Neal Foulds
| Born | 13 July 1963 |
|---|---|
| Sport country |
 England |
| Professional | 1983–2004 |
| Highest ranking | 3 (1987/1988, 1988/1989) |
| Highest break | 142 (Matchroom League 1992) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 1 |
| Non-ranking | 3 |
Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is a former English professional snooker player and is now a commentator on the sport.
Career
Following in the footsteps of father Geoff, Neal began playing snooker at the age of 11 and by the early 1980′s was already one of the strongest players in his area. Following victory in the national under-19′s Championship, Neal then turned professional in 1983 and at the end of the season qualified for final stages of the World Championship at the first attempt. Even more impressively however, he then defeated twice-champion Alex Higgins 10-9 in the first round before going down 13-9 to Doug Mountjoy in the last 16, a run that saw him enter the rankings at number 30.
Foulds quickly climbed the rankings in the seasons that followed reaching no. 3 within four years. He won his first ranking tournament in 1986, the BCE International, beating Cliff Thorburn 12–9 in the final. In the same season he was runner-up to Steve Davis in the UK Championship, and he also reached the semi-finals of the 1987 World Championship, losing 16–9 to Joe Johnson.[1] Starting the following season up in a career high position of number three, 1987/88 was not to be quite as successful, though another strong run to the quarter-finals in the 1988 World Snooker Championship before losing to Terry Griffiths ensured that he would retain his spot at third in the rankings
From here however he started to struggle, dropping 17 places to 20th in the rankings and finding himself having to qualify for events in the following season. Still, 1989/90 was to see a revival and despite a round one exit at the World Championship to Wayne Jones, he did enough to regain a place in the top 16 before moving up to number seven at the end of 1990/1.
Though he was able to maintain a top 16 place until the end of the 1993/4 season, and a place on the tour until 2004, from the mid-90′s Neal struggled for form and eventually retired from the sport in 2004.
Foulds made 76 competitive century breaks in his career.
Commentary career
Since his retirement, Neal has moved up to the commentary box, most notably for the BBC at tournaments such as the World and UK Championships. In addition Neal has also been involved with the Premier and Championship League competitions for Matchroom Sport, as well as the smaller ranking event tournaments for Eurosport.[2]
Tournament wins
Ranking Wins: (1)
- International, 1986
Non-Ranking Wins: (5)
- Dubai Masters- 1988
- Scottish Masters- 1992
- Pot Black- 1992
- Pontins Professional- 1987,1991
Team
World Cup with England team of Steve Davis and Jimmy White, 1988–1989
References
- ↑ "Clive Everton's Crucible History – 1987 World Championship". BBC. 2001. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ↑ Then and Now: Neal Foulds - Yahoo! Eurosport
External links
- Neal Foulds at CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database