Rory McLeod (snooker player)

Career

After working for ten years he reached the Main Tour professional ranks for the 2001/2002 season.

McLeod has reached the last 16 of eight ranking tournaments. The first of these was the 2005 Grand Prix although this victory against a noticeably ill Paul Hunter was bittersweet. His best results of 2004/2005 were 2 last-48 runs, the Welsh Open run including a victory over Shaun Murphy. He narrowly missed out on a place in the last 16 of the 2007 Grand Prix, losing on frame difference in his group to Barry Hawkins.

He qualified for the 2008 UK Championship by beating Jimmy White and Dave Harold where he played Ronnie O'Sullivan. He slipped 6–0 down before launching a comeback by winning five consecutive frames (including three successive centuries), but ultimately lost 9–6. Later in the season he defeated Ian McCulloch to qualify for the World Championship for the first time in 2009, becoming the first black player to have done so. He faced Mark King in the first round but despite putting in a resilient performance lost 10–6. However, his performances throughout the season saw him rise to his highest ranking yet of 39.

In 2009 he won the Masters Qualifying Event, beating Andrew Higginson 6–1 in the final, to earn a place at the final stages of the 2010 Masters where he lost 6–3 to Mark Williams. He followed this up by qualifying for the UK Championship, being knocked out in the first round by Neil Robertson.

McLeod qualified for the World Snooker Championship for the second time in 2011, and was drawn against seeded player Ricky Walden in the first round. McLeod won the match 10–6 to set up a second-round match with world No. 1 John Higgins. Walden was more responsible for the pace of the match. McLeod was ultimately defeated by the eventual champion John Higgins 13–7 in the second round.

2011/2012 season

McLeod qualified for the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, and beat Peter Ebdon in the first round 5 frames to 3, before going out to Shaun Murphy in the second round. McLeod qualified for the 2011 UK Championship by beating Barry Hawkins 6–2. He was drawn against three-time UK winner John Higgins and led 4–2 before the scoreline became 5–5. In the deciding frame Higgins "" two balls, one when escaping and McLeod would ultimately lose the match 6–5. McLeod also reached the China Open where he played Higgins in the first round again and lost 1–5. He finished the season ranked world number 38.

2012/2013 season

McLeod qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open and the China Open during the 2012–13 season. In Australia he lost 4–5 in the first round to Stephen Lee and in China he had his best run of the season, beating Hu Hao 5–1 in the wildcard round, Matthew Stevens 5–2 in the first round, before losing 3–5 to Shaun Murphy in the last 16. McLeod played in all 10 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events, with his best finish coming at the fifth European Tour Event, where he lost 0–4 by John Higgins in the quarter-finals. He finished 36th on the PTC Order of Merit, outside of the top 26 who qualified for the Finals. McLeod ended the season by losing 9–10 to Sam Baird in the third round of World Championship Qualifying, to be placed at number 45 in the world rankings.

2013/2014 season

McLeod lost 5–3 to Mark King in the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic and 5–2 to Robert Milkins in the second round of the Australian Goldfields Open to start the 2013–14 season. He qualified for three other Chinese ranking events during the year, losing in the first round of the International Championship and China Open. At the World Open, McLeod came through a wildcard round match against Zhao Xintong and then narrowly beat Tom Ford 5–4, before world number one Neil Robertson knocked him out 5–1.

2014/2015 season

McLeod was beaten 5–4 by Michael Holt after having been 4–2 ahead in the first round of the 2014 Wuxi Classic. He defeated Lee Walker, Andrew Pagett and Ken Doherty on his way to qualifying for the Australian Goldfields Open and lost 5–2 to Judd Trump in the opening round. McLeod failed to qualify for the next two ranking events, before knocking out Ian Burns 6–2 and Zhang Anda 6–5 at the UK Championship. His second last 32 match of the season went into the early hours and it was Matthew Selt who ended McLeod's tournament with a 6–4 win. McLeod met Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the Welsh Open after seeing off Andrew Pagett 4–2. He led 2–0, before O'Sullivan won four unanswered frames. The final ranking event McLeod could qualify for this year was the Indian Open where he lost 4–1 to Ricky Walden in the first round. McLeod kept a hold of his tour place at the end of the season as he was the world number 62, just inside the top 64 who remain.

