Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast.
Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his career, reaching his highest ranking, 26th, for the 2004–05 season, and has reached one ranking final, at the 2014 Players Championship Grand Final, where he lost 4–0 to Barry Hawkins. Alongside this, Greene reached a ranking semi-final, at the 2007 Grand Prix, losing to the eventual champion Marco Fu, and five quarter-finals.
Representing Northern Ireland with teammate Mark Allen, he reached the final of the 2011 World Cup, where they lost to China.
Greene has qualified for the World Championship five times without winning a match at the Crucible Theatre, although he twice drew the defending champion – John Higgins in 1999, and Peter Ebdon in 2003. He was ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1997 until he fell off the main tour, losing his professional status, in 2016.
Career
Early career
Greene turned pro and joined the professional ranks in 1993/94 at the age of 20. In 1995/96 he got to the latter stages of three events and was up 38 places to 72nd in the World Rankings. In 1997 he got to his first ranking Quarter-final in the
UK Championship by beating Ian Brumby 6–5 in the first round,
Steve Davis 6–2 in the second round,
Andy Hicks 9–6 in the third round, and
Gary Ponting 9–6 in the last 16, taking him to the Quarter-finals where he lost 6–9 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.
2003/2004
He started the 2003/04 season in superb form reaching the British Open quarter final and the last 32 of the
UK Championship beating
Joe Swail 9–4 in the first round, then losing 9–7 to
Matthew Stevens. He also reached the last 32 of the LG Cup. He was briefly provisionally in the top 16 but then suffered a mid season slump. Things picked up a little later in the campaign and he was assured of a place in the top 32 for the first time at number 26, and overtook Swail to become the number one player from Northern Ireland.
2004/2005
He then had some problems with his cue and his form suffered during the 2004/5 season when he failed in all but two of the ranking events, and despite reaching the Irish Masters quarter final he found himself back down to 38th in the rankings.
2006/2007
He returned to the top 32 after 2006/2007, the highlight being a run to the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Trophy.
2007/2008
He reached his first ranking semi-final at the 2007 Grand Prix. Greene came through Group B which included Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Steve Davis,
Dominic Dale and qualifiers Tom Ford and
Mark Joyce. He beat Davis and Dale 4–0, Ford 4–3 and Joyce 4–2, his only defeat coming at the hands of Ronnie O'Sullivan, 4–2. He defeated qualifier
Ricky Walden 5–0 in the last 16 with breaks of 101 and 91. In his quarter-final he faced Joe Perry, who he defeated 5–3 with breaks of 68, 57, 123 and rounding of the match with a 53. Eventual champion
Marco Fu edged him out 6–5 in the semi-final. For a while before this tournament, he had no snooker club to practice in.
[ BBC SPORT | Other Sport... | Snooker | Higgins angry after defeat by Fu]
Showing his best form for years, he also reached the Quarter-final of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, beating Liang Wenbo (5–2) in the first round. Then he beat former World Champions Mark Williams (5–3) and Ken Doherty (5–1) on the way. His run ended in the hands of Mark Allen, who he lost to 5–3. He lost form in 2008 however, failing to qualify for the World Championship after a 2–10 defeat to journeyman Mark Davis.
2008/2009
Greene's 2008/2009 season was solid but unspectacular. He won his opening match in six of the season's eight tournaments, but only went further in two of them. Crucially, he qualified for the World Championship by defeating Liu Song and
Ken Doherty (gaining revenge for a defeat Doherty inflicted on him in the Northern Ireland Trophy). He was beaten 10–5 by
Ali Carter in the first round.
2009/2010
Greene qualified for five of the six ranking events during the 2009–10 season, but once there lost in the wildcard round of the Shanghai Masters to Li Yan and in the first round of the other four.
He finished the year ranked world number 28.
2010/2011
Greene began the 2010–11 season brightly by reaching the semi-finals of the second Players Tour Championship event. He defeated
Anthony McGill in the last 16 and
Ricky Walden in the quarter-finals, before losing 1–4 to
Barry Pinches.
He played in all 12 of these minor-ranking events and reached the last 16 on three occasions, which helped him finish 25th on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals, where he was defeated 2–4 by
Matthew Stevens in the first round.
He qualified for two other ranking events, the Welsh Open and China Open, but lost in the first round on both occasions to finish the season ranked world number 32.
