David Gray

David Gray (born 9 February 1979) is an English former professional snooker player from London. Gray turned professional in 1996 after becoming the youngest ever winner of the prestigious English Amateur Championship. He went on to win the 2003 Scottish Open, break into the top 16 in the world rankings and reach the final of the 2004 UK Championship (where he made his first of two competitive maximums) - despite these successes early in his career, his form declined until he eventually dropped off the tour in 2010 aged just 31. Career Gray turned professional in 1996, after becoming the youngest winner of the English amateur title in 1995. Gray first qualified for the World Championship aged 19 in 1998 where he narrowly lost in round one to Alan McManus. He first demonstrated his potential by beating future seven-time World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in the first round of the 2000 World Championship, a match in which O'Sullivan scored five . However, he was unable to repeat this success in the second round and lost 1–13 to Dominic Dale, scoring just 208 points, a record low for a best-of-25 match. After winning the non-ranking 1998 Benson & Hedges Championship and following his World Championship performance in 2000, Gray was a consistent tournament quarter-finalist over the next eighteen months, but did not reach his first ranking final until the 2002 Scottish Open. In this tournament, Gray eliminated defending champion Peter Ebdon 6–3 in the semi-finals, having already taken out Stephen Hendry and John Higgins. Stephen Lee eventually defeated Gray in the final, 9–2. However, in the same tournament a year later, Gray again eliminated Higgins and Hendry en route to the final, and this time won the event, defeating newcomer (and another eventual world champion) Mark Selby 9–7.