Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast. He retired in May 2019 after being relegated from the tour. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships but only one final. Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions. He is also a former English amateur champion and Northern Ireland amateur runner-up, and has captained Northern Ireland internationally. He was Irish champion in 1992 and 2005.
Career Swail has had a very mixed 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,Profile on Global Snooker Centre before sliding out of the Top 32 after winning just two matches in 1997–98. 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 No. 10 after his 2001 semi-final, but dropped to 16–27–30–40 in the next few years, finishing with a nightmare season in 2004–05. He then bounced back with an impressive and consistent showing in 2005–06 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 He came from 7–9 behind to beat Judd Trump 10–9 in qualifying for the 2008 World Championship. Swail scored a comprehensive 10–4 victory over Stephen Lee in the first round at the Crucible, before a 12–13 defeat by Liang Wenbo in the second round, after a trademark comeback from 8–12 down, due to a bad miss on the brown in the decider. This caused him to again miss the top 16, finishing the season in 20th place.
He started 2008–09 poorly, with four successive first-round defeats. His first victory of the season was against Liang Wenbo in qualifying for the 2008 UK Snooker Championship. He then reached his firstThe Strachan Challenge which Swail won in 1993 only carried a fraction of the points of a regular ranking tournament so is often dismissed as a ranking tournament since most of the top pros did not compete in it. ever ranking final in his 18-year professional career at the 2009 Welsh Open.BBC Sport: Snooker – Swail makes semis after epic win Swail led the match 5–2, but never won another frame, losing 9–5 to Ali Carter.
After finishing 69th the end of the 2011–12 season, outside of the top 64 that retain their professional status, Swail dropped of the tour after 21 years as a professional.
As an amateur, Swail played in many of the Players Tour Championship events. At the Paul Hunter Classic, Swail defeated players such as Jimmy White, Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins en route to the final, doubling the black ball in a final frame decider against Hawkins. In the final, he was defeated 1–4 by Mark Selby. This not only booked his place on the tour for the following season, but also qualified him for the PTC Finals in Galway, Ireland, where he defeated Stephen Maguire 4–3, despite being 0–3 down. He lost 0–4 in the Last 16 to fellow Northern Irishman Mark Allen. At the 2013 World Snooker Championship, Swail entered the pre-qualifying rounds for amateur players, he won 3 of these matches, as well as his Last 96 and Last 80 matches against Pankaj Advani, and Adam Duffy respectively. He lost his Last 64 match against Mark Joyce 7–10, picking up £4,600 for his efforts.
After regaining his professional status due to his performances in the previous season's PTC events, Swail was able to play in ranking events during the season. He lost in the Last 96 of the Wuxi Classic, 2–5 to Ken Doherty, in the qualifiers for the Australian Open, he beat Darren Cook 5–2, before losing 4–5 in the Last 96 to Pankaj Advani.
Playing style Swail is 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 it has worked for Swail and provides him with an abundance of cue power.
Personal life Swail is congenitally hearing-impaired, and his brother Liam is completely deaf. He has told the BBC that he regards this as an advantage for snooker, as he is less likely to be distracted by crowd and other background noise. Swail's nickname, "the Outlaw", is a pun on his name "Joe Swail" and The Outlaw Josey Wales, the 1976 film. He has a son, Joe Jr. and supports Liverpool F.C.
Performance and rankings timeline Tournament 1990/91 1991/92 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 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 RankingFrom the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.He was an amateur.New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.5325121917223628161016273040301720223954He was not on the Main Tour.New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.726453Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points.91 Ranking tournaments Riga MastersThe event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldMR1RA2R World OpenThe event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)ALQ1R1RSFQF1R1R1R2R2RSF2R1R2R3RRRQFLQLQLQLQALQNot HeldLQLQLQ Tournament Not HeldPro-am EventMinor-Ranking Event2R3R2R China ChampionshipTournament Not HeldNRLQLQ European MastersThe event was called the European Open (1991/1992–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)ALQQFLQ1RSF1RNHLQNot Held1R2R2R1R1RLQNRTournament Not HeldLQ1RLQ English OpenTournament Not Held3R2R1R International ChampionshipTournament Not HeldALQ3RLQLQLQLQ Northern Ireland OpenTournament Not Held1R1R3R UK ChampionshipALQQF1R3R1R2R1R2R3R2R2R2R1R1R2R2R1R1RLQLQLQA1R1R4R1R1R2R Scottish OpenThe event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)Not HeldLQQF1R2R3R1R1R1RQF2RQF1RTournament