Joe Swail

Infobox Snooker player
Name = Joe Swail


Caption =
Born = birth date and age|1969|8|29
Birthplace =
Nationality = Irish
Nickname = The Outlaw, The Comeback Kid
Professional = 1991–
High ranking = #10 (2001/02)
Current rank = 20
Prize money = GB£972,715
High break = 142 (China Open, 2000)
Ranking wins =
Minor wins = 1
Other wins =
World champ =

Joe Swail (born August 29, 1969) is a professional snooker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has reached nine major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships but never a final. Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions.

Career

Swail has had a very topsy-turvy history in the rankings. He took just two seasons to reach the Top 32, and three to reach the top sixteen, but only remained there for one season, [http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Players/Global_Europe/Global_Ireland/ni_joe_swail.htm Profile on Global Snooker Centre] ] before sliding out of the Top 32 after winning just two matches in 1997/1998. His 2000 Crucible achievement made him the second player (after Rex Williams) to return to the Top 16 in the rankings after dropping out of the Top 32 in between. He climbed to #10 after his 2001 semi-final, but dropped to 16-27-30-40 in the next few years, finishing with a nightmare season in 2004/2005. He then bounced back with an impressive and consistent showing in 2005/2006 that brought him back into the Top 32. He came close to the Top 16 in 2006/2007, finishing one place short at 17 despite beating Mark Williams in round 1 of the 2007 World Championships from 0-4 down Cite web
url = http://www.thetabletonline.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=32
title = World Snooker Championship 2007 - Day 4
publisher = "The Tablet"
date = 2007
accessdate = 2008-04-05] Cite web
url = http://uuptoday.org/newsroom/2007/04/25/donaldson-applauds-northern-ireland-snooker-players/
title = Donaldson applauds Northern Ireland Snooker Players
publisher = uuptoday.org
date = 2007
accessdate = 2008-04-05] He kept his hopes of a return to the top 16 alive by coming from 7-9 behind to beat Judd Trump 10-9 in qualifying for the 2008 World Championship. [http://www.worldsnooker.com/tournament_news(id19228)-96.htm] A comprehensive 10-4 victory over Stephen Lee in the first round at the Crucible kept him in contention to join snooker's elite Top 16 but in the second round a bad miss on the brown in the decider against Liang Wenbo saw his hopes dashed through a 12-13 loss after a trademark comeback from 8-12 down.

Swail is a former English amateur champion and N. Ireland amateur runner-up, and has captained Northern Ireland internationally.Cite web
url = http://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/worldchampionships2005/profiles/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=snooker/03/04/11/manual_100357.html
title = Profile on Sporting Life
publisher = "Sporting Life"
date =
accessdate = 2008-04-05] He was Irish champion in 2005.

Swail is one of the most likeable players on the circuit, but is also known for his very unorthodox way of cueing up. Instead of keeping his cue-arm vertical as most players do, Swail cues up with his arm bent at least 45 degrees outwards, and his elbow towards his back. Although it appears to be extremely difficult to actually pot balls when cueing like that, and no coach would ever recommend it to a young player, it has worked for Joe and provides him with an abundance of cue power.In his second round match at the 2008 World Championship, Joe potted a black ball quoted as a "1 in 1000 pot" by Willie Thorne.

Personal

Swail is congenitally hearing-impaired, and his brother Liam is completely deaf. [http://www.learntosign.org.uk/events/northernI.htm] He has told BBC that he regards this as an advantage for snooker, as he is less likely to be distracted by crowd and other background noise. The two-table nature of the Crucible Theatre, in which cheering from the other table can often occur as a player takes a shot, may be one reason his World Championship record is especially strong.

Joe's nickname, "the Outlaw", is a pun on his name "Joe Swail" and The Outlaw Josey Wales, the 1976 film. He has a son, also called Joe Cite web
url = http://www.northernshow.biz/joe_swail.htm
title = Profile on northernshow.biz
publisher = Northern Show Biz
date =
accessdate = 2008-04-05] , and supports Liverpool F.C.

Tournament Wins

Minor Ranking Wins

*Strachan Challenge - 1993, leg 1

External links

* [http://www.joeswail.co.uk/ Joe Swail Official Website]

*World Snooker|id=8469

References