There was some controversy during the Welsh Open due to his Isis Business Solutions sponsorship badge. The logo worn by McLeod since 2001 consisted of the word `ISIS' in large letters and a small-print URL underneath. Some viewers thought he was sponsored by, or demonstrating support for, the Islamic State.

2015/2016 season

McLeod began 2015–16 by playing in the Australian Goldfields Open, where he beat Nigel Bond 5–2 before losing 5–4 to Jack Lisowski in the last 64. He progressed to the last 16 at the next event, the Riga Open, overcoming German amateur Roman Dietzel 4–1, Irishman Fergal O'Brien 4–0 and Hammad Miah 4–2, but lost at this stage 4–2 to eventual finalist Tom Ford. He reached the last 48 at the Shanghai Masters, losing to Alan McManus, and was eliminated in the first round of the International Championship, 6–1 by Daniel Wells.

However, at the Ruhr Open, McLeod defeated Craig Steadman, Jamie Jones, Mark King, Ben Woollaston, Mark Davis and the resurgent Mike Dunn to reach the final of a ranking event for the first time in his career, 24 years after making his professional debut. There, he faced China's Tian Pengfei, whom he defeated 4–2 to win his second professional title. The €25,000 winner's prize is the highest amount he has earned from a single tournament in his career. It also gained him entry to the Champion of Champions for the first time, but lost 4–0 by Neil Robertson in the opening round after returning from burying his mum in Jamaica . After McLeod lost 6–5 to Jamie Cope in the UK Championship first round he said that he had not felt like the same person since his tournament win. Another first round deciding frame defeat came in the German Masters to Kyren Wilson and McLeod also lost in the second round of the Welsh Open 4–1 to Judd Trump. His debut appearance at the PTC Finals ended at the first hurdle as Dunn beat him 4–1. McLeod did reach the third round of the China Open by knocking out Mitchell Mann 5–0 and Dunn 5–2, but lost 5–1 to Alfie Burden.

2016/2017 season

McLeod lost in the last 32 of the Riga Masters and Indian Open 4–1 to Anthony McGill and 4–2 to Barry Hawkins. It took until the penultimate ranking event of the season to reach the same stage again when he beat Liang Wenbo 5–2 and Mike Dunn 5–3 at the China Open. He was defeated 5–3 by Hossein Vafaei in the last 16. A pair of 10–7 victories over Darryl Hill and Sydney Wilson moved McLeod one win away from qualifying for the World Championship and he took the first seven frames against Hammad Miah. Miah then rallied to be 7–6 down, but McLeod would win 10–7. At the Crucible he drew Judd Trump, a man who went into the tournament proclaiming that "I honestly believe I can play to a standard which is very rare nowadays," and that he was "the best" in the world. He won the first four frames, but McLeod, at 46 the oldest player in the event, responded brilliantly to take a 5–4 lead. McLeod went on to claim a famous 10–8 victory against a player ranked 52 places above him in the rankings and said it was the biggest win of his career. He lost 13–3 to Stephen Maguire in the second round with a session to spare and said the hype from his win over Trump had distracted him.

2018/2019 season

At the UK Championship in December 2018, an impressive stun shot won McLeod the BBC Shot of the Championship.

After being on tour for 18 consecutive years, he dropped off the tour after failing to qualify through Q-School.

2020/2021 season

In August 2020 he returned to the pro tour after qualifying through Q-School.

2023/2024 season

At the 2023 Northern Ireland Open, McLeod was chosen to replace Ronnie O'Sullivan, as O'Sullivan had withdrawn for health issues. He defeated Ahmed Aly Elsayed in the qualifying rounds 4-0 and went on to beat Ross Muir and Jak Jones both 4-3, before losing to David Gilbert 4-0 in the last-16.

Personal life

McLeod is of Jamaican parentage. He was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, where he attended Victoria Junior School, Westfield Boys School and Sir Christopher Hatton School. He first played snooker seriously at the Embassy Club, Wellingborough, at the age of thirteen, and was also a talented schoolboy footballer. Outside of snooker he has worked as an electronic service man, a barber and a pub landlord.

