Shokat Ali

Shokat Ali (born 4 March 1970) is an English snooker player of Pakistani descent, who represents Pakistan in international tournaments.[1]

Shokat Ali
Born (1970-03-04) March 4, 1970
Accrington, England
Sport country Pakistan
Professional1991–2007
Highest ranking34 (2002/2003)
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (x1)
Medal record
Men's snooker
Representing  Pakistan
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bangkok Individual
World Games
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Akita Individual

Career

Ali turned professional in 1991, but his best performance in professional competition came ten years later in the 2001 Thailand Masters where he reached the quarter-finals, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan en route.[2] He first gained notice when he defeated Jimmy White to reach the last 16 of the 1998 Grand Prix,[3] and also enjoyed a run of form in 1999.[4]

He has career earnings of over £240,000 and has a high break of 139. In 1998 Ali became the first man to win a gold medal for cue sports in world competition which he achieved at the Asian Games.[5]

Ali also won an episode on the game show "The Big Break" in 1996. In doing so, he became the first Pakistani snooker player to win the show.

In 2005, his cue was stolen from his car,[6] and he suffered a deterioration of results as he struggled to find another cue he could show his best form using. He dropped off the game's Main professional tour in 2007, but showed signs of a return to form in 2008, winning an event on the secondary PIOS Tour.[7]

Together with fellow player and horse enthusiast Chris Norbury, Ali is co-owner of Elite Snooker Club in Preston.

Ali was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the Pakistani government for his gold medal achievement.

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 1991/
92		 1992/
93		 1993/
94		 1994/
95		 1995/
96		 1996/
97		 1997/
98		 1998/
99		 1999/
00		 2000/
01		 2001/
02		 2002/
03		 2003/
04		 2004/
05		 2005/
06		 2006/
07
Ranking[8][nb 1] [nb 2] 143 110 83 87 76 59 49 69 68 40 34 49 65 54 55
Ranking tournaments
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR LQ
Grand Prix[nb 3] LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R LQ LQ 3R LQ 1R 1R 2R LQ 1R LQ LQ
UK Championship 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R LQ 2R LQ 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ
Malta Cup[nb 4] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NH LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Welsh Open LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ
China Open[nb 5] Tournament Not Held NR LQ 2R LQ LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Classic LQ Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open[nb 6] LQ MR NR Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic[nb 7] LQ 3R LQ LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
German Masters[nb 8] Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 2R NR Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 9] LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ QF LQ NR Not Held NR
Scottish Open[nb 10] NH LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ Not Held
British Open LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ NH NR
Former non-ranking tournaments
China Masters Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held
Pakistan Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
Malta Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held
Poland Masters Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Challenge Tournament Not Held RR RR Not Held
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
DQ disqualified from the tournament
NH / Not Heldevent was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventevent is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventevent is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans 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. The event was also called the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  4. The event was called the European Open (1991/1992–2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)
  5. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  6. The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
  7. The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  8. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  9. The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  10. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1996 China Masters England Rod Lawler 3–6
Winner 1. 1998 Asian Games Malaysia Sam Chong 7–6

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2008 PIOS – Event 3 Wales Michael White 6–3

References
  1. "International Open 1997" Archived 2014-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, by Hermund Årdalen, WWW Snooker, Oslo, Norway, 4 May 2005; accessed 1 March 2007
  2. BBC Sport: Ali shocks O'Sullivan
  3. Asian Image: Shokat's 15 minutes of frame
  4. This is Lancashire: Snooker: Ali makes it through
  5. The Citizen: Snooker: Shokat strikes gold Archived 2007-06-29 at archive.today
  6. "BBC Sport: Ali appeals for missing cue". Archived from the original on 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
  7. World Snooker News: The Wonder Of Cue
  8. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
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