Shokat Ali Explained

Shokat Ali
Birth Date:	March 4, 1970
Professional:	1991–2007
High Ranking:	34 (2002/2003)
Best Finish:	Quarter-final (x1)
Medals-Expand:	yes

Shokat Ali (born 4 March 1970) is a snooker player who has represented Pakistan in international tournaments.^{[1] [2]}

Career

Ali turned professional in 1991.^[1] He appeared on the BBC1 game show "Big Break" in 1997.^[3] In 1998, he won a gold medal at the Asian Games.^[4]

He defeated Jimmy White to reach the last 16 of the 1998 Grand Prix.^[1] At the 2001 Thailand Masters, he reached the quarter-finals, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan en route.^[5]

In 2005, his cue was stolen from his car,^[6] and he suffered a deterioration of results as he struggled to find another cue he could show his best form using. He dropped off the game's main professional tour in 2007, but showed signs of a return to form in 2008, winning an event on the secondary PIOS Tour.^{[7] [1]}

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04		2004/ 05	2005/ 06	2006/ 07
Ranking^[8] ^[9]	^[10]	143	110	83	87	76	59	49	69	68	40	34	49		65	54	55
Ranking tournaments
	Tournament Not Held															NR	LQ
Grand Prix^[11]	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	3R	LQ	1R	1R	2R	LQ		1R	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	2R	LQ	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ		1R	LQ	LQ
Malta Cup^[12]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NH	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ		2R	LQ	LQ
China Open^[13]	Tournament Not Held						NR	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	Not Held			LQ	LQ	LQ
World Championship	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ		LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ		A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Classic	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open^[14]	LQ	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic^[15]	LQ	3R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
German Masters^[16]	Tournament Not Held				LQ	LQ	2R	NR	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters^[17]	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	QF	LQ	NR	Not Held				NR
Scottish Open^[18]	NH	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ		Not Held
British Open	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	LQ	LQ		LQ	Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event											LQ	LQ		LQ	NH	NR
Former non-ranking tournaments
China Masters	Tournament Not Held				F	Tournament Not Held
Pakistan Masters	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
Malta Masters	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
Poland Masters	Tournament Not Held				QF	Tournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Tournament Not Held												RR	RR	Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament
DQ	disqualified from the tournament

NH / Not Held				event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1996	China Masters	Rod Lawler	3–6
Winner	1.	1998	Asian Games	Sam Chong	7–6

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

Notes and References

1. Book: Hayton . Eric . Dee . John . 2004 . The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History . Rose Villa Publications . Lowestoft . 978-0-9548549-0-4 . 191–194.
2. http://www.snooker.org/trn/9697/io_res.shtml "International Open 1997"
3. News: BBC1 . Sandwell Evening Mail . 28 February 1997 . 40.
4. http://archive.prestoncitizen.co.uk/1998/12/9/785649.html The Citizen: Snooker: Shokat strikes gold
5. Web site: BBC Sport: Ali shocks O'Sullivan . 2008-08-31 . 2023-11-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231106124010/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/1220843.stm . live .
6. Web site: BBC Sport: Ali appeals for missing cue . 2019-12-25 . 2016-05-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160522122515/http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2005/11/01/shokat_ali_cue_missing.shtml . live .
7. http://www.worldsnooker.com/news-89396.htm World Snooker News: The Wonder Of Cue
8. Web site: Ranking History. Snooker.org. 8 August 2018. 14 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190514065952/http://www.snooker.org/rnk/history.asp. live.
9. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
10. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
11. The event was also called the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
12. The event was called the European Open (1991/1992–2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)
13. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
14. The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
15. The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
16. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
17. The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
18. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)