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David Lilley (born 19 October 1975) is an English professional snooker player.[1] He turned professional in 2019, after 30 years as an amateur.[2]
 |
| Born | 19 October 1975 Washington, Tyne and Wear |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 2019–2021, 2022–present |
| Highest ranking | 57 (July 2024) |
| Current ranking | 60 (as of 16 December 2024) |
| Best ranking finish | Quarter-final (2016 Indian Open) |
Lilley is from Washington, Tyne and Wear,[3] and is a supporter of Newcastle United F.C.[4]
Lilley began playing snooker at the age of 13.[4] His first big success was his victory at the (amateur) European Championships in 1995, defeating his compatriot David Gray 8–7. In the same year, he lost to Paul Hunter in the final of the Northern Amateur championship.[4] In 1997, he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship for the first time and won it with a score of 8–7 against Robert Marshall. However, unable to find sponsorship in the wake of the sport's ban on tobacco advertising, and with only around six tournaments a year at that point, he felt he could not afford to turn professional and so remained an amateur.[4]
In 1999, he won by an 8–5 victory in the final against Andrew Norman.[5] In the same year, he reached the semifinals of the Amateur European Championships and the final of the World Amateur Snooker Championship, in which he was defeated by Ian Preece 11–8.
In 2000, he lost the final of the English Amateur Championship, 5–8 against Nick Marsh.[5]
In February 2002, he participated for the first time in qualifying for the World Snooker Championship, but lost in the second qualifying round against Timothy Paling.
In 2004, Lilley won the English Amateur Championship for a third time, with an 8–6 victory over Wayne Cooper in the final.[5] In the 2004 World Amateur Snooker Championship, he was narrowly defeated in the semi-finals 6–8 by the eventual champion Mark Allen. In qualifying for the 2005 World Snooker Championship, he retired in the third round against Stuart Mann. In the English Amateur Championship 2007, he lost in the deciding frame of the final against Martin Gould by 7–8.[5]
He participated in the Players Tour Championship 2012/2013 – Event 2 in August 2012 and lost in the first qualifying round against Ben Harrison.[6]
Lilley tried to qualify for the main tour via the 2016 Q School. In the first tournament he reached the final of his group but then lost against Chen Zhe; in the second tournament he retired in the second round. Although he missed the qualification for the Main Tour, as 17th on the Q-School Order of Merit he could participate as a substitute for tournaments of the 2016–17 snooker season.
At the 2016 Indian Open, the second world ranking tournament of the season, he qualified for a ranking tournament for the first time. After defeating Tian Pengfei 4–3 in qualifying, he eliminated Mike Dunn, Mark Williams and Robert Milkins in the main round to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to England's Shaun Murphy 2–4.[7]
He was first on the 2018 Q School Order of Merit. In the 18/19 season, he just missed out on gaining a tour card for the 19/20 season numerous times; he was 4th on the challenge tour list, and lost 5–4 to Kacper Filipiak in the 2019 EBSA European Snooker Championship, where a win would have granted him a place on the tour. He appeared in Snooker 19, making him the only player in the game who has never turned pro (the other amateurs in the game are former pros).[citation needed]
Lilley beat Sean Maddocks 4–0 in the final qualifying round of the first event of the 2019 Q School, finally becoming a professional after 30 years as an amateur.[2] While an amateur, he had worked in the insurance industry.[4] Lilley later remarked that his timing was bad, as no sooner had he joined the professional tour then the COVID-19 pandemic led to the mass cancellation of tournaments.[4]
On 9 May 2021, Lilley overcame Jimmy White 5–3 to become the World Seniors Champion,[3] entitling him to play in the 2021 Champion of Champions tournament.[8] On 7 January 2022, Lilley was runner up to Peter Lines in the 2022 UK Seniors Championship, losing 4–1 in the final.[9]
After a successful 2023-2024 season - the best of his career in terms of ranking points - David finished the season ranked 64th, reaching the top 64 for the first time at the age of 48.[10]
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| Tournament | 2001/ 02 |
2004/ 05 |
2012/ 13 |
2016/ 17 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2020/ 21 |
2021/ 22 |
2022/ 23 |
2023/ 24 |
2024/ 25 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[11][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 90 | [nb 2] | [nb 4] | 69 | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | RR | 2R | RR | RR | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Not Held | A | LQ | 2R | 1R | 3R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | A | A | Tournament Not Held | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Not Held | 1R | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | Not Held | A | LQ | A | 2R | LQ | Not Held | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Not Held | NR | A | 2R | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | A | Not Held | A | A | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters | Not Held | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||
| World Open[nb 5] | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | LQ | Not Held | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship | Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champion of Champions | Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||
| World Seniors Championship | Not Held | A | A | A | NH | A | A | W | SF | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic[nb 6] | NH | PA | MR | 1R | A | A | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Open | Not Held | QF | A | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Open | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Riga Masters | Not Held | A | A | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Championship | Not Held | NR | A | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | RR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Not Held | LQ | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters | A | A | NH | A | A | LQ | 1R | WD | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | |||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | Not Held | LQ | 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. | |||
| PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. | |||
- It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
- He was an amateur
- New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
- Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
- The event was called the LG Cup (2001/2002) and Grand Prix (2004/2005)
- The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005)
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Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2021 | World Seniors Championship | Jimmy White |
5–3 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2022 | UK Seniors Championship | Peter Lines |
1–4 |
Amateur finals: 13 (6 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1995 | EBSA European Snooker Championship | David Gray |
8–7 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1995 | IBSF World Snooker Championship |  Sakchai Sim-Ngam |
7–11 |
| Winner | 2. | 1997 | English Amateur Championship | Robert Marshall |
8–7 |
| Winner | 3. | 1999 | English Amateur Championship (2) | Andrew Norman |
8–5 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1999 | IBSF World Snooker Championship (2) |  Ian Preece |
8–11 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2000 | English Amateur Championship | Nick Marsh |
5–8 |
| Winner | 4. | 2004 | English Amateur Championship (3) | Wayne Cooper |
8–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2007 | English Amateur Championship (2) | Martin Gould |
7–8 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2017 | English Amateur Championship (3) | Billy Joe Castle |
7–10 |
| Winner | 5. | 2018 | Challenge Tour – Event 5 | Brandon Sargeant |
3–1 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 2018 | Challenge Tour – Event 8 | Simon Bedford |
1–3 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 2019 | EBSA European Snooker Championship |  Kacper Filipiak |
4–5 |
| Winner | 6. | 2021 | Q Tour – Event 1 |  Si Jiahui |
5–1 |
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