Nigel Bond

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Nigel Bond

Born	November 15, 1965 (1965-11-15) (age 42)
Nationality	England
Nickname(s)	Basildon,, 00-147,,
Professional	1989–current
Highest ranking	5 (96/97)
2008/09 ranking	23
Highest break	140, Grand Prix 2004
Tournament wins
Ranking	1
Non-ranking	1

Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English professional snooker player. He was ranked within the top 16 from 1992 to 1999. After a season outside the top 32, he regained his place there. At 42 years old, he is the second-oldest player (behind Steve Davis) in the 2007/2008 rankings top 32. He is a former British Open champion, and World Championship finalist. A solid breakbuilder, Bond has compiled 90 centuries so far in his career. ^[1]

1 Career
2 Tournament wins
- 2.1 Ranking wins
- 2.2 Non-ranking wins
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Career

After a strong amateur career, ^[2] Bond turned professional for the 1989-1990 season. He reached his first ranking semi-final in his first season, and his first final in his second season, but his career peaked in the mid-1990s. In the 1994 World Championships, Nigel pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the event's history, rallying from 9-2 to defeat Cliff Thorburn 10-9 in what would be Cliff's final appearance at the crucible. A year later, Bond reached the final, but lost to Stephen Hendry 18-9. This was his only semi-final run of the season. As a consequence of reaching the final, he climbed to number 5 in the world rankings for 1996/97, and in that same season he acquired his only ranking tournament victory (after three previous losing finals), the British Open, beating John Higgins 9-8 after needing a snooker in the final frame, ^[3] winning the World Snooker Association Performance of the Year award for this achievement. He has failed to maintain this level of performance, partly due to his son Daniel having a heart condition.

He reached at least the quarter finals at the Crucible Theatre every year from 1993 to 1996, losing to Stephen Hendry every time, which added extra spice to their first round match in 2006. After leading comfortably throughout the match Nigel was pegged back to 7-7, and the match went to a final frame. With only the black remaining, and 7 points up, Nigel clipped it into the left corner pocket, only for the cue ball to go in-off in the right middle pocket, resulting in a respotted black (the first one ever to decide the final frame of a World Championship match), which Nigel potted to take frame and match. Final score 10-9, Nigel's first win at the Crucible since 1999 , ^[4] and his only last-16 run of that season. ^[5]

By the end of the 1990s, Nigel was out of the top 16, and dropped out of the top 32 for the 2004-2005 year. However, he reclaimed his place a year later, and by qualifying for the 2007 World Championship he ensured that he remained there for a third year in succession, despite losing 10-7 to Peter Ebdon. A run to the last 16 of the 2007 UK Championships, ^[6] in which he came from 5-7 to win 9-7 against Ken Doherty in the last 32 before losing 9-6 to Ding Junhui in the last 16, was a precursor to his first quarter-final run for 5 years, at the China Open. Victories over David Roe, Stephen Lee and Barry Pinches took him to a meeting with Stephen Maguire, which he lost 5-0. This run ensures that the remains in the top 32 for 2008/2009. Nigel is widely regarded to be one of the finest players with the swan neck rest in the game.