Joe O'Connor

Joe O'Connor (born 8 November 1995) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. After winning the English Amateur Championship in June 2018, he turned professional in the 2018–19 snooker season. He has since reached three ranking finals, at the 2022 Scottish Open, the 2025 World Open, and the 2025 Championship League. He made his Crucible debut at the 2024 World Snooker Championship. His highest world ranking is 28th.

Career Amateur Previously a junior pool champion, O'Connor won the under-20s event in 2012 at the IEPF World Eightball Championship. He also finished as runner-up in 2011 and 2013. Later he qualified for the snooker main draw as an amateur at the 2014 Wuxi Classic, then faced Neil Robertson at the 2014, and Mark Selby at the 2015 UK Championship. He won four events on the 2017–18 English amateur tour.

Ahead of the 2018–19 season, O'Connor defeated Brandon Sargeant 4–1 and then Oliver Brown 4–0 to secure a two-year professional tour card for the first time at the 2018 EBSA Play-Offs at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. In June 2018, he beat Andrew Norman 10–3 to become the English Amateur Champion before turning professional.

Professional On 28 November 2018, O'Connor defeated world number 12 Ryan Day 6–2 in the first round at the 2018 UK Championship. In February 2019, he defeated top 10 players Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and John Higgins en route to his first ranking event semi-final at the Welsh Open, eventually losing 6–2 to Stuart Bingham. In the 2021 German Masters, he made it to the quarter-finals, but he lost 5–1 to Tom Ford.

2022: First ranking final In December 2022, O'Connor reached his first ranking final at the 2022 Scottish Open, defeating Zhao Xintong, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Neil Robertson throughout the tournament. However, he lost 9–2 to Gary Wilson.

In February 2023, O'Connor made it to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, but lost 5–4 to Pang Junxu, then he defeated number one seed Mark Allen at the Players Championship, before bowing out to Ali Carter at the semi-final stage. In April, he lost 8–10 to Andrew Higginson in the qualifying rounds of the World Championship. In November, he beat Stephen Maguire to qualify for the last-32 of the 2023 UK Championship.

2024: First 147 break, Crucible debut On 29 February 2024, O'Connor compiled his first maximum break, the 200th maximum in competitive snooker, during a 3–2 win against Elliot Slessor in the 2024 Championship League in his home town of Leicester. He won his group and made it to the final in the Winners' Group, but there he lost 1–3 to Mark Selby. In April, he qualified for the 2024 World Snooker Championship with a 10–8 win over Matthew Selt for his debut appearance at the tournament, where he was drawn against Mark Selby, whom he defeated 10–6 for his maiden win at the Crucible Theatre. His run ended though in the second round, as he was beaten 6–13 by Kyren Wilson.

O'Connor topped his group at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024.

2025: Two more ranking finals O'Connor recorded a win over world champion Kyren Wilson as part of reaching the quarter-final of the 2025 Welsh Open. He recorded a 5-2 win over Judd Trump a 5-1 win over Shaun Murphy, and a 6-3 win over Ali Carter on his way to the final of the 2025 World Open, where he lost to John Higgins on 1 March 2025. He qualified for the 2025 World Snooker Championship with a 10-7 victory over Jackson Page, before losing 10-7 against John Higgins in the first round at The Crucible.

O'Connor topped his group at the 2025 Championship League in Leicester in July 2025, before ultimately reaching the final, where he was beaten by Stephen Maguire. In December 2025, he moved closer to qualification for the 2026 World Grand Prix as part of the top-32 of the one-year ranking list, with a quarter-final run including victories over Stan Moody, reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong, and Zak Surety at the 2025 Scottish Open. In the quarter-final, he was defeated 5-2 by Mark Allen.

Pool He remains active in pool, and was named as a wildcard for the 2023 Ultimate Pool professional circuit, O’Connor defeated former Pro Series event winner Jake McCartney during his first Series weekend, and has since reached the last 32 of Event 4.

Performance and rankings timeline Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD 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.

Career finals Ranking finals: 3 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2022 Scottish Open Gary Wilson 2–9Runner-up 2. 2025 World Open John Higgins 6–10Runner-up 3.2025 Championship League Stephen Maguire 1–3

Non-ranking finals: 1

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2024 Championship League Invitational Mark Selby 1–3

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 2018 English Amateur Championship Andrew Norman 10–3