2011/2012
Greene could not qualify for a single ranking event during the 2011–12 season.
He also did not fare well in the Players Tour Championship events as he took part in all 12 of them but only advanced to the last 16 once to finish 57th on the PTC Order of Merit and 42nd in the world rankings.
2012/2013
Greene could not feature in the main draw of a ranking event until the Welsh Open in February. He beat David Grace and
Ali Carter to qualify, but was then whitewashed 0–4 by
Sam Baird in the first round.
He had a very poor season in the PTC events to finish 89th on the Order of Merit.
Green's slide down the world rankings during recent years continued as he finished 56th, a drop of 14 places from the start of the season.
2013/2014
Greene beat Martin O'Donnell 5–3 to qualify for the first ranking event of the 2013–14 season, the Wuxi Classic. At the venue he saw off
Michael Wasley 5–1, before losing 5–2 to David Morris in the second round.
Greene reached his first final after 20 years as a professional at the minor-ranking Paul Hunter Classic in August. He won four matches to reach the quarter-finals where he beat
Joe Swail 4–1, then held his nerve against
Ali Carter to win 4–3 after leading 3–0. In the final he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan and was defeated 4–0 in 44 minutes.
He secured the highest break in the qualifying rounds of the International Championships, a break of 142 in a 6–5 defeat to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. At the Ruhr Open Greene made the highest break of his professional career, a 144 in a 4–0 first round win over Germany's
Phil Barnes. Greene went on to beat
Nigel Bond 4–2 and then lost 4–2 to Anthony Hamilton in the last 32.
His season seemed to be heading for an anti-climax as he could not win more than one match in any event until he played in the PTC Finals.
His aforementioned final saw him finish 17th on the Order of Merit to qualify and he then defeated
Ricky Walden 4–1 and came from 3–0 down against Anthony Hamilton to triumph 4–3.
The wins kept on coming for Greene as he knocked out number one seed Mark Allen 4–2 and
Marco Fu 4–2 to play in his first ranking event final.
After his semi-final match with Fu, Greene stated that the week had made him feel like a professional snooker player for the first time in two years as he had been playing well against the top players.
He played practice partner
Barry Hawkins in the final and did not pot a ball in the first two frames and went on to be beaten 4–0, but the £38,000 runner-up's cheque is the biggest of his career to date.
It also helped him climb 12 spots in the rankings to end the season as the world number 44.
2014/2015
Greene got off to a slow start in the 2014–15 season by failing to qualify for the first four ranking events.
He won his first match in a ranking event at the UK Championship defeating
Vinnie Calabrese 6–2. Greene made a break of 139 in his second round match against
Matthew Stevens but lost 6–3.
Greene won his first qualifying match for the German Masters but then lost in the final qualifying round to Li Hang.
At the Welsh Open, Greene won his first match defeating Daniel Wells, but then suffered a whitewash at the hands of in form
Liang Wenbo in the second round.
Greene enjoyed his best run of the season in a ranking event at the Indian Open in reaching the Last 32. He defeated
Ahmed Saif 4–0 in qualifying, and at the venue defeated
Matthew Stevens 4–2, but was then edged out in the last 32 by Jamie Jones 4–3.
Greene beat the in form
Chris Wakelin 5–1 to qualify for the China Open, but was then beaten 5–2 by practice partner Barry Hawkins at the main venue.
Greene participated in all 6 of the Players Tour Championship events, with his best performance a run to the last 32, defeating
Neil Robertson along the way.
He lost his first match only once in these events, but was only able to advance beyond the last 64 on one occasion, to finish 56th in the order of merit.
At the World Championship, Greene beat
Elliot Slessor 10–4 in the first qualifying round, but lost in the second qualifying round 10–6 to
Mitchell Mann.
Greene finished the season ranked in 40th place, from a position of 44 at the start of the season.
2015/2016
A 5–0 thrashing of David Morris saw Greene qualify for the Australian Goldfields Open, but he was the victim of a 5–0 defeat in the first round to Michael Holt.
He was eliminated 6–5 in a scrappy match at the second round stage of the UK Championship against David Gilbert.
Greene then lost seven of his last nine matches to finish the season as the world number 66, just outside of the top 64 who keep their places.
