Martin Gould
Martin Gould ( born 14 September 1981 in Pinner, London ) is an English snooker player.
Career
His breakthrough Gould had in 2002 when he won the English Amateur Championship and then qualified first in the Challenge Tour for the subsequent Snooker Main Tour. However, in his first year as a pro he had so little success that he not only immediately fell back out of the rankings, but his ambitions in snooker once turned back four years. He also worked part-time as a croupier in a casino in north London.
In 2007 he returned with full commitment and he was able to continue where he had celebrated his first major success. He again won the English Amateur Championship.
After his return to the professional tour Gould was able to keep in the top 64, he had his greatest success with reaching the final of the Northern Ireland Trophy. The following year, he managed the same for the UK Championship, and at the Welsh Open he reached even the first time at a Main Tour event the Round of 16, First-time qualifying for the finals of the World Snooker Championship 2009 brought him the following season a place in the top 48 in the world rankings.
Through victory over Bjorn Haneveer and Nigel Bond, he qualified in 2010 for the second time in a row for the Snooker World Championship, where he reached the second round for the first time by defeating world number Make Marco Fu. He resigned from 12:13 against Neil Robertson after he had already led 11-5.
In the world rankings, he reached the cut- off point 2 of the 2010/11 season with rank 21 its highest ever position. In the event 6 of the Players Tour Championship, he came to the finals, which he almost lost against Dominic Dale 3:4. In this newly introduced series of minor ranking tournaments he also qualified for the final tournament, where he also penetrated to the final. This time he defeated Shaun Murphy clearly with 0:4. At the World Cup he scored again in the first round to Marco Fu and kept the upper hand again. His next opponent was Judd Trump, who in this tournament got his big break and pushed forward after the victory over Gould to the finals. At the end of the season Gould claimed number 21 in the world rankings.
Gould won the 2011 Power Snooker Masters introduced only last year with a final victory over last year's champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. In the second event of the Players Tour Championship 2012/13, he secured his first minor ranking tournament title by a 4-3 final victory over Stephen Maguire.
In January 2013 he won the Snooker Shoot -Out in Blackpool by a final against Northern Ireland's Mark Allen.
A few weeks later, he won the Championship League his next invitational tournament when he defeated in the final of the Winners Group Allister Carter 3-2.
Personal
Martin Gould is one of the few who wear glasses under the snooker professionals and wears glasses with remarkably small glasses through which he looks away during the actual sighting.
Tournament Win
Minor ranking tournaments
- Players Tour Championship 2012/13 - Event 2
Invitation Tournaments
- Power Snooker Masters - 2011
- Snooker Shoot - Out - 2013
- Championship League - 2013