DOB: August 13th 1974

Nationality: English

Turned Pro: 1991

Highest Ranking: #12 (2008-)

Current Ranking: #12

Highest Break: 145 (2004 World Championship)

Career Highlights: 2008 World Semi-Finalist, 2008 Championship League Winner, 2001 European Open Finalist

 

In short

Aged 34 at the start of the season, it is only now that we are beginning to see the best of Joe Perry as he has moved into the top 16 for the second time in his career. Having won the inaugural Championship League to qualify for the glitzy Premier League as well as reaching his first World semi-final in 2008, he will be hoping to continue his rise and hopefully win a ranking event for the first time in the coming seasons.

Technically sound in every department, Joe has always been a dangerous opponent, capable of beating most players on his day. His biggest problem seems to have been dealing with the pressure mentally, particularly at the latter stages of matches and tournaments. To be fair to him though, he has won some close matches in his career before, such as his Crucible epic with Steve Davis in 1999 which he claimed on the final black of the match and his recent Premier League win over Ronnie O’Sullivan.

As he puts it:

“Some days they [the nerves] work for you, some days they work against you.
“The more you do, the easier it becomes as you get used to the situations and learn how deal with them better.”

Early years

Having had a solid career as a junior, Perry turned professional in 1991 and made his debut on the main tour at the start of the 1992/3 season. Unlike players such as Mark Williams and John Higgins however, it took Perry several seasons to establish himself, edging up the rankings through the 1990’s as he found his feet in the professional arena.

His first performance of real significance was to come at the end of the 1998/9 season when he qualified for the World Championship for the first time in his career. This was not to be the end of the road either as in the first round proper he defeated six-times champion Steve Davis 10-9 in what was a dramatic finish, going right down to the final black. Although he lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second round Perry had done his ranking no harm at all, taking him up forty places to 34th in the world.

Top 16

Following another couple of solid seasons, including his first ranking event quarter-final in the 1999 China International, he was into the top 32 and had a real chance of breaking into the elite 16 at the end of the 2001/2. This he managed to do, thanks largely to a tremendous run to his first ranking event final in Malta at the 2001 European Open. Having beaten Joe Swail, Matthew Stevens, Jimmy White and world number one, Mark Williams to reach the final, he was unfortunate to come up against Stephen Hendry at his very best, in the end losing 9-2. His place in the top 16 was confirmed when he beat Swail again in the first round of the World Championship, eventually finishing the season ranked 13th.

A poor season then followed however in which Joe won only two matches. Despite this he did manage to hang on to his top 16 place, but left himself with an uphill struggle for the following season when his points from 2001/2 would be lost. Though he did his best, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2004 World Championship, beating defending champion Mark Williams along the way, it was ultimately not to be enough as he dropped down to 20th in the rankings. He did at least make the high break at Sheffield though, a career high of 145 which was some consolation.

The following season was to be one of two halves as he started in strong form, culminating in him reaching the semi-finals of the UK Championship at the midway point of the season. This is where things were to go wrong however as he lost to David Gray despite him having left Gray needing snookers in the penultimate frame to stay in the match. This reverse had a huge impact on Perry’s season as he was to lose his next five matches, though he did move back into the top 16 at 14th.

Another couple of solid seasons were to follow, a second UK semi-final coming in 2005 as he hovered just outside the top 16 mark.

Championship Champion

In 2007/8 however he was to have his most successful season to date, playing well throughout before winning the inaugural Championship League competition in May 2008. This earned him a spot in the Premier League for the first time, as well as a tidy sum of prize money given the cash for frames format in that competition.

The added confidence and match practice gained from this competition seemed to be something that helped him on the ranking circuit too as in Sheffield he made the semi-final of the World Championship for the first time. Following a high quality match with 2006 champion Graeme Dott in the first round, he beat Stuart Bingham and then the on-fire Stephen Maguire in a deciding frame shoot-out.

Against Ali Carter, another player to benefit from the Championship League in the semi-final, Perry kept himself well in the match until he was distracted by a mobile telephone going off in the crowd at 16-16. This affected his concentration and proved to be the turning point, Carter taking the next two frames to reach the final.

2008/9

Perry was playing some of the best snooker of his career though and was up to a career high ranking of 12th at the start of the 2008/9 season which he started with a couple of ties with number 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan. Although he lost out to the rocket in Northern Ireland, Perry put in a fantastic performance to beat him for the first time on his Premier League debut in Derby. He struggled to close out the match but by potting a stunning green managed to just get over the line.

Following this result his Premier League campaign went from strength to strength as he  lost just one match on his way to second place in the league stage. For the third time during the season he was to face world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan however and a 5-4 defeat saw his run come to an end.

He would not have to wait long for yet another crack at the reigning world champion however as at the UK Championship they were to meet in the last 16 for the third time in a ranking event in 2008/9. It was Joe who  made the better start to lead 2-0 but he could do little to resist O’Sullivan who made three centuries on the way to a 5-2 lead with just one frame to go in the session.

Crucially however it was Joe who managed to snatch it with a break of 54 and this was to make the difference as the second session was a totally different story. From 5-3 down Joe managed to take the four frames before the mid-session interval to lead 7-5 as O’Sullivan lost his head and conceded frame 12 with several balls on the table. Often an interval can change the pattern of a match but it was not to be the case here as Joe completed a six frame winning  streak and a brilliant 9-7 win to defeat Ronnie for the first time in a ranking event.

Unfortunately for Joe however, he was to lose out to eventual finalist Marco Fu in the next round and since then has struggled for results as he lost his opening match in the Masters (yep you guessed it, again to O’Sullivan) and then slipped to a deciding frame loss to David Gilbert in the last 32 of the Welsh Open.

His poor run continued with an early exit in China at the hands of Ricky Walden and then at the Crucible, the scene of his amazing run to the semi-finals in 2008, he became one of just two members of the top 16 to lose in the first round as he found Jamie Cope just too hot to handle. As a result despite coming into the season on a wave of optimism and impressing everyone with his displays in the Premier League, he has not been able to improve on 12th position in the rankings.

Tournament Victories:

Non-Ranking Event wins (1)

Championship League

2008

Profile supplied by Matt Huart (http://prosnookerblog.com/)