He entered Q School, but only won two matches over the two events played to confirm his relegation from the tour.
2016/2017
Greene qualified for the Paul Hunter Classic and beat
Hatem Yassin 4–0,
Stuart Bingham 4–3 and
Michael Georgiou 4–1, before being thrashed 4–0 by Jamie Jones in the fourth round. He was defeated 4–3 by
Stephen Maguire in the opening round of the Gibraltar Open and 10–6 by Fergal O'Brien in the first round of World Championship qualifying.
2017/2018
Greene played in the EBSA Play-off and saw off
Ian Glover 4–2 and
Steven Hallworth 4–1 to be awarded a two-year tour card.
Performance and rankings timeline
|
| Ranking | [New players don't have a ranking] | 169 | 110 | 72 | 62 | 59 | 41 | 58 | 63 | 63 | 38 | 26 | 37 | 38 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 28 | 32 | 42 | 56 | 44 | 40 | [He was an amateur] | | 68 | [Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points] | 73 | [Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points] | 79 | |
| Ranking tournaments |
| Championship League | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | RR | 2R | RR | RR |
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | |
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | |
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | |
| British Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | QF | 1R | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | |
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | |
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | LQ | 1R | |
| International Championship | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | |
| UK Championship | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | QF | 1R | LQ | 3R | LQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | LQ | |
| Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | A | 4R | 1R | 1R | 4R | 1R | 2R | 2R |
Scottish Open[The event was called the International Open (1993/1994–1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004)] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | Tournament Not Held | MR | Not Held | A | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | |
German Masters[The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)] | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | |
| Welsh Open | 2R | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | 3R | 1R | 4R | 2R | LQ | LQ | |
World Open[The event was called the Grand Prix (1993/1994–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)] | 2R | LQ | LQ | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | QF | 2R | 1R | 3R | RR | SF | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | Not Held | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | |
| World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
Players Championship[The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)] | Tournament Not Held | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | F | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |
| Non-ranking tournaments |
| The Masters | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | 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 | RR | A | A | A | |
| World Seniors Championship | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | |
| Former ranking tournaments |
Dubai Classic[The event was called the Dubai Classic (1993/1994–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held |
| Malta Grand Prix | NH | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held |
Thailand Masters[The event was called the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held |
| Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | LQ | QF | NH | NR | Tournament Not Held |
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | NR | 3R | QF | 1R | Tournament Not Held |
| Bahrain Championship | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Tournament Not Held |
Wuxi Classic[The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | 2R | LQ | Tournament Not Held |
Australian Goldfields Open[The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)] | NH | Non-Ranking | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | Tournament Not Held |
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | 2R | Non-Ranking | Not Held | NR |
Paul Hunter Classic[The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)] | Tournament Not Held | Pro-am Event | Minor-Ranking Event | 4R | 1R | 2R | NR | Tournament Not Held |
| Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 2R | NH | A | 2R | 1R | Tournament Not Held |
China Open[The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)] | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | WR | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | A | LQ | 2R | Tournament Not Held |
Riga Masters[The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)] | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Rank | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | Tournament Not Held |
| China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held |
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | RR | Not Held |
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Not Held |
| Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Not Held |
European Masters[The event was called the European Open (1993/1994–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)] | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | 1R | Not Held | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | A | 2R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | NH |
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 1R | NH |
| Former non-ranking tournaments |
| Poland Masters | Not Held | W | Tournament Not Held |
| Malta Grand Prix | NH | 1R | A | A | A | A | R | A | Tournament Not Held |
| Irish Open | Tournament Not Held | SF | Tournament Not Held |
| Irish Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Ranking Event | NH | RR | Tournament Not Held |
| Irish Professional Championship | Tournament Not Held | SF | QF | SF | Tournament Not Held |
| Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Ranking Event |
| | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | NH | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Not Held | LQ | NH |
|
| 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 |
|
| means an event was not held. |
| means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. |
| means an event is/was a ranking event. |
| means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
| means an event is/was a pro-am event. |
Career finals
Ranking finals: 1
|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2014 | Players Tour Championship Finals | | 0–4 |
Minor-ranking finals: 1
|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2013 | Paul Hunter Classic | | 0–4 |
Non-ranking finals: 3 (3 titles)
Team finals: 1
|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2011 | World Cup | | | 2–4 |
External links
