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Nigel Bond

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Nigel Bond
Bond at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1965-11-15) 15 November 1965 (age 59)
Darley Dale, England
Sport country England
Nickname00-147[1]
Professional1989–2022
Highest ranking5 (1996/1997)
Century breaks128
Tournament wins
Ranking1
Medal record
Men's snooker
Representing  Great Britain
World Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Kaohsiung Individual

Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English retired professional snooker player.

Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996–97 season. He reached the final of the World Championship in 1995, where he lost 9–18 to Stephen Hendry. He won the 1996 British Open, defeating John Higgins 9–8.

Having reached three other ranking tournament finals, Bond won the 2011 Snooker Shoot-Out and, in 2012, defeated Tony Chappel to win the World Seniors Championship. He fell off the tour following his loss to Lukas Kleckers in the second qualifying round for the 2022 World Championship, and subsequently announced his retirement.[2]

Career

[edit]

Bond was born in Darley Dale, Derbyshire.[3]

After a strong amateur career,[4] Bond turned professional for the 1989–90 season. He reached his first ranking semi-final in his first season, and his first final in his second season, but his career peaked in the mid-1990s. In the first round of the 1994 World Championship, he pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the event's history, rallying from 2–9 to defeat Cliff Thorburn 10–9 in what turned out to be Thorburn's last appearance at the Crucible. A year later, Bond reached the final after beating Stephen Lee, Alan McManus, Gary Wilkinson and Andy Hicks, but lost to Stephen Hendry 9–18. As a consequence of reaching the final, he climbed to number five in the world rankings for the 1996–97 season, and in that same season he acquired his only ranking tournament victory, the British Open, beating John Higgins 9–8 after needing a snooker in the final frame.[5] He won the World Snooker Association Performance of the Year award for this achievement, although he then failed to maintain this level of performance.

He reached at least the quarter-finals at the Crucible Theatre every year from 1993 to 1996, losing to Hendry every time, which added extra spice to their first-round match in 2006. After leading comfortably throughout the early stages of the match, Bond was pegged back to 7–7 and the match went to a final frame. With only the black remaining, and seven points up, Bond clipped it into the left corner pocket, only for the cue ball to go in-off in the right middle pocket, resulting in a re-spotted black (the first one ever to decide the final frame of a World Championship match), which Bond potted to take frame and match. The final score was 10–9, Bond's first win at the Crucible since 1999,[6] and his only last-16 run of that season.[7]

By the end of the 1990s, he was out of the top 16, and dropped out of the top 32 for the 2004–05 season. However, he reclaimed his place a year later, and remained there until 2010. In the 2007 World Championship he lost in the first round, 7–10 to Peter Ebdon.

A run to the last 16 of the 2007 UK Championship,[8] in which he came from 5–7 to win 9–7 against Ken Doherty in the last 32 before losing 6–9 to Ding Junhui in the last 16, was a precursor to Bond's first quarter-final run for five years, at the China Open. Victories over David Roe, Stephen Lee and Barry Pinches took him to a meeting with Stephen Maguire, who whitewashed him 5–0.

He opened the 2008–09 season with first-round defeats in the first five tournaments, but victory over Ebdon in the first round of the World Championship ensured that he held his top-32 status. This was, however, his last appearance at the main stages of the World Championship.

On 30 January 2011, Bond won the Snooker Shoot-Out event. This involved the top 64 players in the world playing 10-minute matches decided on a single frame. He picked up the £32,000 prize money as well as the Snooker Shoot-Out trophy, beating Robert Milkins 58–24 in the final.[9]

He made a good start to the 2011–12 season by qualifying for the first two ranking event tournaments, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters. He lost to Neil Robertson and Mark Selby respectively in the first round.[10] He also qualified for the World Open, but was defeated by amateur player Lu Ning in the wildcard round.[10] Bond finished the season ranked world number 45.[11]

He once again qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open in the 2012–13 season, but lost to Robertson 1–5 in the last 32.[12] In December, he reached the World Open in Haikou, China, with wins over Jimmy White and Jamie Burnett. At the venue he saw off Zhu Yinghui 5–3 in the wildcard round and received a bye through to the last 16 due to the withdrawal of Ali Carter.[12] There he lost 1–5 to Judd Trump.[13] Bond was also crowned World Seniors champion during the season without dropping a frame in a total of seven matches, concluding with a 2–0 victory against Tony Chappel in the final.[14] His season ended when he was beaten 8–10 by McManus in the third round of World Championship Qualifying.[15] He dropped a solitary place during the year to end it ranked world number 46.[16]

Bond at the 2013 German Masters

He reached the final of the World Seniors Championship for the second year in a row in the 2013–14 season, losing 1–2 to Steve Davis.[17] He only won two matches at the main venue of ranking events all season, his best run coming in the China Open, where he beat Pinches 5–2 before losing to Selby 1–5 in the last 32.[18] He fell 11 spots from the start of the season to end it as the world number 57.[19]

