Alexander Ursenbacher

Alexander Ursenbacher
Born (1996-04-26) 26 April 1996
Rheinfelden, Switzerland
Sport country   Switzerland
Professional 2013–2015
Highest ranking 102 (June–July 2014)[1]
Career winnings £1,683[2]
Highest break 140 (2013 Q School Event 2)[3]
Century breaks 7[2]
Best ranking finish Last 64 (2014 Wuxi Classic)

Alexander Ursenbacher (born 26 April 1996) is a Swiss former professional snooker player from Rheinfelden. He is Switzerland's second professional snooker player after Darren Paris, who competed on the main tour in the mid-1990s.

Having qualified for the main tour through Q-School in 2013, where he defeated Paul Wykes in his quarter-final match, Ursenbacher lost his professional status upon the expiry of his two-year tour card in 2015.

Career

Ursenbacher started playing snooker in 2008. He has won a host of junior titles in his native Switzerland and has won the national championship twice, due in large part to his stays at Snooker Academies in Sheffield and Gloucester and individual training by former World Championship semi-finalist Ian McCulloch.

In 2013 he turned professional by coming through Q School. After an early defeat in Event One, he played superbly throughout Event Two, losing just one frame in four matches and scoring a top break of 140. He beat nine-time Ladies World Champion Reanne Evans 4–1, then in the final round he saw off experienced former pro Paul Wykes 4–0.[4]

Ursenbacher experienced a tough start to his debut season as a professional, losing his first seven matches. His first win came in November at the minor-ranking Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup against former world champion Ken Doherty, and he was close to following it with another defeat of a world champion in the form of Peter Ebdon in the next round, ultimately losing 4–3.[5] He failed to win another match until the season-ending World Championship, where he came back from 6–2 down to win 10–7 against David Morris.[6] He lost in the next round 10–5 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.[5]

Ursenbacher qualified for the first ranking event of the 2014/2015 season, the 2014 Wuxi Classic, by beating Kyren Wilson 5–4, but had to withdraw from the tournament due to being unable to enter China because of a visa problem. He defeated Martin O'Donnell 5–4 in the first round of qualifying for the Australian Goldfields Open, before losing 5–2 to Lyu Haotian and then lost a further 14 consecutive matches to be relegated from the tour as the world number 119.[7][8] Ursenbacher won five games in the first event of Q School to reach the final round where he lost 4–1 to Daniel Wells.[9][10] In the second event he was eliminated in the last 32 by Joe Roberts.[7]

Out of the three European Tour events Ursenbacher entered in the 2015/2016 season, he reached the first round of the Ruhr Open, where he lost 4–3 to Rod Lawler. He was knocked out in the opening round of the first Q School event, but in Event 2 he won five matches to stand just a game away from rejoining the professional tour. Ursenbacher lost it 4–2 against Alex Borg.[11]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15
Ranking[12][nb 1] UR UR UR UR[nb 2] 120
Ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic Non-Ranking A A WD
Australian Goldfields Open NH A A A LQ
Shanghai Masters A A A A LQ
International Championship Not Held A LQ LQ
UK Championship A A A 1R 1R
German Masters A A A LQ LQ
Welsh Open A A A 1R 1R
Indian Open Not Held LQ LQ
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 3] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
China Open A A A LQ LQ
World Championship A A A LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
World Open A A A LQ NH
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.
  1. ↑ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)

References

  1. ↑ "World Rankings after the 2014 Wuxi Classic" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Career-total Statistics for Alexander Ursenbacher - Professional". CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "2013 Q School - Event 2 - Centuries". CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Qatari And Swiss Qualify For Tour". World Snooker. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Alexander Ursenbacher 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "David Morrs v Alexander Ursenbacher". Love Snooker. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Alexander Ursenbacher 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Swiss on a Roll". World Snooker. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Quartet Earn Tour Cards". World Snooker. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Alexander Ursenbacher 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links

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