Ryan Day
| Born | 23 March 1980 Pontycymer, Bridgend |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Wales |
| Nickname | Dynamite |
| Professional | 1999– |
| Highest ranking | 6 (2009/10) |
| Current ranking | 29 |
| Career winnings | GB£449,105[1] |
| Highest break | 145 (World Snooker Championship Qualifying 2004) |
| Century breaks | 157 |
| Best ranking finish | Runner-up (2007 Malta Cup, 2007 Shanghai Masters, 2008 Grand Prix) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Non-ranking | 1 |
Ryan Day (born 23 March 1980, in Pontycymer, Bridgend, Wales), is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is known as a very solid breakbuilder and is one of only 35 players to have made over a century of centuries.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
He was named Young Player of Distinction of the season 2000/2001 by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). He won the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. With this win, he qualified for the 2002 Masters, where he defeated Dave Harold, before losing 0–6 to Stephen Hendry. He also won the WPBSA Challenge Tour in the 2001/2002 season and was named WPBSA Newcomer of the Year in 2002. Due to problems with his liver in 2003, his results suffered badly.
In 2004, however, he qualified for the World Snooker Championship and he led John Higgins 9–7 in the first round, becoming the first player to score three centuries in his first Crucible match, but missed a pink in the 17th frame that would have left Higgins needing a snooker to stay in the tournament. Higgins went on to win the frame and the next two for the match. As some consolation, Higgins commented that Day was "going to be a top player for many years to come".[3]
[edit] 2005–present
Day reached the quarter-finals of his home tournament, the 2005 Welsh Open defeating Allister Carter and Steve Davis along the way (coming back from 0–4 to beat Steve Davis 5–4). He finished this season ranked 33, but as Quinten Hann did not participate in any events, Day was always among the top 32 seeds, meaning one less qualifying match than he would otherwise have faced.
Back at the Crucible in 2006, he beat Joe Perry 10–3 in the first round and led Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–7 in the second round before losing 10–13. He narrowly missed reaching the top 16 of the rankings as a result.
The 2006/2007 season was the most successful of his career to date. Day reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy and was runner up in the 2007 Malta Cup, losing 4–9 to Shaun Murphy. That year's performance saw him ranked 16 in the world for the 2007/2008 season, one place higher than in the previous year. As a member of the Top 16, he automatically qualified for tournaments.
Day's 2007/2008 season started with an appearance in the final of the Shanghai Masters; Day led his practise partner Dominic Dale 6–2 after the first session, but eventually succumbed to a 6–10 defeat. After failing to progress past the last 16 in the next three tournaments, he reached the semi-finals of the China Open, beating Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Mark Williams before he was beaten by Stephen Maguire 5–6, denying him a place in the final. Day made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the first time in his career by beating Irishman Michael Judge 10–6 and the defending champion John Higgins 13–9 in one of the best wins of his career,[4] before losing 7–13 to Stephen Hendry. His consistent performances took him up to 8th place in the rankings.
Day reached the final of the 2008 Grand Prix where he lost to John Higgins, defeating Ricky Walden, Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Ali Carter. The year ended on a disappointing note when he lost in the first round at the UK Championship to Matthew Stevens. He again reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 2009, before losing 11–13 to Mark Allen. However, he continued to move up the rankings, climbing 2 places to number 6, the highest ranked player not to have won a ranking event.
A disappointing 2009/2010 season in which he reached only one quarter-final (in the Welsh Open), culminated in a 8–10 first round defeat in the World Championship to Mark Davis.[5] This continued into the next season where he made a number of early exits which meant that at the first revision under the new ranking system he dropped out the top 16, down to number 20.
[edit] Personal life
Day married his father's sister-in-law, Lynsey, in the summer of 2008.[6] They were married in Pontycymer, Bridgend, South Wales and honeymooned in Crete. Day and Lynsey started courting when Day was just 13 years old and four years younger than Lynsey.[7] The couple have two daughters, Francesca, born in 2006 and their youngest child born in 2010.
His younger brother Rhys has played football for Manchester City and captained the Welsh under-21 side. He is currently playing for Mansfield Town.
Day and his father run The Veterans Club in Pontycymmer. The club is a combination of a snooker club and a public bar.