He produced a comeback in the second round of the 2014 UK Championship, as from 0–5 down against world number five Barry Hawkins he took six successive frames to advance.[20] However, in the third round Anthony McGill recovered from 1–4 down to eliminate him 6–5.[21] The furthest Bond could progress in a ranking event this season was at the Indian Open, where he beat Ryan Day 4–1 and Dechawat Poomjaeng 4–3, before losing 1–4 to Chris Wakelin in the last 16.[22] He fell just outside the top 64 at the end of the year as he was ranked 65th, but he earned a two-year extension via the European Order of Merit.[23][24]

At the 2016 Indian Open, Bond defeated Ricky Walden 4–1, Sam Baird 4–2, John Astley 4–2 and Ebdon 4–3 to reach his first ranking event semi-final since 2002, where he lost 1–4 to Kyren Wilson.[25] He had started practising at the Snooker Academy in Sheffield with young Chinese players and stated that this has contributed to him regaining the hunger and passion to play snooker.[26] He would have a losing run of 10 successive matches shortly afterwards, but at the Gibraltar Open he beat five players to reach his second semi-final of the season, where he failed to pick up a frame in a defeat to Shaun Murphy.[27] Bond kept his place on the tour through the one-year ranking list.[28]

Bond made a surprise run to the quarter-finals of the 2019 UK Championship at the age of 54 winning a number of close matches. He defeated future world champion Luca Brecel 6–5 in his opening round followed by another 6–5 win over Louis Heathcote. His greatest victory en route to the quarter-finals was a 6–3 win against reigning world champion and world number 1 Judd Trump in the last 32 having trailed 3–1.[29] Bond lost 6–5 to Mark Allen in the quarter-finals having led Allen 3–1.[30]

Personal life

[edit]

Bond has a son called Matthew with his wife Karen.

Performance and rankings timeline

[edit]
Tournament 1989/
90 		1990/
91 		1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		1997/
98 		1998/
99 		1999/
00 		2000/
01 		2001/
02 		2002/
03 		2003/
04 		2004/
05 		2005/
06 		2006/
07 		2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22
Ranking[nb 1] [nb 2] 38 21 9 9 11 12 5 8 13 21 23 23 30 40 35 27 20 25 23 29 38 40 45 46 57 [nb 3] 71 [nb 4] 80 [nb 4] 68 64
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event RR RR
British Open LQ LQ 2R 2R QF 2R W 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R
UK Championship 1R QF 2R 2R QF 1R QF 3R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R QF 1R 2R 1R 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R QF 1R 1R
Scottish Open[nb 5] SF Not Held QF 2R 3R 2R 3R 3R 2R 1R 2R SF 1R 1R Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Shoot-Out NH NR Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event 2R 4R 1R 2R 2R 3R
German Masters[nb 6] Tournament Not Held 2R SF 1R NR Tournament Not Held 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ
Players Championship[nb 7] Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
European Masters[nb 8] QF 1R 1R 2R 1R SF 1R 2R NH 1R Not Held 2R LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ
Welsh Open Not Held SF QF 3R 1R 1R 3R 3R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 3R 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 4R 2R 1R 2R LQ
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR SF 1R 2R 1R 1R 3R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ 1R QF QF F SF 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ 2R 1R 1R 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters A LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R SF QF 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ A A A A A A A A A A A A A
Championship League Tournament Not Held RR A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
World Seniors Championship Not Held A Tournament Not Held SF 1R W F 1R QF A A NH A 1R QF
Former ranking tournaments
Classic LQ LQ SF Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open Not Held SF MR NR Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic[nb 9] 3R 1R 3R 1R 1R QF F 2R Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event 2R NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 10] LQ 3R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R F QF 2R 2R 1R LQ NR Not Held NR Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ 2R 1R NH NR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR 2R 2R 1R Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not Held LQ Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 11] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 12] 1R Tournament Not Held Non-Rank Tournament Not Held 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held 1R LQ 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Non-Rank Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 13] Tournament Not Held Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R 1R NR Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 1R 3R NH SF LQ LQ Not Held
China Open[nb 14] Tournament Not Held NR 2R LQ 2R LQ Not Held WR LQ LQ QF 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 15] Tournament Not Held MR LQ 2R 1R A Not Held
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ 1R LQ Not Held
World Open[nb 16] 2R F SF QF 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R 3R LQ 3R 2R RR RR LQ 1R 1R WR 2R 1R Not Held LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
European Grand Masters NH QF Tournament Not Held
World Masters NH 2R Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay A A A 1R Tournament Not Held
King's Cup NH A NH W A A Tournament Not Held
Red & White Challenge Tournament Not Held W Tournament Not Held
Pontins Professional A A A A F A F A A A A Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held A 1R W QF A R A Tournament Not Held
Charity Challenge Tournament Not Held 1R 1R QF 1R A A A A Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters A A A A SF A QF 1R W SF A A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters A QF A QF A A A 1R 1R A A A A Ranking NH A Tournament Not Held
Pot Black A A A 1R 1R Tournament Not Held A A A Tournament Not Held
Legends of Snooker Tournament Not Held SF Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out NH 3R Tournament Not Held W 1R 3R 2R 1R A Ranking Event
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.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
  3. ^ Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points.
  4. ^ a b Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points.
  5. ^ The event ran under different names such as International Open (1989/1990 to 1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004).
  6. ^ The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  7. ^ The event run under different name as Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  8. ^ The event ran under different names such as European Open (1989/1990-1996/1997, 2001/2002-2003/2004) and Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  9. ^ The event run under different names as Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  10. ^ The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
  11. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  12. ^ The event ran under different names such as Hong Kong Open (1989/1990), Australian Open (1994/1995) and Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  13. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  14. ^ The event run under different name as China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  15. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  16. ^ The event run under different names as Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983-1983/1984), Grand Prix (1984/1985–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)

