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Martin O'Donnell (snooker player)

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Martin O'Donnell
O'Donnell at the 2013 German Masters
Born (1986-06-04) 4 June 1986 (age 38)
England
Sport country England
NicknameThe Minister of Defence[1]
Professional2012–2014, 2015–2022, 2023–present
Highest ranking30 (October 2020)
Current ranking 49 (as of 28 October 2024)
Best ranking finishRunner-up (2024 Welsh Open)

Martin O'Donnell (born 4 June 1986) is an English professional snooker player. He gained a two-year place on the main snooker tour by coming through the 2012 Q School. He finished with the most points during the Q Tour of the 2022–23 season and gained a two-year tour card as a result. He is known as "The Minister of Defence" because his initials spell out "MoD" as reference to the UK government body responsible for the Armed Forces.[2]

Career

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Early career

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As an amateur, O'Donnell played in all 12 of the Players Tour Championship events during the 2010/2011 season. He reached the second round on three occasions, but could not progress any further, however, in Event 3 he defeated former world champion, Shaun Murphy 4–3.[3] O'Donnell finished 109th on the Order of Merit.[4] He entered the 2011 Q School in an attempt to turn professional and in the final event he was one match away from achieving this. He played Kurt Maflin and lost 1–4.[3]

In the 2011/2012 season, O'Donnell was again confined to entering the PTC events, playing 9 of the 12. He reached the main draw on six occasions but failed to win a match once there.[5] He won the SnookerBacker Classic, which guaranteed him entry into Q School at the end of the season.[6] O'Donnell won five matches at the first 2012 Q School event, concluding with a 4–1 victory over Adrian Ridley, to secure a two-year tour card beginning with the 2012/2013 season.[7]

Professional debut

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O'Donnell's first match as a professional was in qualifying for the Wuxi Classic. He beat David Grace 5–2, before losing to Alfie Burden 3–5.[8] He went one better in qualifying for the next ranking event, the Australian Goldfields Open, by defeating Jeff Cundy and Grace once more, but was then whitewashed 0–5 by David Gilbert.[9] He did not win two consecutive matches in qualifying for any other event this season.[8]

O'Donnell played in all ten minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events and did not win a match in any of them, until his final attempt at the European Tour Event 5 in Scotland. He saw off Sean O'Sullivan, Craig Steadman, Kurt Maflin all by 4–3 scorelines to reach the quarter-finals, but his run was ended as Andrew Higginson advanced with a 4–2 win.[8] This helped O'Donnell to finish 83rd on the PTC Order of Merit.[10] His season ended when he was beaten 5–10 by Tian Pengfei in the first round of World Championship Qualifying.[11] O'Donnell finished his first year on the tour ranked world number 86.[12]

2013/2014 season

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O'Donnell was beaten in the qualifying rounds for eight ranking events in the 2013/2014 season. All 128 players on the tour entered the UK Championship and Welsh Open at the first round stage, with O'Donnell losing at this stage in both.[13] The only event he qualified for this season was the China Open by defeating David Gilbert 5–1. He received a bye through the first round due to Stuart Bingham's withdrawal which meant he would play in the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time.[13] O'Donnell faced Craig Steadman and was edged out 5–4.[14] In the European Tour events his best result came at the Rotterdam Open where he beat experienced players Robert Milkins and Marcus Campbell, before losing 4–0 to Stuart Bingham in the last 16.[13] As he ended his second season at world number 92, outside the top 64 in the rankings, his other route to remain on tour next year was through the European Order of Merit, with eight places available to non-qualified players.[15] O'Donnell finished 59th, less than 300 points short of Tony Drago who received the final spot and entered the 2014 Q School to retain his professional status.[16] He was eliminated in the last 64 in both events and had amateur status for the coming season.[13]

2014/2015 season

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O'Donnell qualified for the first round of three of the six European Tour events during the 2014/2015 season. His only win came at the first event, the Riga Open where he defeated Alfie Burden 4–2, but then lost 4–1 to Mark Williams in the second round.[17] At the end of the season he won his place back on the tour by coming through three matches at the EBSA Play-offs, culminating with a 4–3 victory over Jamie Clarke.[18]

2015/2016 season

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O'Donnell overcame Gerard Greene 6–4 to qualify for the International Championship and lost 6–2 to Neil Robertson in the first round.[19] In the first round of the Welsh Open he knocked out Stephen Maguire, making a 130 break along the way, but was then defeated 4–2 by Matthew Stevens.[20] O'Donnell beat another multiple ranking event winner when he recovered from 3–1 down to Mark Williams to triumph 5–3 and qualify for the China Open.[21] He then ousted Joe Swail 5–2 and Matthew Selt 5–1 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, but he was thrashed 5–0 by Mark King.[19]

