Name: Mark Joyce
DOB: August 11th, 1983
Nationality: English
Turned Pro: 2006
Highest Ranking: #57 (2009/10)
Current Ranking: #58
Highest Break: 130 (2007 World Championship Qualifiers)
Career Highlights: 2009 Grand Prix Last 32, 2001 European Under-19 Champion, 2005 English Open Champion, 2006 English Amateur Champion, 2008 Masters Qualifier Finalist
Junior Career
A promising junior, Mark has not yet kicked on and really progressed in the same way as might be expected for someone with his amateur record. He is moving up the rankings nicely now however and it might just be that he turns out to be a late developer, particularly if his excellent run in the 2008 Masters qualifiers is anything to go by.
His most notable successes as an amateur were victories in the English Open in 2005 and the Pontins’ under-20 trophy in 2003, as well as at international level in the European under-19′s Championships, winning the event in 2001 and reaching the final a year later.
Mark in action at the Northern Snooker Centre
Main Tour
Having qualified for the Challenge Tour (now the PIOS) in 2003, he won an event during the the 2005/6 season his way to fifth place which earned him a crack at the main tour the following year. While his debut season on the main tour was largely unspectacular, a run to the third qualifying round of the season-ending World Championship, (thanks in part to the retirement of Robin Hull), gave him enough points to just cling on to his main tour place as the eighth best player on the one year rankings who finished out of the top 64.
Having had this reprieve, his second season was a fair bit better as he won matches in a number of events to move up to 59th in the rankings and at least consolidate his place on the main tour. His best performance of the campaign came during the Grand Prix where he emerged from a very tough first group which included the likes of Mark Davis, Jimmy White and Robert Milkins to qualify for the TV stages in Aberdeen. Once there though he struggled badly and finished bottom of his group, losing all of his matches in the process.
Recent Form
2008/9 has seen more of the same for Mark who encouragingly has won at least one match in each of the tournaments to have taken place so far which has boosted his provisional ranking up to a new high of 49. If he can keep this up then he is right in with a shout of a spot in the top 48, good progress for a player who could do with moving up the rankings in the near future if he is to avoid being left behind by some of snooker’s other young guns.
At the NSC again in July 2009
2008 Masters Qualifiers
His best run however came in the 2008 Masters qualifying event where he went all the way to the final. Having defeated Peter Lines in the first round, it looked like he would have it all to do in his next match against 2007 event winner Barry Hawkins, but sensationally he won the match 5-0 to cause a big upset. He seemed to gain confidence from this as he went on from there to defeat Kuldesh Johal, Andrew Higginson and then most notably, Bahrain finalist Matthew Stevens, all in final frame deciders, to reach the final.
Although that match proved to be one match too far, losing 6-1 against an inspired Judd Trump, his run had been by far the best of his professional career and it will be interesting to see if he can keep up this form during the coming seasons…
2009/10
After an early exit in the Shanghai Masters, Mark got his 2009/10 season off to a terrific start at the Grand Prix with wins over Andrew Norman, Michael Judge and Barry Hawkins to reach the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time. Though he was handed a tough draw against defending champion John Higgins in Glasgow and duly lost 5-1, his run was a marked improvement on his previous results in 2009.
Mark at the 2010 World Championship qualifiers
From there his season continued to be steady as he won three of his next opening matches, but he could not make it back to another venue, the closet he got being at the World Championship when reached the final round only to lose out there to Stoke’s Jamie Cope.
Although his ranking would actually drop for the following season, his consistent form saw him earn 7,740 points during 2009/10, well in excess of his 6,438 from 2008/9.
1 Response to “Mark Joyce”