Adam Duffy Explained

Adam Duffy
Birth Date:1989 3, df=yes
Birth Place:Sheffield, England
Professional:2011–2014, 2016–2018, 2022–2024
High Ranking:56 (June–August 2013)
Best Finish:Last 16 (x1)

Adam Duffy (born 30 March 1989)[1] is an English former professional snooker player.

Duffy qualified for the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as one of four semi-finalists from the third and final 2011 Q School event.[2]

Career

Debut season

As a new player on the tour Duffy would need to win four qualifying matches to reach the main stage of the ranking event tournaments. He came closest to doing this in the sixth event of the year, the Welsh Open, where he received a bye through round one and then beat James Wattana and Jack Lisowski, before being whitewashed 0–4 by former world champion Peter Ebdon in the final qualifying round.[3] He also reached the last 16 of Event 2 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship series, which included a 4–0 victory over world number one Mark Selby.[4] Duffy finished his first year as a professional ranked world number 62, inside the top 64 who guarantee their places for the 2012–13 season. He was the second highest ranked of all the new players on the tour, after China's Yu Delu who was number 58.[5]

2012/2013 season

Duffy had a poor 2012–13 season as he lost his first six games and only won a total of four matches in ranking event qualifiers and two matches in Players Tour Championship tournaments.[6] He finished a lowly 108th on the PTC Order of Merit, but did end the season ranked world number 60, his highest ranking to date.[7] [8]

2013/2014 season

In his opening match, Duffy defeated Tony Drago 5–2 to qualify for the 2013 Wuxi Classic in China, but lost 5–3 to Lu Ning in the wildcard round. At the UK Championship Duffy beat Barry Pinches in a deciding frame to face reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round.[9] He led twice before the interval but went on to lose 6–3.[10] His results during the year meant that he dropped 31 places to world number 91 in the rankings to drop off the tour, with Duffy entering the 2014 Q School in an attempt to win his place back.[11] He came within two victories of doing so in the second event, but lost 4–3 to Lee Walker.[9]

2014/2015 season

Duffy entered all the European Tour events during the season, and thanks to his high Q School ranking he was able to enter a number of ranking tournaments as well. At the Paul Hunter Classic, Duffy overcame Ryan Day and Gerard Greene both 4–3, before losing 4–0 to Fergal O'Brien in the last 32. He qualified for the Indian Open by beating Jack Lisowski 4–2 and then edged out Gary Wilson 4–3 to play Judd Trump in the second round.[12] Duffy came from 3–1 down to level at 3–3, but would lose the deciding frame to the world number six in a three-hour match.[13] However, the display seemed to give him confidence heading into the World Championship as he defeated Martin Gould 10–6 and won seven of the last eight frames to beat Sam Baird 10–7.[14] [15] Duffy played Jamie Jones in an attempt to become the first player from Sheffield to play at the Crucible, but was narrowly beaten 10–8. Duffy felt he had run out of steam during the match against an opponent who had been playing in tournaments all year, while Duffy had his playing opportunities limited due to his amateur status.[16] In the first event of 2015 Q School, Duffy reached the final round and made breaks of 107, 93 and 70 against Eden Sharav but lost 4–3.[17]

2015/2016 season

In the first round of the 2015 UK Championship, Duffy pulled off a huge shock by eliminating world number nine and two-time winner of the event Ding Junhui 6–2. He credited the win to working hard on his game at the academy in Sheffield.[18] He forced a deciding frame against Joe Swail in the next round having been 5–3 down, but lost it.[19] He qualified for the China Open by beating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–3, but would later withdraw from the event. Duffy lost in the final round of the EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs to Sam Craigie, but by twice losing in the fifth round of the 2016 Q School he earned a two-year tour card via the Q School Order of Merit.[20] [21]

2016/2017 season

He played in the final qualifying round for the Shanghai Masters after winning three matches, but was edged out 5–4 by Robert Milkins. Duffy lost in the second round of both the Paul Hunter Classic and Northern Ireland Open 4–1 to Lee Walker and 4–3 to Peter Ebdon respectively. He was beaten in eight of his final nine matches of the season after this.[22]

2017/2018Duffy had a very poor season. His best performance was reaching the last stage of the World Championship Qualifiers where he lost 10–2 to Xiao Guodong. There was controversy in the 2nd frame where the ref called a waistcoat foul when Duffy was reaching across to pot the brown. He only required the brown and blue to win the frame, however Guodong cleared up to take a 2–0 lead.

He dropped off the tour at the end of the 2017/18 season and entered the 2018 Q School to win back his tour place, but his best result was a loss in the final round of the second event to Craig Steadman.[23] He entered again in 2019.

