MATCHROOM
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Player Profile: Dominic Dale
| Category: |
Professional |
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| Name: |
Dominic Dale |
| Born: |
Coventry, England |
| Town / Country: |
Neath, Wales |
| DoB: |
29 December 1971 |
| Club: |
Terry Griffiths
Matchroom, Llanelli |
| High Break: |
145 (1999 UK
Championship) |
| Ranking: |
19th
(1999/2000) |
| Turned Pro: |
1992 |
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| Biography: |
Welshman Dominic was actually born in Coventry, England but
later moved with his family to Wales. Originally christened
Christopher, he later changed it to Dominic. Nicknamed
"Spaceman" he is one of the more eccentric players on the tour
with a somewhat strange dress sense and has been known to change
the style and colour of his hair from time to time.
He won the Welsh amateur title in 1991 which qualified him for
the world amateur championships held that year in Bangkok. He
went all the way to the final where he lost 11-9 to local man
Noppadon Noppachorn. He then joined the professional circuit for
the 1992/93 season.
After reaching the last 64 in the European Open in his first
season he achieved a ranking of 164 and in the next he got to
that stage in two events going on to the last 32 in one of them.
This helped him to move up to 99th. He went a stage further in
1994/95 reaching the last 16 of the Dubai Classic which, with
two other last 64 appearances moved him up another 20 places.
The next season however saw him drop back to 87th although he
did achieve his first win as a professional in one of the WPBSA
non-ranking events, the Malay Masters.
1996/97 was a much better season for Dominic. After reaching the
final stages of four events including a last 16 spot in the
British Open, he qualified for the world championship for the
first time and, at the Crucible, he knocked out Tony Drago to
reach the second round. This moved him up to 54th but no one
could have predicted what would happen in the following season.
The first event in 1997/98 was the Grand Prix at Bournemouth.
Wins over Steve Davis and Jimmy White among others took Dominic
into his first major final. There he met John Higgins, the world
number two, and, to everyone's surprise, came out a 9-6 winner
and collected his biggest pay cheque of £60,000. Two other last
16 finishes catapulted him into the top 32 at number 23. Even
though he failed to get beyond the last 32 in 1998/99, he moved
up to 19th. The following year was highlighted by a semi-final
in the Thailand Masters and ended with a quarter-final at the
Crucible.
He was now ranked 20th and over the next two seasons, although
he was quite consistent, he failed to reach any quarter-finals
and has been stuck on that same position ever since. A regular
member of the Welsh Nation's Cup team, he looked as if he needed
just a few good finishes to make that final push into the top
16. 2002/3 however was something of a disaster and he only won
three matches on the ranking circuit never getting past the last
32 and dropping to 28th in the rankings, his lowest for six
years.
Away from the table, he used to have a huge collection of
billiards memorabilia particularly cues but he sold the whole
collection a couple of years ago when he moved from
Llanfihangel-ar-arth to Penarth and bought a flat overlooking
the sea.
He now has an interest in Art Deco of the 30s.
In 2003 Dominic was on the move again, selling his flat in
Penarth and moving to Neath. At the same time he moved his
practice base to the Terry Griffiths Matchroom in Llanelli. |
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Achievements:
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Masters Qualifying Event Finalist - 2003-4
World Professional Championship quarter-finalist 2000
Grand Prix champion 1997
Nations Cup winner 1999 (Welsh Team)
Thailand Masters semi-finalist 2000
Welsh Amateur champion 1991
IBSF World Amateur Championship runner-up 1991
Chris Turner
June 2003
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