McLeod, who became Muslim in 2003, lives in Leicester. He also spent time from 2006 to 2011 living in Qatar, where he coached their national snooker team.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Minor-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Non-ranking finals: 4 (3 titles)

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)

Amateur finals: 2

References

References

1. (11 June 2018). "TOUR NATIONALITIES".
2. "Rory McLeod".
3. "WPBSA SnookerScores - Player: Rory McLeod".
4. [http://www.worldsnooker.com/rory-rules-in-ruhr/ Rory Rules In Ruhr – World Snooker]
5. [https://seniorsnooker.com/2019/06/04/rory-mcleod-joins-the-wss-rokit-tour/ Rory McLeod joins the WSS ROKiT Tour. The WPBSA World Seniors Tour]
6. (10 August 2020). "McLeod Seals Tour Return".
7. [http://www.worldsnooker.com/uk_championship09_qualifying_news-91704.htm?tid=145 Dott To Face Williams In Telford]
8. (24 April 2006). "Results". BBC News.
9. [http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20042011/58/highlander-leaves-walden-feeling-low.html 'Highlander' leaves Walden feeling low] ''[[Yahoo! Sport]]'', 20 April 2011
10. (20 April 2011). "World Snooker: Walden critical of McLeod style". BBC Sport.
11. (25 April 2011). "Higgins stumbles into last eight". Eurosport.
12. (18 July 2011). "Early exit for Trump in Australia". BBC News.
13. (19 July 2011). "Higgins crashes out in Australia". BBC News.
14. "Tokyo 2020 Olympics - News, Videos, Results & Schedule".
15. (3 December 2011). "McLeod loses out in deciding frame". BBC Sport.
16. "Rory McLeod 2011/2012". Snooker.org.
17. "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season".
18. "Rory McLeod 2012/2013". Snooker.org.
19. "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org.
20. "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org.
21. "Rory McLeod 2013/2014". Snooker.org.
22. "World Open results". [[Sky Sports]].
23. "Rory McLeod 2014/2015". Snooker.org.
24. "Snooker: Kyren Wilson books UK Championship showdown with Neil Robertson; Wellingborough's Rory McLeod through". Northants Herald & Post.
25. "Matthew Selt advances into the last 16 at the UK Snooker Championships to face Ronnie O'Sullivan". [[Coventry Telegraph]].
26. "Ronnie O'Sullivan rants before going through to third round of Welsh Open". [[Sky Sports]].
27. "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
28. Denham, Jeff. (20 February 2015). "Muslim snooker player Rory McLeod explains reason behind 'Isis badge' during Welsh Open". [[The Independent]].
29. "Rory McLeod 2015/2016". Snooker.org.
30. "Rory McLeod: World number 61 vows to build on biggest win". [[BBC Sport]].
31. "Rory Rules In Ruhr". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
32. "Rory McLeod - Season 2015-2016 - Professional". Cue Tracker.
33. "Rory McLeod - Prize Money Per Season". Cue Tracker.
34. "Snooker: Winning not coming easy for Rory McLeod after UK Championship exit". Northants Herald & Post.
35. "Rory McLeod 2016/2017". Snooker.org.
36. "Rory McLeod 10–7 Hammad Miah". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
37. "O'Brien Wins Record Two-Hour Frame". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
38. (14 April 2017). "World Championship 2017: Favourite tag is an 'advantage' - JuddTrump". BBC Sport.
39. (19 April 2017). "Judd Trump crashes out of World Championship to qualifier Rory McLeod". Guardian.
40. "Trump Suffers Shock Defeat by McLeod". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
41. "Maguire Wins with Session to Spare". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
42. (20 October 2023). "O'Sullivan Withdraws from Belfast".
43. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/snooker/34521323 Rory McLeod 'finally' brings trophy home]
44. [https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/snooker-why-am-i-the-only-black-pro-on-circuit-1863150.html Why am I the only black pro on the circuit?]
45. "Ranking History for Rory McLeod". Cuetracker.