Dave Harold

Harold retired from professional snooker after dropping off the tour at the end of the 2014/15 season.

His greatest moment in snooker came in 1993 when he won the Asian Open in Bangkok. He started the tournament a 500-1 outsider but knocked out Dene O’Kane, Stephen Hendry, Paul Tanner and Paul Davies to reach the final, then thrashed Darren Morgan 9-3 to take the title. “I’m elated. This must rank as my best ever result and I’ll never forget it,” said Harold after the match.

The Stoke cueman went on to reach the final of the 1994 Grand Prix and graduate to the top 16. Victories over Neal Foulds and Rod Lawler took him to the quarter-finals of the 1996 World Championship before his run was halted by Nigel Bond.

Harold reached his first ranking event final in 14 years at the 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast. He beat Ricky Walden 5-2, Graeme Dott 5-3, Stephen Lee 5-4, Stephen Maguire 5-2 and John Higgins 6-4.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m in the final,” he said after beating Higgins to set a new record for the longest gap between ranking finals, having played his previous one at the 1994 Grand Prix. “I felt full of confidence coming here but I didn’t expect this. I’ve got stronger as the tournament has gone on.”

However, Ronnie O’Sullivan proved too potent a force in the final as Harold fell to a 9-3 defeat.