Career finals

[edit]

Ranking finals: 5 (1 title)

[edit]
Legend
World Championship (0–1)
Other (1–3)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1990 Grand Prix Scotland Stephen Hendry 5–10
Runner-up 2. 1995 World Snooker Championship Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–18
Runner-up 3. 1995 Thailand Classic England John Parrott 6–9
Winner 1. 1996 British Open Scotland John Higgins 9–8
Runner-up 4. 1997 Thailand Open England Peter Ebdon 7–9

Minor-ranking finals: 1

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1993 Strachan Challenge – Event 2 England Troy Shaw 4–9

Non-ranking finals: 11 (8 titles)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1992 King's Cup Thailand James Wattana 8–7
Runner-up 1. 1994 Pontins Professional Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 5–9
Winner 2. 1995 Red & White Challenge England John Parrott 8–6
Runner-up 2. 1996 Pontins Professional (2) Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 7–9
Winner 3. 1996 Malta Grand Prix Malta Tony Drago 7–3
Winner 4. 1997 Scottish Masters Scotland Alan McManus 9–8
Winner 5. 2009 World Games England David Grace 3–0
Winner 6. 2010 World Seniors Championship Qualifying Event England Peter Lines 4–3
Winner 7. 2011 Snooker Shoot Out England Robert Milkins 1–0
Winner 8. 2012 World Seniors Championship Wales Tony Chappel 2–0
Runner-up 3. 2013 World Seniors Championship England Steve Davis 1–2

Pro-am finals: 4 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2008 Pontins Spring Open England David Grace 1–5
Winner 1. 2010 Pontins Spring Open England Stephen Craigie 5–2
Runner-up 2. 2014 Vienna Snooker Open England Mark King 2–5
Runner-up 3. 2017 Vienna Snooker Open (2) England David Grace 2–5

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1989 English Amateur Championship England Barry Pinches 13–11

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Nigel Bond". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Nigel Bond Announces Retirement". World Snooker. 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Crucible's imposing cauldron holds no fears for Bond". The Independent. 1996. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Profile at globalsnooker.co.uk". Global Snooker. 2005. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  5. ^ "Profile on WWW Snooker". Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  6. ^ "Profile on Sporting Life 2007". Sporting Life. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  7. ^ "Profile on Sporting Life 2006". Sporting Life. 2006. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  8. ^ "Bond fight back sets up Junhui clash". Matlock Mercury. 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  9. ^ "Nigel Bond revels in Snooker Shoot-Out win in Blackpool". BBC Sport. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Nigel Bond 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  12. ^ a b "Nigel Bond 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  13. ^ "Haikou World Open: Judd Trump beats Nigel Bond 5–1 to reach the quarter-finals". Sky Sports. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Nigel Bond wins snooker's World Seniors Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  17. ^ "World Seniors Championship: Steve Davis beats Nigel Bond 2-1 in Portsmouth final". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  18. ^ "Nigel Bond 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  19. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Bond – I'll Die Another Day". World Snooker. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  21. ^ "Snooker: Tables turned on Nigel Bond as he bows out of UK Championship". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Nigel Bond 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  23. ^ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  24. ^ "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  25. ^ "Murphy/McGill/Wilson/Bond into Semis". World Snooker. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  26. ^ "Nigel Bond Q&A". World Snooker. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  27. ^ "Nigel Bond 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  28. ^ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  29. ^ "UK Championship: Judd Trump knocked out by Nigel Bond in third round". BBC Sport. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  30. ^ "UK Championship: Mark Allen beats veteran Nigel Bond for a place in the semi-finals". BBC Sport. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
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