David Gray (snooker player)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Gray
Born	February 9, 1979
Nationality	English
Nickname(s)	The Mighty Atom, Casper
Professional	1996—current
Highest ranking	12 (2003/04)
2006/07 ranking	23
Highest break	147 (2004)
Tournament wins
Ranking events	1

David Gray (born 9 February 1979 in Lower Morden, Greater London) is an English professional snooker player.

Gray turned professional in 1996, after becoming the youngest winner of the English amateur title in 1995. He first served notice of his potential by beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round of the World Championship in 2000, a match in which O'Sullivan scored 5 centuries.

He won the 1998 Benson & Hedges Championship. His only ranking tournament victory so far is the 2003 Regal Scottish. He had already beaten Stephen Hendry and John Higgins en route to the final of this tournament a year earlier. He broke into the top 16 in the world rankings in the 2003/04 season, where he remained for 2 seasons.

On 28 November 2004 he reached the final of the UK Championship, losing 10-1 to Stephen Maguire. It was during this tournament that Gray scored his first maximum break - the 50th made in professional play - in the fifth frame of his last 32 match against Mark Selby - the man he beat in the Regal Scottish final.

Gray is a practice partner of Jimmy White, whom he beat at the 888.com World Championship 2006. David failed to perform in the second round, losing to Peter Ebdon with a session to spare, becoming one of the few players to have lost 2 matches so emphatically - Dominic Dale beat him 13-1 in the second round in 2000.

In the 2006 Grand Prix, he qualified from the groups before losing 5-2 to O'Sullivan in the last 16. At the end of the match, he appeared unaware that it was over.