Steve James

Stephen James (born 2 May 1961 in Cannock) is an English retired professional snooker player.

Career James became a professional snooker player in 1986 based on his results in the Professional Ticket Tournaments in 1985. He subsequently became the first debutant to score two centuries at The Crucible in his first round match of the 1988 Snooker World Championship against Rex Williams. He went on to reach the quarter-finals that year.

The high point of his career was his sole ranking title – the Classic in 1990, beating Australian Warren King 10–6 in the final. His world ranking peaked at number seven the following season, the best of his five seasons in the top sixteen.

On 14 April 1990, in his match against Alex Higgins at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, James became the first player to produce a 16-red total clearance in competitive play, with a break of 135. In other words, he potted 16 reds and 16 colours consecutively, followed by all the coloured balls in order: a situation that was only possible because he was awarded a free ball before any red had been potted.

A year later he reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, beating defending champion Stephen Hendry in the quarter-finals. He was defeated in the semi-final by Jimmy White.

Personal life A former postman, he was born in Cannock, Staffordshire. James became wealthy through snooker, but was banned from driving in 1996, and in 1998 declared himself bankrupt after spending £700,000 on "fast living", even having to sell his practice table. His financial problems saw him turn to drinking heavily.

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 event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event event is/was a minor-ranking event.

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1990 The Classic Warren King 10–6

Non-ranking finals: 3 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1992 Pontins Professional Neal Foulds 9–8Runner-up 1. 1992 Indian Masters Steve Davis 6–9Runner-up 2. 2004 Challenge Tour - Event 3 Brian Salmon 2–6

Pro-am finals: 3 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1985 Warners Open David Roe4–2 Runner-up 1. 1992 Pontins Spring Open Declan Hughes2–7Runner-up 2. 1993 Pontins Spring Open (2) Mike Hallett6–7