OnlineSnooker - Joe Swail

BORN 29th August 1969
BIRTHPLACE Belfast, Northern Ireland. Lives in Manchester
TURNED PRO 1991
EARNINGS 00/01 Ł145,550
RANKING 10
HIGHEST RANKING 10

Achievements

2001 - Embassy World Championship - semi-finalist
2000 - Embassy World Championship - semi-finalist
1999 - British Open - semi-finalist
1996 - European Open - semi-finalist
1994 - Grand Prix - semi-finalist
1993, 1999 - Welsh Open - semi-finalist
1992 - Irish Professional Championship
1992 - Strachan Challenge
1991, 1992 - Kings Cup

Biography
Joe Swail and his elder brother Liam both became fanatical about snooker at the same time. Joe was nine years old and Liam was 11 when their parents bought them a 4x2 table for Christmas and Joe instantly fell in love with the game.

A couple of years later Christmas brought a 8x4 table and Joe and Liam continued to improve.

Both brothers are congenitally deaf, which eventually deterred Liam from playing but Joe claims that it actually helped him at times in that he could block out distractions when playing. When Joe was 14 his uncle took him to local social clubs in Belfast to play on a full size table. Little Joe had to take a beer crate to stand on and run the gauntlet of having to prove, that as a junior, he was good enough to play on the sacred tables. He graduated to local leagues and learned from the older amateurs, for whom he had great admiration.

By the time he was 18 Swail dipped his toe into the big pro-am circuit in England, eventually winning the prestigious English Amateur Championship in 1990, a natural springboard to professional snooker.

After his auspicious amateur career Swail turned professional in 1991 along with hundreds of other hopefuls. He marked himself out from the pack by reaching No.53 in the rankings after just one season. In the same season he took the Irish professional title at his first attempt, defeating Jason Prince 9-1.

His form as a professional, however, proved a bit erratic. He won the Thailand Kings Cup twice and the Strachan Challenge, but to date, his best efforts in major ranking events have been semi-final appearances.

In the 1998/99 season Swail went a long way towards rescuing a career that for the previous couple of years had been sliding towards oblivion. His season started with two strokes of luck when he received walkovers in two of the overseas qualifying matches at Plymouth. Spurred on by his good fortune he won three matches in each of the Thailand Masters and China International to qualify for the overseas trips. His best result of the season came in the 1999 Regal Welsh, where he reached the semi-finals, losing out eventually to Stephen Hendry.

The 1999/2000 started well, with a semi-final appearance in the British Open, after a superb comeback in the quarter-finals against Alan McManus - whom Swail beat 5-4 from 4-1 down. But the highlight of the season was his superb performance in the Embassy World Championship. Having beaten Paul Hunter, he recovered from 12-8 down to beat John Parrott in the deciding frame and went on to reach his first Crucible semi-final.

That effort earned him a special award from the sponsors and a Performance of the Year award from the WPBSA.

Best of all for Swail, it ensured his returned to the top 16, the only player to climb back into the top 16, having previously dropped out of the top 32.

The early part of last season was problematic, and Swail didn't win his first match in a ranking event until the Welsh Open in January. He went on to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach the quarter-finals, and another last eight appearance - in the Scottish Open - secured his top 16 position for another season.

But Swail once again saved his best snooker of the season for The Crucible. After trailing Sean Storey 9-7 in the first round he came through with a 10-9 win. A further comeback against defending champion Mark Williams in the last 16 saw him fight from 11-7 and and 12-11 down in the final session for a 13-12 victory.

Swail beat best friend Patrick Wallace to reach the semi-finals at The Crucible for the second year in succession before succumbing to Ronnie O'Sullivan 17-11. And although the Belfast man was disappointed not to reach his first ever ranking event final, he had once again won the hearts of snooker fans.

Away from the table, Joe likes football and supports Liverpool - whose cup treble last season brought a broad smile to Joe's face. He lives in Manchester with girlfriend Tracey and their son, Joe Jnr.