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Ian Burns (snooker player)

Ian Burns
Paul Hunter Classic 2012
Born (1985-03-11) 11 March 1985 (age 39)
Preston, England
Sport country England
Professional2012–present
Highest ranking60 (April 2017)[1]
Current ranking 83 (as of 11 November 2024)
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (x2)

Ian Burns (born 11 March 1985) is an English professional snooker player.

Burns turned professional after qualifying in his first attempt at the 2012 Q School and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 snooker seasons. He won four matches in the event, concluding with a 4–3 victory over veteran Rod Lawler to seal his card.[2] He finished outside top 64 after the 2022-23 season but retained his tour card as a result of being one of the top 4 players outside that range to have the most amount of points on the one-year list.

Career

Debut season

Burns first match as a professional was a 3–5 defeat to Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon in qualifying for the 2012 Wuxi Classic.[3] Burns reached the final qualifying round for the first time when attempting to reach the UK Championship. he defeated Michael Leslie, Kurt Maflin and Anthony Hamilton before being beaten 2–6 by Dominic Dale.[3] Burns did come through four qualifying rounds to play in the main draw of a ranking event for the first time at the World Open, in Haikou, China. He defeated Saleh Mohammad 5–1 in the wildcard round, before losing by the same scoreline to top 16 player Barry Hawkins in the last 32.[3][4]

The 2012 Welsh Open saw Burns qualify for his second ranking event, as he defeated Jack Lisowski 4–1 before receiving a walkover due to the withdrawal of Jamie Cope.[5] At the main venue in Newport, he lost in the last 32 to 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson 1–4.[6] Burns also had a very good season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events, with his best finish coming at the fifth European Tour Event, where he beat the likes of Marcus Campbell and Liang Wenbo, but then lost to Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals.[3] He also reached the last 16 in two other events which helped him finish 35th on the PTC Order of Merit, just outside the top 26 who qualified for the Finals.[7] Burns beat Joel Walker 10–8 in the first round of World Championship Qualifying, but his season ended when he was defeated 2–10 by Yu Delu in the following round.[8] Burns was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award at the World Snooker Annual Award Ceremony.[9] Burns finished his first year on tour ranked world number 68, the highest of any of the debutants.[10]

2013/2014 season

In the second ranking event of the season, Burns beat Ryan Causton 5–3, Chen Zhe 5–2, and Matthew Selt 5–2 to qualify for the main stage of the Australian Goldfields Open, held in Bendigo.[11] He played world number two Mark Selby in the first round and led the match 3–0, before Selby levelled at 3–3.[12] Burns won the next frame and had numerous chances to secure a shock win but was ultimately defeated 5–4.[13] At the Welsh Open he had a 4–3 win over Yu Delu, before losing 4–2 to Matthew Stevens in the last 64.[11] In the minor-ranking European Tour events, Burns dropped just two frames in winning four matches to reach the quarter-finals of the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup, where he was beaten 4–2 by Jamie Jones.[14] Burns ended the season outside of the top 64 in the world rankings which would have relegated him from the tour, however by being placed 44th on the European Order of Merit he has received one of the eight spots to earn a two-year main tour card for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons which were available to non-qualified players.[15][16]

2014/2015 season

Burns won three matches in the qualifying for the Australian Goldfields Open, before narrowly losing 5–4 to Mark Joyce in the final round.[17] The first event he could reach this season was the International Championship and he beat Dominic Dale 6–5 and Craig Steadman 6–3 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. He would be defeated 6–2 against Michael White, but lost two of the frames from 59–0 and 61–0 ahead which Burns felt flattered the scoreline.[18] However, he failed to build on this during the rest of the season as he was eliminated in the first round of both the UK Championship and Welsh Open and could not qualify for any other event.[17] Burns could also only win one match all year in the minor-ranking European Tour events.[19]

