Lee Walker

Lee Walker (born 11 February 1976) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and former World Seniors Champion. He is an official WPBSA coach^[1] and is the long-term coach of Mark Williams.

Lee Walker

Walker at the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1976-02-11) 11 February 1976 (age 49) Rhyl, Wales
Sport country	Wales
Professional	1994–2006, 2007/2008, 2014–2022
Highest ranking	42 (2000/2001)
Best ranking finish	Semi-final (x1)

Career

After turning professional in 1994 at the age of 18, Walker reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1997, with victories over Dave Harold 10–7 and Alan McManus 13–10, before he lost 13–8 to Alain Robidoux. This was the first time he had reached the latter stages of a ranking tournament, and he also reached the last 16 of the same tournament in 2004 with a 10–7 win over Stephen Lee before losing 13–5 to David Gray. He dropped off the Main Tour after the 2005–2006 season, but returned a year later after a strong campaign on the Pontin's International Open Series, from which the top 8 finishers gain Main Tour places. However he dropped off again at the end of the season.

Walker did however return to the tour in 2014 as he won a 2-year tour card by reaching the semi-final stage of the second event of the 2014 Q School.

2016/2017 season

In 2016–17, he had one of his most impressive seasons to date, the highlight being his run in his home tournament, the Welsh Open. He defeated Rhys Clark, and former world champions Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott before losing in the fourth round to Zhou Yuelong.^[2]

2017/2018 season

In the 2017–18 season, Walker had his best run in a ranking event to date, reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 Gibraltar Open where he was defeated 4–2 by eventual runner-up Cao Yupeng.^[3]

2021/2022 season

Walker won the 2022 World Seniors Championship at the Crucible Theatre. He recovered from 0–3 down to defeat the defending champion David Lilley in the semi-finals, and then came from 1–3 and 2–4 behind to defeat three-time champion Jimmy White 5–4 in the final. Walker became the 11th different winner of the World Seniors Championship.^[4]

2022/2023 season

Walker chose not to enter any tournament in the season, except the invitiational Champion of Champions. After losing his first round match against Mark Selby, he announced that he had already retired from all activities on the main tour, due to business and coaching obligations.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04	2004/ 05	2005/ 06	2007/ 08	2012/ 13	2014/ 15	2015/ 16	2016/ 17	2017/ 18	2018/ 19	2019/ 20	2020/ 21	2021/ 22	2022/ 23
Ranking[5]	[nb 1]	280	189	79	50	46	42	58	76	81	59	58	[nb 1]	[nb 2]	[nb 1]	83	[nb 3]	69	[nb 4]	80	[nb 5]	85	[nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League	Tournament Not Held												Non-Ranking Event								RR	RR	A
European Masters[nb 6]	LQ	LQ	LQ	NH	1R	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Not Held			LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	A
British Open	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held										3R	A
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held																2R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	A
UK Championship	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	3R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	WD	A
Scottish Open[nb 7]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held			MR	Not Held		1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	1R	A
English Open	Tournament Not Held																2R	1R	2R	QF	1R	LQ	A
World Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held														NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held													Non-Ranking			1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A
German Masters[nb 8]	NH	LQ	LQ	1R	NR	Tournament Not Held								A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Welsh Open	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	3R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	2R	1R	4R	1R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	A
Players Championship[nb 9]	Tournament Not Held													DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held																		DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	LQ	LQ	QF	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Non-ranking tournaments
Champion of Champions	Tournament Not Held														A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R
The Masters	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Championship League	Tournament Not Held												A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A
Six-red World Championship	Tournament Not Held													2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	Not Held		A
World Seniors Championship	Tournament Not Held													A	LQ	A	A	A	NH	A	1R	W	1R
Former ranking tournaments
Dubai Classic[nb 10]	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 11]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	NR	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event								LQ	1R	LQ	NH	Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy	Tournament Not Held											NR	1R	Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 12]	Tournament Not Held													A	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 13]	Non-Ranking		Tournament Not Held											A	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held												LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	Non-Ranking		Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 14]	Tournament Not Held										Pro-am Event			Minor-Ranking			3R	1R	QF	NR	Not Held
Indian Open	Tournament Not Held														LQ	NH	LQ	LQ	1R	Tournament Not Held
China Open[nb 15]	Not Held			NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ	WD	A	LQ	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 16]	Tournament Not Held														MR		1R	1R	1R	1R	Not Held
International Championship	Tournament Not Held													A	LQ	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	Not Held
China Championship	Tournament Not Held																NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held
World Open[nb 17]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	3R	1R	2R	LQ	A	Not Held		1R	3R	1R	LQ	Not Held
WST Pro Series	Tournament Not Held																				RR	Not Held
Turkish Masters	Tournament Not Held																					LQ	NH
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held															MR	3R	SF	1R	2R	1R	1R	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Champions Cup[nb 18]	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament

NH / Not Held				means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.

1. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
2. He was an amateur
3. Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points
4. Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
5. Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
6. The event was called the European Open (1994/1995–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
7. The event was called the International Open (1994/1995–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
8. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
9. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2012/2013 and 2014/2015–2015/2016)
10. The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
11. The event was called the Thailand Open (1995/1996–1996/1997)
12. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
13. The event was called the Australian Masters (1994/1995-1995/1996)
14. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
15. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
16. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
17. The event was called the Grand Prix (1994/1995–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
18. The event was called the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1998	Merseyside Professional Championship	Peter Lines	4–5
Winner	1.	2022	World Seniors Championship	Jimmy White	5–4

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2008	TCC Open Snooker Championship	Mark Williams	7–5
Runner-up	1.	2014	Pink Ribbon	Peter Lines	1–4

Amateur finals: 4

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2006	PIOS – Event 3	Leo Fernandez	5–6
Runner-up	2.	2007	PIOS – Event 4	Kuldesh Johal	4–6
Runner-up	3.	2011	IBSF World Snooker Championship	Hossein Vafaei	9–10
Runner-up	4.	2014	Welsh Amateur Championship	Jamie Clarke	6–8