2016/2017 season

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O'Donnell qualified for the Riga Masters and beat Sam Craigie 4–3, before losing 4–3 to Jimmy Robertson. He had to wait until the penultimate event of the year to reach the last 32 again as he qualified for the China Open by edging past Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–4 and thrashed Jimmy Robertson 5–0.[22] O'Donnell would be defeated 5–1 by Mark Selby and played in the 2017 Q School as he was ranked 74th in the world, outside the top 64 who kept their places.[23][24] He lost 4–1 to Lukas Kleckers in the last round of the first event and 4–3 to Ashley Carty in the third round of the second, but took the final place through the Q School Order of Merit to earn a new two-year tour card.[25][26]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2004/
05 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24 		2024/
25
Ranking[27][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 86 [nb 2] [nb 3] 77 [nb 4] 67 42 34 48 [nb 2] [nb 3] 63
Ranking tournaments
Championship League NH Non-Ranking Event RR RR A 2R 3R
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held LQ
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 4R
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R A QF LQ
British Open A Tournament Not Held 2R A LQ 1R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 2R 2R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R WD 4R 2R 1R 1R A 2R 3R
International Championship Not Held LQ LQ A 1R A 3R QF LQ Not Held LQ
UK Championship A A A LQ 1R A 1R 1R 1R QF 3R 1R 2R LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 1R SF 1R 2R QF 1R A 1R
Scottish Open Not Held MR Not Held 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R 3R A 3R LQ
German Masters NH A A LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A 1R
Welsh Open A A A LQ 1R A 2R 1R 1R 3R 3R 3R LQ A F
World Open[nb 5] A A A LQ LQ Not held LQ LQ 1R 2R Not Held LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Players Championship[nb 6] NH DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ A A LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NH Non-Ranking LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Not Held A LQ LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters NH A A LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic PA Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R 1R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ A NH 1R 2R LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open A A A LQ 2R A 3R 2R 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 7] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank 2R LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ QF 1R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 2R 3R 1R 3R 1R 1R Not Held
European Masters[nb 8] A Tournament Not Held A 2R LQ LQ 3R LQ A LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank 3R A A A NH A NH A NH
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.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b c d e He was an amateur
  3. ^ a b c New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (2004/2005)
  6. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011-2015/2016)
  7. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  8. ^ The event was called the Malta Cup (2004/2005)

Career finals

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Ranking finals: 1

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2024 Welsh Open England Gary Wilson 4–9

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2017 Italian Snooker Open Switzerland Alexander Ursenbacher 3–2[28]

Amateur finals: 8 (4 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2006 English Amateur Championship England Mark Joyce 3–8
Runner-up 2. 2012 English Amateur Championship (2) England Gary Wilson 9–10
Winner 3. 2012 Snookerbacker Classic – Grand Finals Republic of Ireland John Sutton 4–0
Winner 4. 2022 Q Tour – Event 2 England George Pragnell 5–1
Runner-up 5. 2022 Snooker Legends – The 900 England Ant Parsons 0–1
Winner 7 2022 Q Tour – Event 6 Scotland Ross Muir 5–1
Winner 8 2023 Snookerz Christmas Cracker[29] England Paul Ganley 3–1

References

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  1. ^ "Martin O'Donnell". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ "'I CAN'T PLAY SNOOKER LIKE THAT' – MARTIN O'DONNELL VOWS TO DITCH GO-SLOW TACTICS AFTER CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SUCCESS". Eurosport. 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Martin O'Donnell 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Order of Merit 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Martin O'Donnell 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  6. ^ "O'Donnell And Sutton Excited By Q School". World Snooker. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  7. ^ "MOD Ready To Rock". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  8. ^ a b c "Martin O'Donnell 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Australian Goldfields Open Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Issued after Munich Open 2013 (ET6)" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d "Martin O'Donnell 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  14. ^ "Snooker – Robertson battles past Williams in Beijing". Eurosport. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  15. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  16. ^ "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Martin O'Donnell 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  18. ^ "EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Martin O'Donnell 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  20. ^ "Rocket Through But No 147". World Snooker. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  21. ^ "Mark Allen fails to qualify for the China Open". Vavel. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  22. ^ "Martin O'Donnell 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  24. ^ "China Open: Ronnie O'Sullivan knocked out in the second round". BBC Sport. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  25. ^ "Kleckers Books Tour Sport". World Snooker. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  26. ^ "Q School Order of Merit 2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  27. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  28. ^ "2017 Italian Snooker Open".
  29. ^ Snookerz is a 'Not For Profit' project , set up in 2022 to support , showcase and facilitate the promotion of Amateur / Grass Roots Snooker. You can access their website HERE
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