–2019, 2023–present
Highest ranking67 (May 2017)[1]
Current ranking 87 (as of 22 January 2024)
Maximum breaks1
Best ranking finishLast 16 (x4)

Ross Muir (born 6 October 1995 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional snooker player. Muir turned professional in 2013 after graduating from event two of the Q School, defeating David Morris 4–0 in the final round.[2] He regularly wears a glove on his bridge hand.

Career

Junior career

Muir had a very successful junior career, winning many titles including the prestigious televised Junior Pot Black at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield by defeating Jak Jones in the final,[3] the under 14 section of the Lt. Col Walter Rowley OBE Junior Star of the Future,[4] the Scottish National Championship,[5] and captained the Scottish under 16's team to glory in the 2011 Home Internationals Series in Prestatyn, Wales which was the first time Scotland had won the title since 1993.[6] Muir won a place on the main snooker tour for the 2013–14 season after coming through the second event of the 2013 Q School, defeating David Morris 4–0 in the final round.[2]

2013/2014

Muir's first match as a professional was a 5–1 loss against two-time world champion Mark Williams in qualifying for the 2013 Wuxi Classic.[7] His first wins came in qualifying for the next event, the Australian Goldfields Open, by defeating James Cahill and Rod Lawler both 5–1, before losing 5–2 to Liam Highfield.[7] At the Asian Tour event, the Zhangjiagang Open, he defeated world number seven Ding Junhui 4–3 in the last 32 by compiling a break of 80 in the final frame, before being whitewashed 4–0 by Da Hailin in the next round.[8] Muir could not win a match in ranking event qualifying in the rest of the season until the final event, the World Championship, when he beat David Grace 10–6, but then lost 10–5 against Nigel Bond in the subsequent round.[7] Muir finished his debut season on the main tour at world number 113.[9]

2014/2015

Muir failed to qualify for a ranking event during the 2014–15 season. All 128 players on the tour automatically play at the venue stage of the UK Championship and Welsh Open, with Muir being knocked out in the first round 6–5 by Peter Ebdon[10] and 4–1 by Michael White[11] respectively. Muir threatened a comeback in the opening round of the World Championship qualifiers when he rallied from 9–4 down against Cao Yupeng to win four successive frames, but lost the next to be beaten 10–8.[12] Muir would be relegated from the snooker tour as he is finished the season as the world number 99.[13] However, one last 16 and two last 32 finishes in the three Asian Tour events saw him finish 18th on the Asian Order of Merit and claim the first of four places on offer for a new two-year card.[14]

2015/2016

In a match lasting almost seven hours, Muir beat experienced campaigner Alan McManus 6–5 to qualify for the International Championship. It was the first time he played in a ranking event outside of the UK and he lost 6–5 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round. Muir stated that he had been using a mind coach to help with the psychological side of the game.[15] He won a match at the venue stage of a ranking event for the first time by edging past Mark King 6–5 at the UK Championship.[16] The deciding frames kept coming for Muir but it was Ben Woollaston who would triumph 6–5 in the second round.[17] He also played in the second round of the Welsh Open because of Jamie Burnett's withdrawal and lost 4–3 to Graeme Dott.[18] Muir whitewashed Burnett 5–0 to qualify for the China Open and was knocked out 5–4 by Robert Milkins in the opening round.[19] In the first round of the World Championship qualifying Muir beat Sean O'Sullivan 10–5, before losing to Ding Junhui 10–1 in the second round.[18]

2016/2017

2016 Paul Hunter Classic

In the first round of the 2016 UK Championship, Muir beat Joe Swail 6–5, after having trailed 5–2. In a televised match against Ding Junhui in the next round he lost 6–2, having held a narrow 2–1 advantage.[20] He made his first professional maximum break whilst defeating Itaro Santos 5–2 in the qualifying rounds for the German Masters. Muir then met Ali Carter who had also made a 147 on the same day and was edged out 5–4.[21] At the Welsh Open, Muir eliminated Mark Joyce 4–3 and Marco Fu 4–0, before losing 4–1 in the third round to Zhou Yuelong. He reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time at the Shoot-Out, which had had its status upgraded this season, and was beaten by Anthony Hamilton.[22] He was thrashed 5–0 by Eden Sharav in the first round of the China Open and just fell short of getting into the top 64 in the world rankings at the end of the season as he was 67th. However, Muir did enough to claim a two-year tour card on the one-year list.[23]

2018/2019

In the 2018 European Masters, Muir reached the last 16 defeating Martin Gould 4–2, Lee Walker 4–2, Gary Wilson 4-2 before losing to Mark Allen 4–3. After defeating defending champion Neil Robertson 4–2 in the second round of the 2018 Scottish Open, Muir revealed he is prone to Retinal migraine issues.

