Joe Perry (snooker player)

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Joe Perry

Born	13 August 1974 (1974-08-13) (age 33)
Nationality	English
Nickname(s)	The Fen Potter, the Gentleman
Professional	1991–current
Highest ranking	12 (2008/09)
2008/09 ranking	12
Career winnings	£586,210 [1]
Highest break	145 (2004)
Best ranking finish	Runner-up: European Open 2001 Semi-finalist: World Championships 2008

Joe Perry (born 13 August 1974 in Wisbech) is an English professional snooker player. He is often referred to as the 'Fen Potter' and is also nicknamed 'the Gentleman' for his likeable attitude. He has run courses to teach people to play.

Perry climbed the rankings steadily after turning professional in 1991, and reached the top sixteen in 2002 ^[1]. He has spent four seasons in its lower reaches and three more just outside of it, in the top 20.

1 Career
2 Tournement wins
- 2.1 Non ranking
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Career

His best career performance so far was when he reached the final of the European Open in 2001. He first reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 2004, beating then defending champion Mark Williams 13-11 along the way.^[2]. He repeated this run in 2008 when he defeated Graeme Dott and Stuart Bingham, and bettered it by going on to beat Stephen Maguire 13-12 and earn his place in the semi-finals. Previously, he had also reached the last 16 on his Crucible debut in 1999, beating Steve Davis on the final black in the last 32.^[3]

He reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship in both 2004 and 2005 seasons, losing the 2004 match after leaving opponent and eventual runner-up David Gray requiring snookers in the penultimate frame to remain in it. This run left him provisionally fifth in the world, but he failed to win a match in the remaining five tournaments and dropped to 14th at the end of the season as a result. In 2005, he lost to eventual champion Ding Junhui.

In the 2007/08 season, he reached two quarter-finals: in the Grand Prix (losing 5-3 to Gerard Greene) and the Welsh Open (with victories over John Parrott 5-2, Peter Ebdon 5-1 and Stuart Bingham 5-2 before Shaun Murphy beat him 5-0), as well as the last 16 of the UK Championship, where he beat Neil Robertson 9-6 after being 5-3 down, before losing 9-2 to Marco Fu. He followed that up by reaching the semi-finals of the World Championship, where he was knocked out by Ali Carter, 17-15. These results ensured him a return to the prestigious top 16 of the rankings (at #12, his highest ranking ever), meaning automatic qualification for major tournaments. He also finished the 2007/2008 season on another high, by winning the Championship League, to qualify for the Betfred Premier League for 2008. ^[4]