Andy_Hicks

Andy Hicks

Andy Hicks

English snooker player

Andrew Hicks (born 10 August 1973) is an English professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Cream of Devon",[1] Hicks was a semi-finalist at both the World Snooker Championship and UK Championship in 1995, and the same stage at four other ranking tournaments. A Masters semi-finalist in 1996, he was ranked within the world's top 32 players between 1995 and 2000, and again from 2005 to 2007, but was relegated from the main tour in 2013. He regained a two-year tour card in 2019.

Quick Facts Born, Sport country ...

Career

Although a professional since 1991, Hicks first came to prominence in the 1995 World Championship, in which he reached the semi-finals, beating Steve Davis, Willie Thorne and Peter Ebdon along the way, but being blocked from the finals by Nigel Bond, 11–16.[1] He has never reached a major final, but reached the semi-finals of the four BBC-screened events within 2 seasons – the 1994 Grand Prix, the 1995 UK Championship and the 1996 Masters (as a wild card).[3]

He spent most of the second half of the 1990s close to the Top-16 elite section in the world rankings, peaking at no. 17 in the 1995/1996 season, and winning the 1997 Masters qualifier.[1] He struggled in the early part of the 2000s, however, winning only two of eighty-three matches in 2003.

Later, he was only one frame loss away from being bumped out of the Top 64, rallying to defeat Craig Butler 10–9 in a close 2003 World Championship qualifier.[1] He ended up ranked no. 62 for the 2003/2004 season. At this point, he had only qualified for the world championship once in six years, a 10–4 defeat to eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2001.[4] However, he returned to form after this. He reached the second round of the 2004 World Championship, beating Quinten Hann in a match memorable for a near-fight between the two players at the end, started by Hann in the middle of the match, when he said to Hicks: 'I've enjoyed the last three times I've beaten you'. At the end of the match, Hicks retorted that Hann was about to drop out of the Top 16 as a result of the loss.[5] Hicks later admitted his delight at this. This marked the only time Hicks had won a match at the Crucible since 1995. He next gave Ronnie O'Sullivan a challenge in the second round, before ultimately losing, 11–13.

In 2004–05, Hicks made it to the quarter-finals of the British Open with a first-round victory over Ken Doherty.

Returning to the Top 32, in the following season he reached the last 32 in four of the six tournaments he entered, and retained his Top 32 status (marginally, at no. 31). He played in the 2006 World Championship, and lost to Steve Davis, 4–10, in the first round.[1] Although slipping only a single position in the rankings (from no. 30 to no. 31) for 2006/2007, the year was not truly successful for him, and neither was 2006/2007, resulting in a drop down to the no. 41 position for 2007/2008 world rankings. After failing to qualify for the Welsh Open and China Open, he contemplated retiring if he could not retain a top-64 ranking.

He has compiled over 100 competitive centuries during his career,[6] and has scored a maximum break at the UK Championship qualifiers in 2012. Despite winning only one key event, Hicks has career winnings of £562,560 (up to the start of the 2006/2007 season).[1] He entered the 2018 Q School in a bid to win back his place on the snooker professional tour.[7]

Hicks came through the third event of the 2019 Q School by winning six matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2019/2020 and 2020–21 seasons.[8]

Personal life

He currently lives in Launceston, Cornwall[1] and is the staff pro at Bell's Court Snooker Club in Falmouth.[9] His wife Rachel was working there when they met; they married in 2005, and had their first child in 2006.[1] He also plays golf, in a local society named after him.[1]

Performance and rankings timeline

More information Tournament, 1991/92 ...
More information Performance Table Legend ...
NH / Not Heldevent was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventevent is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventevent is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. [N 1]
    From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. [N 2]
    New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  3. [N 3]
    He was an amateur
  4. [N 4]
    Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
  5. [N 5]
    The event was called the European Open (1991/1992–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  6. [N 6]
    The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  7. [N 7]
    The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  8. [N 8]
    The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2012/2013 and 2014/2015–2015/2016)
  9. [N 9]
    The event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  10. [N 10]
    The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
  11. [N 11]
    The event was called the Dubai Classic (1991/1992–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
  12. [N 12]
    The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  13. [N 13]
    The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  14. [N 14]
    The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  15. [N 15]
    The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  16. [N 16]
    The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  17. [N 17]
    The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  18. [N 18]
    The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Championship (1990/1991–2002/2003)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 4 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1994 Strachan Open England Anthony Hamilton 4–9
Runner-up 2. 1995 Scottish Masters Qualifying Event Scotland Alan Burnett 2–5
Runner-up 3. 1997 Pontins Professional England Martin Clark 7–9
Winner 1. 1997 Benson & Hedges Championship Wales Paul Davies 9–6

Amateur finals: 1

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1989 British Under-16 Championship England Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–3[11]

References

  1. [1]
    "Player Profile — Andy Hicks". World Snooker. London, England: World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
  2. [2]
    "Andy Hicks". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  3. [3]
    "Andy Hicks Profile on Sporting Life (2006)". Sporting Life. 2006. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  4. [4]
    Worley, Gavin (23 April 2001). "O'Sullivan rallies to open commanding lead". The Independent. London. Retrieved 16 July 2008.[dead link]
  5. [5]
    Shea, Julian (18 April 2004). "Bad-tempered Hann exits". BBC. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  6. [6]
    "Chris Turner's Snooker Archive – Top Century Makers". 2008. Archived from the original on 23 June 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  7. [7]
    "Snooker Q School Receives 190 Entries". World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Q School Event Three Winners". World Snooker. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  9. [9]
    Official Homepage of Bell's Court Snooker Club Archived 1 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  10. [10]
    "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  11. [11]
    Lightbown, Chris (21 May 1989). "Digest – Snooker". The Sunday Times.
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