Stephen James (born 2 May 1961 in Cannock) is an English retired professional snooker player.
Career
James became a professional snooker player in 1986 based on his results in the Professional Ticket Tournaments in 1985.
In 1988, he was involved in a car accident ten days prior to his World Championship debut which flipped his car over into a field, although he escaped with only cuts, bruises and a black eye. He subsequently became the first debutant to score two centuries at The Crucible in his first round match of the 1988 Snooker World Championship against Rex Williams. He went on to reach the quarter-finals that year.
The high point of his career was his sole ranking title – the Classic in 1990, beating Australian Warren King 10–6 in the final. His world ranking peaked at number seven the following season, the best of his five seasons in the top sixteen.
On 14 April 1990, in his match against Alex Higgins at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, James became the first player to produce a 16-red total clearance in competitive play. In other words, he potted 16 reds and 16 colours consecutively, followed by all the coloured balls in order: a situation that was only possible because he was awarded a free ball before any red had been potted.
A year later he reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, beating defending champion Stephen Hendry in the quarter-finals. He was defeated in the semi-final by Jimmy White.
He made his final appearance at the Snooker World Championship in 1999. He dropped off the World Snooker Tour in 2002, having failed to win a match that season.
Personal life
A former postman, he was born in Cannock, Staffordshire. James became wealthy through snooker, but was banned from driving in 1996, and in 1998 declared himself bankrupt after spending £700,000 on "fast living", even having to sell his practice table. His financial problems saw him turn to drinking heavily. A diabetic, James missed the British Open in 2004 due to a kidney infection.
Performance and rankings timeline
Career finals
Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)
Non-ranking finals: 3 (1 title)
Pro-am finals: 3 (1 title)
References