Personal life

Duffy works part-time as a builder for his father's firm.[18] He is a big fan of Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament2010/
11
2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
2022/
23
2023/
24
Ranking[24] [25] [26] [27] 62608688
Ranking tournaments
Championship LeagueNon-Ranking EventRRRR
European MastersTournament Not HeldLQ1R1RALQ1R
British OpenTournament Not HeldLQLQ
English OpenTournament Not Held1R1R1RALQ1R
Wuhan OpenTournament Not HeldLQ
Northern Ireland OpenTournament Not Held2R1RALQLQ
International ChampionshipNot HeldLQ1RALQLQLQAANHLQ
UK ChampionshipALQLQ2RA2R1R1R1RALQLQ
Shoot OutNon-Ranking Event1R1R4RA2R1R
Scottish OpenNot HeldMRTournament Not Held1R1R1RALQLQ
World Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNRDNQ DNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQ
German MastersALQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQALQLQ
Welsh OpenALQLQ1RA1R1R1R2RALQ2R
Players Championship[28] DNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQ
World OpenALQLQLQNot HeldLQLQLQANHWD
Tour ChampionshipTournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQ
World ChampionshipALQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi ClassicNon-RankingLQWRLQTournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields OpenNHLQLQLQLQLQTournament Not Held
Shanghai MastersALQLQLQALQLQ1RNon-RankingNHNR
Paul Hunter ClassicMinor-Ranking Event2R1RANRNot Held
Indian OpenTournament Not HeldLQ2RNHLQWDLQTournament Not Held
China OpenALQLQLQLQLQLQLQATournament Not Held
Riga Masters[29] Tournament Not HeldMinor-Ranking1RLQLQANot Held
China ChampionshipTournament Not HeldNRLQAANot Held
Gibraltar OpenTournament Not HeldMR1R1RALQNot Held
WST ClassicTournament Not Held1RNH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Shoot OutAA1R1RAARanking Event
Six-red World ChampionshipANHAAAAAAAALQNH
Performance Table Legend
LQlost in the qualifying draw
  1. R
lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament
DNQdid not qualify for the tournamentAdid not participate in the tournamentWDwithdrew 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.

Career finals

Amateur finals: 3 (2 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1.2019Challenge Tour – Event 9 Matthew Glasby3–1
Winner2.2020Challenge Tour – Event 103–1
Runner-up1.2020Challenge Tour – Playoffs Allan Taylor0–4

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official player profile of Adam Duffy . worldsnooker.com . "Players Alphabetical" section . . 13 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120511014237/http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/PlayersAlphabeticalArticle/0,,13165~2397343,00.html . 11 May 2012 .
  2. Web site: Brave Gilbert Comes Through Final Event. worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 28 May 2011.
  3. Web site: Adam Duffy 2011/2012 . Snooker.org . 11 May 2012.
  4. Web site: Order of Merit. WWW Snooker. 8 January 2012. 11 May 2012.
  5. Web site: Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season . 10 May 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130616125200/http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFiles/1d/b0/0%2C%2C13165~176157%2C00.pdf . 16 June 2013 .
  6. Web site: Adam Duffy 2012/2013 . Snooker.org . 11 April 2013.
  7. Web site: Order of Merit 2012/2013 . Snooker.org . 11 April 2013 . 28 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130428072211/http://snooker.org/res/index.asp?template=10 . dead .
  8. Web site: Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2013/2014 Season . . 24 May 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130611202605/http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFiles/49/bc/0%2C%2C13165~179273%2C00.pdf . 11 June 2013 .
  9. Web site: Adam Duffy 2013/2014. Snooker.org. 11 April 2014.
  10. News: UK Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan reaches third round. BBC Sport. 11 April 2014.
  11. Web site: World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship . . 9 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140508030740/http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFiles/71/c1/0%2C%2C13165~180593%2C00.pdf . 8 May 2014 .
  12. Web site: Adam Duffy 2014/2015. Snooker.org. 19 April 2015.
  13. Web site: Trump Wins Despite Duff Display . 12 March 2015 . . 20 April 2015.
  14. Web site: Eckington potter Duffy advances in quest for Crucible qualification . The Star . 19 April 2015.
  15. Web site: Snooker: Adam Duffy one win away from making Crucible history in home city of Sheffield . The Star . 20 April 2015.
  16. Web site: Snooker: Adam Duffy's Crucible dream wrecked by Jamie Jones . The Star . 19 April 2015.
  17. Web site: Quartet Earn Tour Cards . 19 May 2015 . . 27 May 2015.
  18. Web site: Amateur Duffy Shocks Ding . 24 November 2015 . . 4 September 2016.
  19. Web site: Sheffield snooker ace Duffy 'gutted' at narrow UK Championship defeat . . 4 September 2016.
  20. Web site: Adam Duffy 2015/2016 . Snooker.org . 4 September 2016.
  21. Web site: Q School Order of Merit 2015/2016 . Snooker.org . 4 September 2016.
  22. Web site: Adam Duffy 2016/2017. Snooker.org. 11 April 2017.
  23. Web site: Brown Earns Tour Return. 25 May 2018.
  24. Web site: Ranking History. Snooker.org. 6 February 2011.
  25. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  26. He was an amateur
  27. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  28. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  29. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)