Nigel Bond « Pro Snooker Blog

Name: Nigel Bond

DOB: November 15th, 1965

Nationality: English

Turned Pro: 1989

Highest Ranking: #5 (1996/7)

Current Ranking: #38

Highest Break: 140 (2004 Grand Prix)

Career Highlights: 1996 British Open Champion, 1997 Regal Scottish Champion, 1996 Malta Grand Prix Champion, 1995 World & Thailand Classic Finalist, 1990 Grand Prix Finalist, 1989 English Amateur Champion

In short

A professional for nearly 20 years, it is easy to forget just how good a player Nigel Bond has been over the years. But for the exceptional talents of Stephen Hendry who was responsible for ending his hopes at the Crucible on a number of occasions, Bond would undoubtedly have won more than the one ranking event title that he has.

A solid all-round player, Nigel at nearly 43 years old still remains a threat in the game, pushing for a place in the top 16 having at one point looked doomed to snooker oblivion having fallen out of the top 32. Fair play to him for sticking at it and turning things around though, particularly with the standard as high as it is right now and hopefully he can remain on the tour for a few years yet.

Early career

As an amateur Nigel consistently managed to impress, notably reaching the final of the English Championship in 1986, losing out to Gary Wilkinson. Over the new few seasons he claimed a number of titles, as well as finishing as runner up in three major pro-am events. In 1989 he went one better in the English Amateur Championship, defeating Barry Pinches to take the title before beating Ian Black in the professional ticket play-offs to earn a place on the main tour.

Pro career

It did not take Nigel long to make an impact as a pro as he reached the last 64 in his first event before reaching the semi-finals of the 1989 BCE International where he would lose out to Stephen Hendry. With a quarter-final in the European Open and a run to the last 16 of the Dubai Classic also to his name he ended his first season in an impressive 39th position.

He managed to improve upon this in 1990/1 as he moved up to 21st, aided by a terrific run to the final of the Grand Prix where he would again lose to Hendry. Other notable results included quarter-final places in the UK Championship and the Irish Masters as he put himself in a good position to challenge for a top 16 spot the following year.

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Global Snooker

This he did as he reached four ranking event semi-finals, as well as making his debut at the World Championship in Sheffield. Although he lost in round 1 to Alain Robidoux, his successful season overall had done enough to lift him comfortably into the elite top 16 at 9th position.

He managed to maintain this position the following season as he made another four ranking event quarter-finals. The most notable of these was at the World Championship where having gained revenge over Gary Wilkinson for that 1985 defeat, he lost out to Hendry 13-7.

Indeed the following year was to be a similar story, again reaching the quarter-finals at the Crucible before losing out to Hendry, 13-8 this time. The most notable element of this run however was his amazing comeback from 2-9 in the first round against Cliff Thorburn to win the match 10-9, undoubtedly one of the all-time great comebacks at the Crucible.

World final

It was to be the 1995 World Championship where he was to have his best ever run at the title however. In the first round he beat the up and coming Stephen Lee in a close match before edging Alan McManus to make his third successive quarter-final. This time it indeed proved to be third time lucky as he beat Wilkinson 13-7 and before moving on to defeat Andy Hicks in the semi-final 16-11. Through to his first world final he faced none other than (you guessed it), Stephen Hendry, by now a four time champion at the Crucible. Unfortunately for Nigel it was not to be third time lucky this time as he lost out to the Scot for the third year in a row in Sheffield, 18-9.

British Open glory

Although he lost out in that match, the confidence he took from the tournament helped him to a terrific start to the 1995/6 season, reaching the final of the Thailand Classic, as well as the quarter-finals of the UK Championship. His real moment of glory was to come at the British Open however; one of the most exciting matches ever to be televised on SkySports. After a long match against John Higgins it all came down to the deciding frame that Nigel amazingly managed to win on the final black having required a snooker. Another good run at the World Championship before once again losing out to Hendry in the semi-finals was to follow and overall his results were strong enough to elevate him to a career high ranking of 5th.

1996/7 was to be a mixed season as although he excelled in the invitational events, winning the Malta Grand Prix and reaching the semi-finals of the B&H Masters, his results on the ranking circuit were less impressive. The highlight was a run to the final of the Thailand Open where he lost out to Peter Ebdon, before Stephen Lee gained his revenge in the first round of the 1997 World Championship. With the ranking points from his 1995 final coming off, Nigel’s ranking was to drop to 8th position.

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Global Snooker

Decline

Sadly, despite winning the invitational Scottish Masters, Nigel’s form in the ranking events was to seriously drop off over the next few years, culminating in him dropping out of the top 16 at the end of the 1998/9 season.

After this Nigel continued to find things a struggle, though a run to the semi-final of the Scottish Open in 2002 briefly halted his slide down the rankings. This was to be an exception as at the end of the 2002/3 season he fell out of the top 32 and looked to be in desperate trouble.

He did manage to steady the ship however and manage to retain a top 48 place for the next couple of seasons before moving back into the top 32 for 2005/6.

Revenge

Without setting the world alight, Bond did however manage to qualify for the 2006 World Championship in Sheffield where he was to come up against old foe Stephen Hendry in the first round. By this time Hendry was struggling to maintain his high standards and Bond had as good a chance as ever, moving 6-3 ahead after the first session. Hendry though showed his class, fighting back to eventually level the match at 9-9 and set up one of the most dramatic finishes ever seen at the Crucible.

It went right down to the deciding black, Nigel eventually sinking it to take a historic win…or so he thought, as incredibly the white went into a middle pocket and amazingly we had a respotted black.

Eventually Nigel managed to pot that to seal a sweet win, though he was to lose in the second round to eventual winner Graeme Dott.

Subsequent form

Since that match he has been an ever-present at the Crucible and during 2007/8 performed well consistently enough to remain in contention to regain a spot in the top 16, ten years after he lost it. At 43 years of age, Nigel was now the second oldest player in the top 32 but nevertheless playing as well as he has done in a while.

2008/9

The following season however was to see Nigel’s form decline rapidly as he lost his opening round match in the first six events of the campaign and found himself well down the one-year list as a result. His first win finally came in the China Open tournament against Scotland’s Jamie Burnett but a 5-0 mauling at the hands of Ali Carter out in Beijing soon brought his hopes to an end at the TV stage.

He did though manage to enjoy a relatively successful run at the season-ending World Championship, coming through a nervy final qualifying match with Mike Dunn 10-7 to qualify for the Crucible for the 15th time. Once there he appeared to have a good draw against fellow struggler Peter Ebdon, but then typically for Nigel, Peter went and won the China Open two weeks before their meeting in Sheffield! Still, Bond was not to be disheartened and managed to win the match by a comfortable 10-5 scoreline to earn more precious ranking points.

His run was eventually to come to an end at the last 16 stage against Welshman Ryan Day but by reaching that stage, Nigel had at least done enough to retain his place in the top 32 for 2009/10.

2009/10

Nigel began 2009/10 by taking gold in the World Games with a 3-0 victory over Leeds’ David Grace but his form in the ranking events continued to be patchy as he won just two matches during the first three tournaments of the season to leave his top 32 place in doubt.

A last 16 result at the China Open was to provide him with a boost but defeats in both the Welsh Open and crucially his World Championship qualifier against Pinner Potter Martin Gould saw him drop to 38th position in the rankings at the season’s end.