David Roe
Image from www.global-snooker.com
Name: David Roe
DOB: September 11th, 1965
Nationality: English
Turned Pro: 1986
Highest Ranking: #13 (1994/5)
Current Ranking: #62
Highest Break: 140 (1993 UK Championship)
Career Highlights: Four times Ranking Event Quarter Finalist, three seasons in the top 16, B&H Championship semi-finalist
Early career
The number one ranked amateur player of the 1985/6 season, David earned a place on the main tour for 1986/7 by finishing as runner-up in the professional ticket qualifying series in 1985.
Although he did not surge up the rankings as quickly as some other players have done, David enjoyed a solid debut season and owing to three last 64 runs, entered the rankings in 84th position. 1987/8 went even better as he made the last 16 of the UK Championship and the British Open, which combined with a couple of other last 32 appearances, moved him up to 39th.
1988/9 saw further improvement as he reached the last 64 of every event, including last 16 runs at the UK and World Championships. His run in Sheffield was particularly impressive as having come through qualifying to reach the Crucible; he then beat Tony Knowles 10-6 in the first round before he narrowly lost out 13-12 to Mike Hallett in his next match. As a result he moved into the top 32 for the first time at 26 which meant that he would only have to win one qualifying match to reach the TV stages.
Top 16
Surprisingly however, his next couple of seasons saw a change in fortunes as Roe began to slip back down the rankings, falling as low as 50th for 1991/2. A couple of quarter-final runs during that season saw him moving back in the right direction and into the top 32 again though and a good following season saw him into the elite top 16 for the first time.
Once in the top 16 he managed to make his third ever quarter-final, at the 1994 Welsh Open, pushing him up to a career high of 13th while another four last 16 spots in the following season saw him cling onto his top 16 spot for a third consecutive year.
Unfortunately for David though, unless you are regularly making quarter-finals or going further then it is always going to be difficult to remain so high in the rankings and so it proved as a disastrous season saw him drop down to 34th position.
Post-top 16
Since then though the last decade has seen David consistently ranked at around 50-60 in the rankings, comfortably remaining on the main tour but never really making an impact on the latter stages of events. He did return to the Crucible in 2001 but he lost out on that occasion to the late Paul Hunter.
Now aged 43, he is never going to challenge at the very top, but remaining on the tour at all is an achievement in itself for him and is one that should not be underestimated given the level of competition these days.
2008/9
Unfortunately however David was to endure his worst season in some time in 2008/9 as he managed to win just two matches and slipped to number 62 on the rankings. Having narrowly avoiding losing his tour status, he will now need a much improved season next year if he is to keep his run going further…