Not Held MRNot Held3R2R2R German MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)Tournament Not Held1RLQLQNRTournament Not HeldQFLQALQLQLQLQLQLQ World Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNRDNQDNQDNQDNQ Welsh OpenALQSF3RQF1R2R1RSF2RQFQF2R2R2R3R2R1RFLQLQLQA1R1R2R1RA2R Shoot-OutTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event3R2R2R Indian OpenTournament Not HeldLQ2RNH2RLQ2R Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQ2RDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQ Gibraltar OpenTournament Not Held MR1R WD2R Tour ChampionshipTournament Not HeldDNQ China OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)Tournament Not HeldNR1R1R1R1RNot HeldLQQF2R1RLQLQLQLQALQLQLQLQLQLQ World ChampionshipALQ1RLQ2RLQLQ1RLQSFSF1R1R2RLQ1R2R2R1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQ Non-ranking tournaments The MastersALQLQLQ1RLQALQLQLQWR1RWRLQALQLQLQLQLQAAAAAAAAA Championship LeagueTournament Not HeldRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA World Seniors ChampionshipNHATournament Not HeldLQAAALQAAA Former ranking tournaments ClassicLQLQTournament Not Held Strachan OpenThe event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)NH2RMRNRTournament Not Held Dubai ClassicThe event was called the Thailand Classic in 1995/1996 and the Asian Classic in 1996/1997LQLQ1R1R1RQFLQTournament Not Held Malta Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNon-ranking1RNRTournament Not Held Thailand MastersThe event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)LQSF3RQF1R2RLQ1R2R1R2R2RNRNot HeldNRTournament Not Held British OpenLQLQ2R2R1R2R1R2R1RSF2R3R2R3R1RTournament Not Held Irish MastersNon-Ranking Event1RLQLQNHNRTournament Not Held Northern Ireland TrophyTournament Not HeldNR1R2R1RTournament Not Held Bahrain ChampionshipTournament Not HeldLQTournament Not Held Wuxi ClassicThe event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)Tournament Not heldNon-Ranking EventALQLQTournament Not Held Australian Goldfields OpenThe event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and Australian Masters (1995/1996)Tournament Not HeldNRTournament Not HeldLQALQLQLQNot Held Shanghai MastersTournament Not HeldLQLQ1RLQLQALQ1RLQLQLQNR Former non-ranking tournaments World Masters1R Tournament Not Held Kent CupWNHATournament Not Held King's CupWNHA A A Tournament Not Held Charity ChallengeTournament Not Held1RA A A AA A A Tournament Not Held Belgian MastersA A A Not HeldQFTournament Not Held Pontins ProfessionalAA A A A A QFA AATournament Not Held Malta Grand PrixTournament Not HeldSFA QFA ARRRTournament Not Held Irish MastersAAAASFSFAAAAA1RRanking EventNHQFTournament Not Held Scottish MastersAAAAAAAA AALQLQLQTournament Not Held Irish Open Tournament Not HeldW Tournament Not Held Northern Ireland TrophyTournament Not HeldQFRanking EventTournament Not Held Irish Professional ChampionshipNHWQFTournament Not HeldWQFQFTournament Not Held Malta CupRanking EventTournament Not HeldRanking EventRRTournament Not HeldRanking Irish ClassicTournament Not HeldQFSFWASFTournament Not Held Tournament Not Held2RA2RNHAAA2RAAA Shoot-OutTournament Not Held1R1RAA1RSFRanking Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournamentDQ disqualified from the tournament 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.MR / Minor-Ranking Event event is/was a minor-ranking event.
Career finals Ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2009 Welsh Open 5–9
Minor-ranking finals: 2 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1992 Strachan Challenge - Event 1 9–4Runner-up 1. 2012 Paul Hunter ClassicSwail entered the tournament as amateur, having been relegated from the main-tour the previous season, so he received no ranking points. 1–4
Non-ranking finals: 7 (7 titles) OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Winner 1. 1990 King's Cup James Wattana 8–4Winner 2. 1991 Kent Cup Marcus Campbell 5–0Winner 3. 1992 Irish Professional Championship Jason Prince 9–1Winner 4. 1998 UK Tour - Event 2 Alfie Burden 6–1Winner 5. 2003 Irish Open Fergal O'Brien Winner 6. 2005 Irish Professional Championship (2) Ken Doherty 9–7Winner 7. 2009 Irish Classic Fergal O'Brien 5–0
Pro-am finals: 12 (5 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1990 Pontins Autumn Open 1–5Runner-up 2. 2003 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy 5–6Winner 1. 2005 Pontins Autumn Open 5–3Winner 2. 2006 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy 6–1Runner-up 3. 2007 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (2) 1–3Runner-up 4. 2008 Dutch Open 3–6Runner-up 5. 2009 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (3) 1–3 Runner-up 6. 2011 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (4) 2–3Winner 3. 2014 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (2) Michael Judge 3–0Winner 4. 2015 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (3) 3–0Winner 5. 2017 Barry McNamee Memorial Trophy (4) 3–2Runner-up 7. 2018 PMK Invitational Pro-Am 0–4
Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1988 Paul Doran 7–10Winner 1. 1988 British Under-19 Amateur Championship Anton Bishop 3–0Winner 2. 1990 English Amateur Championship 13–11Runner-up 2. 1991 Michael Duffy 9–10
Notes and references
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