Kristján Helgason

Kristján Helgason (born 27 March 1974) is an Icelandic former professional snooker player.

Career

Born in 1974, Helgason turned professional in 1995. In 1998, he reached the last 48 at the Irish Open, losing 3–5 to Billy Snaddon, but made no further progress in any tournament that season.

The following season, he reached the last 32 at the 2000 Scottish Open, where he defeated Nick Pearce, John Read and Jamie Burnett before losing 3–5 to Mark Williams. In that year's World Championship, he beat Joe Jogia, John Lardner, Joe Johnson, Rod Lawler and Terry Murphy to set up a meeting in the first round at the Crucible Theatre with Stephen Lee. Becoming the first Icelander to appear at the Crucible, Helgason lost 3–10.

In the last 48 at the 2002 China Open, Helgason faced Anthony Hamilton, building a 4–0 lead with consecutive breaks of 93, 91 and 83; however, Hamilton won the next five frames to run out a 5–4 victor.

Helgason played at the last 32 stage of a ranking event for the third time at the 2002 British Open; there, he defeated Jin Long, Ryan Day, Stuart Bingham, Patrick Wallace and Dave Harold, but lost 3–5 to Paul Hunter.

Having reached a career-high ranking of 66th for the 2003/2004 season, Helgason played in only the first two tournaments, losing in the LG Cup 4–5 to Ian Brumby and in the British Open, 4–5 to Michael Wild. He finished the season ranked 103rd, and lost his professional status at the age of 30.

He played in the Gibraltar Open during March 2020.

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 Amateur finals: 16 (12 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1993 IBSF World Under-21 Championship 11–7Winner 2. 1994 Iceland Amateur Championship Gunnar Valsson 9–4Winner 3. 1996 Iceland Amateur Championship Johannes Johannesson 9–6Runner-up 1. 1996 EBSA European Championships 5–8Winner 4. 1997 Iceland Amateur Championship Johannes Johannesson 9–5Runner-up 2. 1997 EBSA European Championships 3–7Runner-up 3. 1998 Iceland Amateur Championship Johannes Johannesson 5–9Winner 5. 1998 EBSA European Championships 7–2Runner-up 4. 2005 EBSA European Championships 2–7Winner 6. 2012 Iceland Amateur Championship Thorri Jensson 9–1Winner 7. 2017 Nordic Snooker Championship Patrik Tiihonen 5–2Winner 8. 2017 Iceland Amateur Championship Jon Ingi Ægisson 9–0Winner 9. 2017 European 6-Reds Championship Wayne Brown 5–2Winner 10. 2018 Iceland Amateur Championship Guðni Pálsson 9–1Winner 11. 2019 Iceland Amateur Championship Jon Ingi Ægisson 9–2Winner 12. 2019 European Snooker Open Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 4–1