Sam Baird

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Sam Baird
Born (1988-06-17) 17 June 1988 (age 36)
Uffculme, England
Sport country  England
Nickname The Blade
Professional 2009/2010, 2011–
Highest ranking 46 (May 2016–present)
Current ranking 46 (as of 2 May 2016)
Career winnings £144,317[1]
Highest break 142 (2013 World Championship Qualifying)
Century breaks 60[1]
Best ranking finish Last 16 (2013 Welsh Open, 2014 International Championship, 2016 World Championship)

Sam Baird (born 17 June 1988) is a professional snooker player from England. He first entered the professional tour for the 2009/10 season, by winning the EBSA Pro-Ticket Tour Play-Offs.

Career

2011/2012 season

Baird reached the main draw of a ranking event for the first time in 2012 by coming through four qualifying matches, concluding with a 4–2 win over Dominic Dale, to make the 2012 Welsh Open.[2] He played against world number 1, Mark Selby in the first round of the event and almost pulled off the result of his career as he led the best-of-seven match, 3–2. Baird then missed a blue off the spot with 2 balls remaining when he required just the blue and pink for the match and, despite chances in the decider, he would lose the game 3–4.[3] Baird also qualified for the 2012 World Open in Haikou, China. He again won four matches, sealing his place with a 5–4 victory over Mark Davis.[4] He was required to play in a wildcard round in China to make the last 32 of the event and was beaten 3–5 by Jin Long.[5]

Baird failed to win a match in qualifying for the final three ranking events and finished the season ranked world number 76, out of the top 64 who retain their places on the tour.[6][7] Baird therefore entered Q School in a bid to play in the 2012/2013 season and succeeded at his first attempt by winning each of his five matches 4–0 to gain a two-year spot on the main tour.[6]

2012/2013 season

Baird produced his best snooker towards the end of the 2012/2013 season as he beat Luca Brecel and Martin Gould to reach the main draw of the Welsh Open for the second successive year.[8] He whitewashed Gerard Greene 4–0 in the first round, before losing 2–4 to Robert Milkins.[9] In qualifying for the World Championship Baird defeated Chen Zhe 10–7, Peter Lines 10–9 and Rory McLeod 10–9 to find himself just one match away from playing in the biggest tournament on the snooker calendar.[8] He faced world number 20 Joe Perry, but it was world number 83 Baird who played by far the better as he won 10–3 and in the 12th frame made a break of 142, the highest of the whole qualifying tournament.[10][11] Baird played Stuart Bingham in the first round, losing 2–10 to finish the year ranked world number 81.[12][13]

2013/2014 season

Baird had a very successful year in European Tour events as he reached at least the last 16 stage in five of the eight events. At the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup he won through to the quarter-finals where he lost 4–1 to Ben Woollaston and he went one better at the Gdynia Open, losing 4–1 against Fergal O'Brien in the semis.[14] This helped Baird finish 11th on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals for the first time.[15] He faced Anthony Hamilton in the opening round and was edged out 4–3.[14] Baird's only win in a full ranking event match this season came at the Welsh Open by beating Robbie Williams 4–2 before being defeated 4–3 by reigning champion Stephen Maguire, having led 3–1.[16] Baird ended the year ranked world number 67, just outside the top 64 who keep their playing rights for the coming season.[17] However, his impressive displays on the European Tour handed him the first of eight spots available to non-qualified players for a new two-year place on the tour.[15]

2014/2015 season

Baird's five appearances at ranking events this season represents the most he has ever played in in a single season. At the 2014 Wuxi Classic he defeated Fraser Patrick 5–3, but lost 5–2 to Michael Holt in the second round.[18] Baird gained some revenge over Holt by beating him to qualify for the International Championship and then saw off Kyren Wilson 6–2 and Mark Davis 6–5 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time in his career. Baird built up a 4–3 and a 61–0 points lead, but Mark Williams made a 71 break to level and won the last two frames to progress.[19] At the Welsh Open he overcame Fergal O'Brien 4–3 and Dave Harold 4–0, before losing 4–2 to Stephen Maguire and he was knocked out in the first round of the Indian Open following a 4–0 defeat against Rod Lawler.[20] In the second round of World Championship qualifying, Baird missed the final pink when on a 147 against Adam Duffy and his season would end in a 10–7 loss.[18]

2015/16 season

A poor start to the season was halted when Baird overcame Rory McLeod, Zhang Anda and Chris Melling all without dropping a frame at the Bulgarian Open, and then beat Jimmy Robertson 4–3 and Judd Trump 4–1 to make the semi-finals of an event for the second time. He was defeated 4–2 by Ryan Day. He lost 4–0 to John Higgins in the second round of the Welsh Open, but a further last 16 showing to add to his semi-final in the European Tour events saw him placed 25th on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Grand Final, but he lost 4–2 to Mark King in the first round.[21] He qualified for the China Open and went 2–0 up on Stuart Bingham before conceding 547 points without reply, a record in ranking events, and went on to lose 5–3.[22] Baird qualified for the televised stages of the World Championship for the second time, and first for three years, courtesy of wins over Thor Chuan Leong, Tom Ford, and Liam Highfield.[23] In the first round, Baird earned his first victory at the Crucible by defeating seeded player Michael White 10–7, making two century breaks in the process.[24] He won four successive frames to level at 11–11 in the second round against Mark Selby, but he recovered to eliminate Baird 13–11.[25]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2009/
10		 2010/
11		 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17
Ranking[26][nb 1] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 3] 82[27] 76[nb 4] 81 67[nb 5] 72 46
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters Tournament Not Held Minor-Ranking
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ 1R NH
World Open[nb 6] LQ LQ WR LQ LQ Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 7] PA Minor-Ranking Event
Shanghai Masters LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
European Championship Tournament Not Held
English Open Tournament Not Held
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 3R LQ
Irish Open Tournament Not Held
UK Championship LQ A LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held MR Tournament Not Held
German Masters NH A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ
Welsh Open LQ A 1R 2R 2R 3R 2R
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR
Players Championship[nb 8] NH DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ 1R
China Open LQ A LQ LQ WR LQ 1R
World Championship LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 2R
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters LQ A A A A A A
Variant format tournaments
Shoot-Out NH A A A A 3R 1R
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic[nb 9] Non-Ranking LQ LQ 2R Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NH
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
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an 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.
  1. ↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ↑ He was an amateur.
  4. ↑ Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points.
  5. ↑ Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points.
  6. ↑ The event was called the Grand Prix (2009/2010), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012−2013/2014)
  7. ↑ The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  8. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  9. ↑ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2009/2010)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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