Michael Judge

This article is about the snooker player. For the animator, see Mike Judge. For the Roman Catholic priest, see Mychal Judge.

Michael Judge (born 12 June 1975 in Dublin) is a former professional snooker player from Ireland. His best performance in a ranking event came in the 2004 Grand Prix, where he reached the semi-finals,^[1] and he reached his highest ranking, 24th, for the 2002–03 season.

Michael Judge

Born	(1975-06-12) 12 June 1975 (age 49) Dublin, Ireland
Sport country	Ireland
Professional	1992–2011, 2021–2023
Highest ranking	24 (2002/03)
Best ranking finish	Semi-final (x1)

Career

Judge qualified for the World Championship three times, his best performance coming in the 2001 tournament, after knocking Jimmy White out in qualifying^[2] and John Parrott in the first round,^[3] before being knocked out by fellow Dubliner Ken Doherty.^[4] He lost to eventual champion Peter Ebdon in the first round a year later.^[5]

In 2006–07 he had something of a return to form, climbing 10 places in the rankings to 34th, after five successive falls from his career high of 24th, aided by a last 16 run in the Welsh Open. He then reached the last 16 of the Grand Prix early in the 2007–08 season,^[6] and repeated this at the Welsh Open in Newport, by beating Nigel Bond and Graeme Dott, both 5–4, before succumbing to a 5–2 defeat by Stephen Lee. He did enough in the rest of the season to return to the top 32 of the rankings. However, he slipped straight back out the following season after two last sixteen runs were tempered by six first round defeats.^[7] In January 2010 he qualified for the Welsh Open, losing to John Higgins in the first round proper.^[8] He quit after the following season but returned to the sport a year later and would go on to win the Irish Amateur Championship in 2013 beating Robert Redmond 8–5 in the final.^[9] He won it again in 2018 and entered the 2018 Q School in a bid to win back his place on the professional snooker tour.^[10] He reached the fifth round in events 2 and 3 but failed to regain a place on the main tour.^[11]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04	2004/ 05	2005/ 06	2006/ 07	2007/ 08	2008/ 09	2009/ 10	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2018/ 19	2021/ 22	2022/ 23
Ranking[12][nb 1]	[nb 2]	262	171	100	71	56	58	67	46	28	24	37	42	43	43	34	30	36	52	[nb 3]	[nb 3]	[nb 4]	87
Ranking tournaments
Championship League	Tournament Not Held															Non-Ranking Event						RR	2R
European Masters[nb 5]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NH	LQ	Not Held		2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	NR	Tournament Not Held				A	LQ	1R
British Open	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	QF	1R	2R	1R	LQ	1R	2R	2R	LQ	Tournament Not Held								1R	LQ
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held																				A	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	3R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	1R	LQ
Scottish Open[nb 6]	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	3R	1R	LQ	Tournament Not Held								A	1R	LQ
English Open	Tournament Not Held																				1R	LQ	LQ
World Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																				DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held																		Non-Rank		1R	1R	1R
German Masters[nb 7]	Not Held			LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held											WD	A	A	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	3R	3R	2R	1R	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ
Players Championship[nb 8]	Tournament Not Held																		DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
WST Classic	Tournament Not Held																						1R
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held																				DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Six-red World Championship[nb 9]	Tournament Not Held																A	A	A	NH	A	NH	LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Dubai Classic[nb 10]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Not Held		Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 11]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	NR	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event										LQ	LQ	2R	NH	NR	Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy	Tournament Not Held													NR	1R	1R	1R	Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship	Tournament Not Held																2R	Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held															WR	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	NR	Not Held
Riga Masters	Tournament Not Held																				LQ	Not Held
World Open[nb 12]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	1R	LQ	1R	2R	1R	SF	2R	RR	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	Not Held
China Open[nb 13]	Tournament Not Held					NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	Not Held
Turkish Masters	Tournament Not Held																					LQ	NH
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held																				A	WD	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Irish Open	Tournament Not Held										QF	Tournament Not Held
Irish Classic	Tournament Not Held															QF	QF	SF	F	A	Not Held
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held																		1R	A	Ranking Event

NH / Not Held				event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event.

1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
2. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
3. He was an amateur
4. Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
5. The event was called the European Open (1992/1993–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
6. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
7. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
8. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2011/2012)
9. The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
10. The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
11. The event was called the Asian Open (1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
12. The event was called the Grand Prix (1992/1993–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
13. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 4 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2006	Irish Professional Championship	Ken Doherty	4–9
Runner-up	1.	2010	Irish Classic	Fergal O'Brien	1–5
Winner	1.	2019	Seniors Irish Masters Qualifying Event	Rory McLeod	4–1
Winner	2.	2019	UK Seniors Championship	Jimmy White	4–2

Amateur finals: 5 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2013	Irish Amateur Championship	Robert Redmond	8–5
Runner-up	1.	2013	IBSF World 6-Reds Snooker Championship	Duane Jones	4–6
Runner-up	2.	2014	Irish Amateur Championship	Martin McCrudden	3–7
Runner-up	3.	2017	European Snooker Open	Darren Morgan	1–4
Winner	2.	2018	Irish Amateur Championship (2)	Rodney Goggins	6–5