Michael Leslie (born 28 January 1993) is a Scottish former professional snooker player.

Michael Leslie
Paul Hunter Classic 2012
Born (1993-01-28) 28 January 1993 (age 31)
Bonnyrigg, Scotland
Sport country Scotland
Professional2012–2016
Highest ranking82 (July 2015)[1]
Best ranking finishLast 32 (x1)

Leslie turned professional in 2012 after winning the 2012 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012–13 and 2013–14 snooker seasons.[2]

Career

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Debut season

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Leslie lost his first sixteen matches as a professional, picking up his first and only victory in the first round of World Open Qualifying by beating Michael Wasley 5–3, before losing 1–5 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.[3] Leslie's season ended when he was beaten 4–10 by Dechawat Poomjaeng in the first round of World Championship Qualifying.[4] He finished his first year on tour ranked world number 94.[5]

2013/2014 season

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Leslie could not win more than one match in any event during the 2013–14 season. He did reach the second round of a ranking event for the first time in his career at the UK Championship by coming back from 4–0 down against Jack Lisowski to win 6–4, a performance he described as the best of his career so far, but he then lost 6–3 against Liang Wenbo in the next round.[6][7] Leslie was beaten 10–6 by amateur player Christopher Keogan in the opening round of World Championship qualifying. He was relegated from the main tour as he ended the season ranked world number 101, well outside of the top 64 who remain.[8] Leslie played in the 2014 Q School to try and win his spot back and succeeded in the second event by defeating Eden Sharav in his final match to earn a new two-year tour card for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.[9]

2014/2015 season

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In the qualifying rounds of the 2014 Australian Goldfields Open, Leslie beat Hammad Miah 5–4 and Sam Baird 5–3 to play in the final round, but was narrowly eliminated 5–4 by Marcus Campbell.[10] Later in the season after losing eight matches in a row, Leslie recorded the result of his career to date by defeating Mark Allen, a player ranked 106 places above him in the rankings, 5–1 to qualify for the China Open.[11] There, he reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time with a 5–1 victory over Joe O'Connor, but was thrashed 5–0 by Mark Williams.[10]

2015/2016 season

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A disappointing season saw Leslie fail to qualify for any ranking event other than the UK Championship and Welsh Open, for which he gained automatic entry and he failed to pick up a frame in either of those as he lost in the first round to Gerard Greene and Judd Trump.[12] He finished the season 94th in the world rankings and therefore fell off the snooker tour.[13]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
Ranking[14][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] 94 [nb 4] 105
Ranking tournaments
Australian Goldfields Open A LQ LQ LQ LQ
Shanghai Masters A LQ LQ LQ LQ
International Championship NH LQ 1R LQ LQ
UK Championship A LQ 2R 1R 1R
German Masters A LQ LQ LQ A
Welsh Open A LQ 1R 1R 1R
Indian Open Not Held LQ LQ NH
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 5] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
China Open A LQ LQ 2R LQ
World Championship A LQ LQ LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
World Open A LQ LQ Not held
Wuxi Classic NR 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.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ He was an amateur.
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  4. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points.
  5. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013)

Career finals

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Pro-am finals: 1

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2015 PMK Invitational Pro-Am   Anthony McGill 3–4[15]

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2011 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships   Kacper Filipiak 3–6
Winner 1. 2012 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships   Shane Castle 6–2

References

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  1. ^ "WORLD RANKINGS After 2015 Australian Goldfields Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Leslie's King of the Castle". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Michael Leslie 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Jack Lisowski lets four-frame lead slip in defeat to Michael Leslie". Gloucester Citizen. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Michael Leslie 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  8. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Highfield Breaks Lion's Heart". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Michael Leslie 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Ding Earns Beijing Berth". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Michael Leslie 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  15. ^ "The Cue View – 2015 PMK Scottish Pro-Am". The Cue View. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
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