Paul Wykes

Paul Wykes (born 15 April 1971 is an English former professional snooker player from Bournemouth, Dorset.

In the 2000s, snooker took second place to his business interests and family, mostly due to the various financial cutbacks afflicting the game at the time. After winning just two matches during the 2006–07 season, Wykes fell to 95th place on the world rankings and decided to retire from snooker. "I thought I was off the tour last year and decided to carry on this season when I found out I was safe," he said. "Looking back, that was probably the wrong decision because I’ve just been going through the motions really." and was thus eligible to enter the preliminary qualifying for the World Championship. He returned to action in 2010, defeating David Taylor and Les Dodd to get through to the first qualifying round, where he lost 6–10 to James Wattana. Wykes came back in 2013, the last year when non-tour professionals could enter the World Championship, following a victory in the local Dorset Open tournament and a family discussion: "It has always been a dream of mine to play at the Crucible. I know it is a long shot but I am going to give it my best."