Peter Ebdon

Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English retired professional snooker player who is a former world champion and current coach.

From the mid-1980s, Ebdon took part in various amateur tournaments and became one of the leading amateurs of his era.

After winning the 1990 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, Ebdon turned professional in the 1991–92 season.

He won the 1990 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, defeating Oliver King 11–9 in the final.

Ebdon turned professional in 1991.

He made his first Crucible appearance at the 1992 World Snooker Championship, reaching the quarter-finals on his debut.

Making his Crucible debut at the 1992 World Championship, he defeated Steve Davis 10–4 in the first round and went on to reach the quarter-finals, losing 7–13 to Terry Griffiths.

This earned Ebdon the WPBSA's Young Player of the Year award.

Winning his first professional ranking title at the 1993 Grand Prix helped him enter the top 16 in the world rankings for the 1994–95 season; he remained consistently in the top 16 until the end of the 2009–10 season, reaching a career high of third.

He won his first ranking title at the 1993 Grand Prix, defeating Ken Doherty 9–6 in the final.

He first entered the top 16 for the 1994–95 season, and rose to a career high of third in the 1996–97 season, a position he reached again in the 2002–03 season.

His second title was the 1995 Irish Masters, defeating Stephen Hendry 9–8 in the final, and reached his first Triple Crown final at the 1995 UK Championship, but lost 3–10 to Hendry.

He made 24 Crucible appearances during his career and reached three World Championship finals, losing 12–18 to Stephen Hendry in 1996, defeating Hendry 18–17 in 2002, and losing 14–18 to Graeme Dott in 2006.

At the 1996 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon defeated Jimmy White in the last 16, Steve Davis in the quarter-finals, and Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals to reach his first world final, which he lost 12–18 to Hendry.

He subsequently won the 1997 Thailand Open, defeating Nigel Bond 9–7 in the final; the 2000 British Open, defeating White 9–6 in the final; and the 2001 Scottish Open, defeating Doherty 9–7 in the final.

He won two Triple Crown titles, the 2002 World Snooker Championship and the 2006 UK Championship.

Ebdon defeated Michael Judge, Joe Perry, Anthony Hamilton, and Matthew Stevens to reach his second world final at the 2002 World Snooker Championship.

He won his only world title, clinching an 18–17 victory over Hendry.

Having started the tournament at odds of 33–1, he stated: "It's what I have been working for and dreaming about for the last 17 years... I wasn't ready to win it six years ago, but I've improved as a player and as a person".

Defending his title at the 2003 World Championship, Ebdon faced Paul Hunter in the quarter-finals.

Ebdon came from 10–12 behind to force a deciding frame, but Hunter clinched a 13–12 victory after a match that lasted 8 hours and 4 minutes.

The slower pace of Ebdon's play after his world title attracted criticism, especially when he played O'Sullivan in the 2005 World Championship quarter-finals.

Ebdon began the third session of the match trailing 6–10, but won seven of the last eight frames for a 13–11 victory, despite making a highest break of 60 and having an average shot time of 37 seconds.

At one stage, Ebdon took three minutes over a shot, and took five minutes to compile a break of 12.

Ebdon stated after the match: "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 sued for libel.

At the 2006 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon led Marco Fu 15–9 in the semi-finals.

Fu won seven of the next eight frames to tie the scores at 16–16, but Ebdon won the deciding frame to reach his third world final, where he faced Graeme Dott.

Trailing 7–15 before the final session, Ebdon won six successive frames, but Dott won the match 18–14.

Later that year, Ebdon won his second Triple Crown title at the 2006 UK Championship, defeating Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals, John Higgins in the semi-finals, and Hendry 10–6 in the final.

At the 2008 World Championship, Ebdon defeated Mark King 13–9 in the second round to reach the quarter-finals.

He lost 9–13 to Ali Carter, who made a maximum break during the match.

This was the last time Ebdon featured in the later stages of a World Championship; his final seven Crucible appearances all ended in first-round defeats.

In the 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy, Ebdon lost 0–5 to Liang Wenbo, making a highest break of 32.

After the match, the Gambling Commission expressed concern about attempts by punters to place unusually large bets for Ebdon to lose 0–5 and not to make a break over 50.

Ebdon won nine ranking titles during his career, placing him in joint 12th position (with John Parrott) on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners.

He won his last ranking title at the 2012 China Open and reached the last of his 18 ranking event finals at the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic.

He retired from the professional tour at the end of the 2019–20 season, aged 49, due to chronic neck and spinal pain.

Known for his intensity and his often controversially slow playing style, Ebdon made 377 century breaks in professional competition, including two maximum breaks.

Since retiring as a player, Ebdon has coached and mentored current professionals including Jack Lisowski, Anthony McGill, Elliot Slessor, and Kyren Wilson.