Name: Mitchell Mann
DOB: 26th December 1991
Nationality: English
Turned Pro: 2014
Highest Ranking: 89th (2014)
Highest Break: 142 (2014 International Championship)
Career Highlights: 2014 International Championship last 32, 2015 World Championship last 48, 2014 EBSA European Champion
Early Career
Mitchell Mann first picked up a snooker cue at the age of 10, after he was forced to stop playing his first passion of football following his diagnosis of Perthes’ disease, as he described to the Birmingham Mail back in 2010:
“I started to get pains in my leg, which were first dismissed as growing pains. I was eight years old and was going to play for Blues’ Academy, but the hospital – after numerous X-rays – diagnosed Perthes’ disease, a rare disease which rots the hip bone in young boys.
“They told me I had to stop playing football. It was a bit of a blow but I’ve always been quite a sporty person. I was in the house one day and my dad said he was going to take me out. We went to the local snooker club and I’ve played ever since.”
Since starting to play snooker, Mitchell has enjoyed success at junior and amateur levels, winning the Junior Pot Black event in 2007, as well as defeating professionals such as Liang Wenbo, Michael White, Dave Harold and Shaun Murphy at European Tour events during subsequent seasons.
2013/14
Having narrowly missed out at Q School during previous seasons, most notably in 2012 where he lost 4-3 to Robbie Williams in the final match, Mitchell finally earned a coveted main tour place in 2014 by winning the 2014 EBSA European Champion.
Defeating a trio of talented Welsh players from the last 16 stage in order to reach the final, Mitchell there defeated John Whitty 7-2 to take the title in Sofia, Bulgaria and with it, a two-year tour card from the 2014/15 season.
2014/15
Mitchell’s strongest run during his debut season was to come at the International Championship in Chengdu, where having qualified with a 6-5 victory against Peter Lines, he then defeated wildcard Niu Zhuang and Wang Zepeng to reach the last 32.
Beyond that run however, he was to win just one more match prior to the World Championship qualifiers, where he enjoyed victories against Alfie Burden and Gerard Greene before losing out to Alan McManus.
The £9,000 earned in Sheffield was though enough to see him finish the season ranked 88th.