Rory McLeod
Name: Rory McLeod
DOB: August 7th, 1991
Nationality: English
Turned Pro: 1991
Highest Ranking: #39 (2009/10)
Current Ranking: #39
Highest Break: 145 (2007 World Championship)
Career Highlights: Reaching the last 32 of five Ranking Events including the 2005 Grand Prix, 2008 UK Championship and 2009 World Championship
Career summary
A professional since 1991, Rory was on and off the main tour until 2001 (when he qualified having finished 15th on the Challenge Tour at the end of the previous season), and has remained there ever since. Though his best results since then are five runs to the last 32 of tournaments, he has at least performed consistently enough to maintain an unbroken spell on the main tour to this date, unlike many other players at his level. Furthermore he has consistently managed to improve his ranking and for 2009/10 will move up to a career high of number 39.
His most notable run on TV was probably his run to last 32 of the Grand Prix in 2005 where he defeated Paul Hunter along the way, though given Hunter’s illness at the time this was something of a bittersweet result. He had a great chance to reach the last 16 for the first time in his next match but unfortunately lost out in a deciding frame to Norwich’s Barry Pinches who at the time was playing the best snooker of his career.
2008/9
In the 2008 UK Championships he secured another match in front of the cameras with a couple of impressive wins over Jimmy White and Dave Harold in qualifying. Up against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 32 though he went 6-0 down and looked like being on the wrong end of a whitewash, but three centuries in a row helped him to make the scoreline respectable as he went down 9-6 in the end.
Rory’s impressive form during the season continued and in March 2009 he defeated both Andy Hicks and Ian McCulloch to finally qualify for the last 32 of the World Championship for the first time in his long career.
Unfortunately for him though, once at the Crucible he lost out 10-6 to Mark King in what was to be a lengthy match which required a third session to reach its conclusion. He did at least finish the season ranked at a career high 39th place and is well placed on the one-year list to continue his improvement next season.