2015/2016 season

Burns played at the venue stage of six ranking events in the 2015–16 season, the most in a single year of his career so far. He won three matches to play in the Australian Goldfields Open and beat Xiao Guodong 5–3 in the first round which saw him play in the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time, but he lost 5–2 to Judd Trump. At the Paul Hunter Classic he recorded victories over Ryan Causton, Sanderson Lam, Martin O'Donnell and Thor Chuan Leong to make the quarter-finals, where he was defeated 4–0 by Mark King.[20] A week later he beat King 6–2 to qualify for the International Championship, but lost 6–3 to Mark Williams.[21] Burns saw off Aditya Mehta 5–1 and John Higgins 5–3 to make his debut at the German Masters and was edged out 5–4 by Michael Holt in the first round. The final ranking event Burns qualified for this season was the China Open and, after coming through a wildcard round, he whitewashed Peter Ebdon 5–0, before losing 5–3 to Stuart Bingham.[22] Burns reached the final qualifying round for the World Championship, but was heavily defeated 10–2 by Ebdon.[20] His end of season ranking of 62 is the highest of his career to date and the first time he has been within the top 64.[23]

2016/2017 season

Burns qualified for the World Open and lost 5–2 to Neil Robertson in the first round. He lost in the third round of the Scottish Open and Welsh Open without picking up a frame. Burns qualified for the China Open, but was defeated 5–1 by John Higgins in the opening round.[24] At 66th in the world rankings, Burns would have lost his place on the tour due to not being in the top 64, but he took the final spot on the one-year list to be awarded a two-year card.[25]

Personal life

Burns married Alison, an accountant of Lancashire County Council, in May 2014. They have been together since 2010.[26][27]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2010/
11
2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
2020/
21
2021/
22
2022/
23
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking[28][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 68 [nb 4] 89 62 [nb 5] 73 [nb 5] 65 [nb 6] 85 [nb 5] 74
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR RR RR RR RR
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held LQ
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 2R
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R LQ 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R
British Open Tournament Not Held 2R 1R LQ LQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 1R LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R LQ LQ 2R LQ
International Championship Not Held LQ LQ 3R 1R WR 1R 2R LQ Not Held LQ LQ
UK Championship A A LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R 3R 1R 2R
Scottish Open Not Held MR Not Held 3R 1R 4R 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ
German Masters A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ
Welsh Open A A 1R 2R 1R 1R 3R QF 4R 2R 1R LQ LQ 1R
World Open A A 1R LQ Not Held 1R 1R LQ 1R Not Held LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Players Championship[nb 7] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic Non-Ranking LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open NH A LQ 1R LQ 2R Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 1R QF 2R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Not Held LQ LQ NH LQ LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
China Open A A LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 8] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank 2R LQ 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 1R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R 1R LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Shoot Out A A A 1R A 3R Ranking Event
Six-red World Championship A NH A A A A A A A A Not Held LQ Not Held
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.
  1. ^ Shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b He was an amateur
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ a b c Players qualified through One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
  6. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
  7. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  8. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

References

  1. ^ "WORLD RANKINGS After 2017 Bank of Beijing China Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Ian Burns 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ian Burns 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Haikou Open schedule and results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  5. ^ "BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Welsh Open 2013: Schedule and results from Newport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Selby Named Player of the Year". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Ian Burns 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Selby Keeps Cool To Escape Burns". World Snooker. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Australian Open: Mark Selby beats Ian Burns in first round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Snooker - Allen wins second straight European title". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  15. ^ "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  16. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  17. ^ a b "Ian Burns 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Ian Burns looking to bask in UK Championship spotlight". The Press (York). Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  19. ^ "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  20. ^ a b "Ian Burns 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  21. ^ "Champion Ricky Walden beaten by Tian Pengfei in China". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  22. ^ "Bingham Wins With Sizzling Centuries". World Snooker. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  24. ^ "Ian Burns 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  25. ^ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  26. ^ "Burns is in the mood". Lancashire Evening Post. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  27. ^ "Ian Burns Q&A". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  28. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.