2019/2020

After retirement at the end of the 2018/2019 season, after some improvement in health, he returned and competed in some of the second-tier, Challenge Tour. Now an amateur in status, Muir was able to enter the 2020 European Masters, but lost in the first round of qualifying to Kurt Maflin, 5–2. Muir reached the semi-finals of 2020 WSF World Championship in Malta and EBSA European Championship in Portugal.

Personal life

Muir attended Musselburgh Grammar school growing up in Musselburgh, East Lothian. He was a goalkeeper in his childhood and was scouted by Celtic. Muir is also a keen tennis player.[15]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24
Ranking[24][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 113 [nb 4] 80 [nb 5] 90 [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event A RR RR RR
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ 2R 3R LQ A LQ LQ 2R
British Open Tournament Not Held 4R 2R 1R
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R 2R 1R A A 3R A LQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 3R 2R A A LQ LQ 1R
International Championship NH A LQ LQ 1R WR LQ LQ A Not Held 2R
UK Championship A A 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R A A 1R LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 4R 1R 1R A A 1R 2R 1R
Scottish Open NH MR Not Held 1R 1R 3R A A A A LQ
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
German Masters A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A LQ 1R LQ
Welsh Open A A 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 2R A A LQ 1R
Players Championship[nb 6] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Open A A LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ A Not Held LQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NR A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Not Held NR
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 1R 1R 2R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Not Held LQ LQ NH LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open A A LQ LQ 1R 1R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 7] Not Held MR LQ LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 1R 1R 3R A A 2R Not Held
Former non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Not Held MR 3R 2R A A NH A Not Held
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.
  1. ^ Shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c d e f He was an amateur
  3. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ Players qualified through Asian Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
  6. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  7. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

Pro-am finals: 3 (2 titles)

Outcome Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 2018 Vienna Snooker Open Cyprus Michael Georgiou 4–5
Winner 2019 3 Kings Open Austria Andreas Ploner 4–1
Winner 2019 Rheintal Open Austria Andreas Ploner 3–0

Amateur finals: 8 (5 titles)

Outcome Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 2009 Junior Pot Black Wales Jak Jones 1–0
Winner 2010 Pontins Star of the Future England Adam Bobat 3–1
Runner-up 2011 European Under-17 Championship England Zak Barton 1–5
Runner-up 2011 Pontins Star of the Future Scotland Eden Sharav 0–4
Winner 2013 Scottish Amateur Championship Scotland Dylan Craig 7–3
Winner 2022 Q Tour - Event 1 England George Pragnell 5–2
Runner-up 2022 Q Tour - Event 6 England Martin O'Donnell 1–5
Winner 2023 European Amateur Championships Scotland Michael Collumb 5–1

References

  1. ^ "WORLD RANKINGS After 2017 Betfred World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b "Tour Players 2013/2014" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Knowles is crowned Super 6 king". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Muir and McGill give hope to Scottish snooker fans". BBC Sport. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  5. ^ Sked, Joel (9 May 2013). "Muir is Scots champ". East Lothian Courier. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Ross leads the Scots to snooker glory". East Lothian News. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  7. ^ a b c "Ross Muir 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Ross Muir beats world snooker No. 7". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  9. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Ebdon relieved to escape early exit". 26 November 2014 – via www.rte.ie.
  11. ^ "Welsh Open results" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. ^ "Ross Muir 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  13. ^ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Asian Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Ross Muir learns Mandarin to excel on Asian Tour". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Ross Muir wins a first-round thriller in York". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  17. ^ "UK Championship: Stuart Bingham through with highest break of 143". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Ross Muir 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  19. ^ "Stephen Maguire slates world snooker chiefs after player logjam costs him practice table at China Open". Evening Times. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  20. ^ "Ross Muir admits being camera-shy was costly at UK Championship". Evening Times. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  21. ^ "Ali Carter and Ross Muir hit 147 breaks to set up thrilling tie for a German Masters place". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  22. ^ "Ross Muir 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  24. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

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