Peter Ebdon

Peter "Ebbo" Ebdon (born 27 August 1970 in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England) is an English professional snooker player and former world champion renowned for his remarkably focused, determined style of play.

Career

Early years

Ebdon turned professional in 1991, and, sporting a ponytail, made an impact by beating Steve Davis 10–4 in the first round of the 1992 World Championship; he went on to reach the quarter-finals of the event, losing 13–7 to a resurgent Terry Griffiths. However, it was a run which earned him the WPBSA Young Player of the Year award as a result. His first ranking title was the 1993 Grand Prix.^[2] He climbed the rankings rapidly to reach a career-highest position of number three in 1996; he again reached world number three status at the close of the 2002 season.

2002–2010

Perhaps Ebdon's greatest achievement, thus far, was his 18–17 defeat of Stephen Hendry in the 2002 World Championship final,^[3] having started the tournament at odds of 33–1.^[2] He had previously reached the final of the tournament in 1996, which he lost 18–12 to Hendry, and was also runner-up at the 2006 event to Graeme Dott in which, at 15–7 down coming into the final session, Ebdon won six successive frames before Dott prevailed 18–14. In the semi-final before the final he led Marco Fu 15–9 before being pegged back to 16–16 before Ebdon took the decider, at the end of which he shed tears of relief.

Ebdon is a remarkably focused and determined player. Until recently, his shot times had slowed down considerably; this attracted some criticism – particularly, in his match against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2005 World Championship. Resuming at 10–6 down, Ebdon won the first six frames of the evening session, at one stage taking three minutes over a shot, and five minutes to compile a break of 12. Ebdon nevertheless won the match 13–11.^[4] Such performances, though lacking fluency, often appear to break his opponent mentally. Ebdon stated after his victory over O'Sullivan, "When I'm trying my hardest I seem to go slow. I don't do it intentionally". When The Times described his slow play as 'cheating', he attempted to sue them for libel and lost.^[5]

Among Ebdon's other career highlights was winning the UK Championship in 2006, beating Stephen Hendry 10–6 in the final ^[6] – in doing so, becoming only the ninth player to have won both the World and UK Championship. Ebdon's shot times were markedly quicker, and this fluency served him well in defeating the defending champion Ding Junhui and John Higgins en route to the final, and compiling eight century-breaks over the course of the tournament. However, he failed to reach a ranking quarter-final in 2007. His poor form continued into 2008; in the Northern Ireland Trophy he lost 0–5 to Liang Wenbo with a highest break of 32, a result which lead to an investigation of suspicious betting patterns by the Gambling Commission. The WPBSA, of which Ebdon is a board member, has yet to announce an investigation of its own.^[7][8]

In 2009, Ebdon beat John Higgins 10–8 to win the China Open. To date, this is his most recent professional tournament victory. However, in the subsequent World Championship, Ebdon lost 10–5 to Nigel Bond in the first round. A year later, after a disappointing season, Ebdon once again lost 10–5 in the World Championship, this time to Graeme Dott. This result meant Ebdon dropped out of the top 16 in the world rankings after an uninterrupted 16-year stay.^[9]

2010/2011

At the start of the season Ebdon issued a statement announcing that he would not be able to play to the best of his ability in the last round of the Shanghai Masters qualifiers.^[10] He reached the second round of the tournament though by winning his qualifying match by 5–1 against Michael White, and then his last 32 match against Neil Robertson 5–4 before losing against Mark King 3–5. He enjoyed a good return of form in the World Open, where he beat Steve Davis 3–1, Fergal O'Brien 3–2, Liu Song 3–2, and Martin Gould 3-1 before losing against Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–3. He reached his first semi-final since the 2009 China Open and refound a place in the top 16 in the rankings.

Status

Ebdon was only the second player to have made two competitive maximum 147 breaks in professional tournament play — these coming at the Strachan Professional and UK Championship, both in 1992. In the same year, he became the first player to make four centuries in five frames.^[11]

Ebdon is renowned for his strict fitness regime in order to condition himself for snooker; he swims one mile a day and has cut down on carbohydrates and sugars in order to maximise physical fitness and stamina.^[12] He is a devotee of Napoleon Hill's classic motivational book Think and Grow Rich.

Ebdon has been criticised in the past for his exuberant outpourings of emotion after winning important frames or matches. However, since one particular outburst after potting the match ball against Stephen Lee during their 2001 World Championship second round encounter — repeatedly punching the air and shouting "Come on!" at the top of his voice — he has toned down his celebrations significantly.

Ebdon is also colour blind. In a frame in which the brown ball is in close proximity to a red, he usually asks the referee for help on which ball is which. During a match against Simon Bedford in the 2008 Grand Prix, Ebdon inadvertently potted the brown believing it to be a red.^[13]

At the 2010 Masters, Ebdon used the Real Thing's 1980s disco track "Can You Feel the Force?" as his entrance music.

Personal life

Ebdon was born in Kettering, but lived in Islington, North London until he was 18, before moving to Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. He started his career while at Highbury Grove School, resulting in him not taking his O levels – a decision he now regrets.^[14] In 2005, he emigrated with his wife Deborah and four children to Dubai and lived there until 2009. On January 22, 2009, it was revealed that Ebdon had split with his wife by mutual consent.^[15] He remarried and now lives in Budapest with his second wife, Nora.

In 1996, Ebdon recorded a version of the David Cassidy song I Am A Clown, and it was released as a single.^[15]

Performance timeline

Career finals

Ranking event finals: 15 (8 titles, 7 runner-ups)