Ben Woollaston

Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) He first entered the Main Tour for the 2004–05 season, but was unable to retain his place for the following season. He regained his place for 2006–07 by winning the European Under-19 Championship. His performances in the other 11 PTCs, including a quarter-final run in Event 8, saw him claim ninth place in the Order of Merit and therefore qualify for the 2012 Finals. It was the first time he made it to the main stages of a ranking event since 2007. He played Ding Junhui in the opening round and lost 2–4. Woollaston also qualified for the 2012 China Open by winning three qualifying matches, concluding with a 5–4 victory over Ryan Day. He played Ding again in the first round of the event, and looked to be on course for a shock result as he led 4–0 at the interval in the best-of-nine frame match. However, Ding found his form, and won five successive frames to take the match 5–4. His season concluded with a 3–10 loss to Dominic Dale in the final qualifying round for the World Championship and he finished ranked world number 43, meaning he had risen 26 places from the start of the season, the most of anyone on the tour.

2012/2013 season Woollaston failed to qualify for nine of the eleven ranking events in the 2012–13 season. He fared much better in the minor ranking PTC events, as he was a losing quarter-finalist in four of the ten tournaments to finish 10th on the Order of Merit. This saw him qualify for the Finals, where he defeated Mark Williams and Joe Perry both 4–3 to reach his first ever ranking event quarter-final. He played Kurt Maflin and was this time on the wrong end of a 4–3 scoreline. Woollaston kept his form going into the World Championship Qualifiers by beating Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10–3 in the third round to face Ryan Day, just one match short of reaching the main draw of the tournament for the first time. There was never more than a single frame between the players in the closing stages of the match with Woollaston compiling a vital break of 64 in the deciding frame to edge the match 10–9 and stated that he wanted to draw reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round as he felt he now had nothing to lose. He drew last year's runner-up Ali Carter and from leading 3–1 and 4–3 Woollaston lost seven frames in a row to exit the tournament, saying afterwards that he had struggled to maintain his confidence and concentration during the match. He climbed 10 spots in the rankings during the season to world number 33, his highest position to date.

2013/2014 season Woollaston qualified for five ranking events during the 2013–14 season, by far the most he has reached in a single season during his career. At the Wuxi Classic he beat Chen Zhe and Joel Walker both 5–2, before he lost 5–2 to Cao Yupeng in the last 16. Woollaston was defeated in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open, the International Championship and the German Masters. In the minor-ranking European Tour event the Ruhr Open, Woollaston edged out reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 and then whitewashed Burden and Chris Norbury 4–0, before losing in a final frame decider to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals. These results aided him to a 20th placing on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals for the third year in a row. Woollaston beat Ding, a four-time winner on the tour this season, 4–3 having been 3–0 behind to advance to the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time this campaign, where he was eliminated 4–2 by John Higgins.

2014/2015 season: First ranking final Woollaston was knocked out of the 2014 Wuxi Classic in the second round 5–3 by Judd Trump, and then failed to qualify for the next two ranking events. In the opening round of the International Championship he led Ronnie O'Sullivan 2–0 and 3–1, but went on to lose 6–4. Woollaston was also beaten 6–2 by the five-time world champion in the third round of the UK Championship, and afterward described his own performance as embarrassing. A week later he achieved the first maximum break of his career at the Lisbon Open in his last 128 match against Joe Steele, but lost 4–3 against Peter Ebdon in the next round. Woollaston won group 6 of the Championship League by seeing off Ebdon 3–0 and progressed through to the semi-finals of the winners' group where he lost 3–2 to Mark Davis. Woollaston led 5–3 and missed multiple chances to wrap up the match in the next two frames allowing Williams to send it into a decider. He made a match-winning 60 break to play John Higgins - who had been the favourite player for Woollaston growing up – in his first ranking event final. Higgins fluked a green that helped him edge the first session 5–3 which seemed to sway the whole match as he took all four frames played upon the resumption of play to win 9–3. Afterwards, Woollaston stated that he had never felt he belonged with the top players in the televised stages of ranking events until this week. Woollaston came back from 67–0 down in the deciding frame of his first round Indian Open match to beat Yu Delu on a re-spotted black, and then lost 4–1 to Kyren Wilson in the second round. His best season to date ended with a 10–6 loss to Robin Hull in World Championship qualifying.

2015/2016 season Woollaston lost 4–1 in the semi-finals of the Riga Open to Tom Ford and reached the quarter-finals of the Haining Open, but was beaten 4–2 by Robert Milkins. Two deciding frame victories over Robbie Williams and Yu Delu saw him reach the third round of the International Championship. After recovering from 5–2 down to Joe Perry, he almost won 6–5 for the third time in the week but this time lost the decider. Woollaston was beaten 6–2 in third round of the UK Championship by Shaun Murphy. He reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open for the second year in a row, but was defeated 5–1 by Joe Perry. Woollaston lost 10–9 to Chris Wakelin in the first round of World Championship qualifying.

2016/2017 season At the World Open, Woollaston recorded 5–2 and 5–1 wins over Gary Wilson and Ding Junhui, and made a 135 to level his third round tie with Joe Perry at 4–4, but lost the deciding frame. He got to the fourth round of the English Open by beating Cao Yupeng 4–1, Zhang Anda 4–3, and Ali Carter 4–2, and was defeated 4–3 by Liang Wenbo. Woollaston overcame Elliot Slessor 6–5 and Paul Davison 6–4 at the UK Championship, before losing 6–2 to John Higgins. He recorded his first win over Neil Robertson by edging him out 5–4 in the first round of the German Masters and was then knocked out 5–2 by Barry Hawkins. Woollaston also played in the second round of the China Open, but lost 5–4 to Hossein Vafaei. His final-round qualifier match for the World Championship with Zhou Yuelong went to a deciding frame, which Woollaston lost.

Personal life

Woollaston met his wife Tatiana Torchilo, a Belarusian snooker referee, at the 2010 Paul Hunter Classic. They married in her hometown of Pinsk in June 2011, following a ten-month romance. They have two children.

He has suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome since 2021, which has hindered his ability to compete effectively at snooker.

Woollaston is also a qualified snooker coach, having first earned his WPBSA coaching badge in 2010.

Performance and rankings timeline 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 PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event

Career finals Ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Runner-up 1. 2015 Welsh Open John Higgins 3–9

Minor-ranking finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2011 Players Tour Championship – Event 3 4–2

Non-ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. Championship League (June) Luca Brecel Round-Robin

Pro-am finals: 3 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2006 Baltic Cup Jamie Jones 3–5 Winner 1. 2006 Pontins Pro-Am - Event 5 Dave Harold 4–1 Runner-up 2. 2008 Paul Hunter English Open Xiao Guodong 2–6

Amateur finals: 5 (3 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2001 English Under-14 Championship Alex Davies 4–1 Winner 2. 2002 English Under-15 Championship Judd Trump 5–1 Runner-up 1. 2003 English Amateur Championship Alex Davies 7–8 Winner 3. 2006 European Under-19 Championship 6–4Runner-up 2. 2009 PIOS – Event 8 Joe Jogia 5–6

Team finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Team/partner Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 2014 World Mixed Doubles Championship Yana Shut Jamie Clarke Wendy Jans3–0