David Grace (born 5 May 1985) is an English professional snooker player and painter. After being a successful junior and amateur player, notably winning the English Amateur Championship in 2005 and 2008, he became a professional in 2008, gaining his place by winning the 2008 European Snooker Championships, where he beat Craig Steadman in the final.
In 2009, Grace took part in the men's singles snooker competition at the World Games in Kaohsiung, finishing as the runner-up in this event, winning the silver medal. He entered the 2015 UK Championship as the world number 81, but progressed through to his first ranking event semi-final which he lost 6âÂÂ4 to Liang Wenbo. Grace fell off the tour in 2018, but regained his place on the tour in 2019 after finishing in the top two on the 2018âÂÂ19 Challenge Tour ranking list. This earned him a two-year card for the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons.
As a new player on the tour Grace would need to win four qualifying matches in order to reach the main draw of the ranking events. He failed to win more than one match in each of his first six attempts to do this until he played in the qualifying for the China Open. There he beat Daniel Wells, Barry Pinches and Matthew Selt, before losing 4âÂÂ5 to Tom Ford in the final round.
Grace played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events throughout the season, with his best finishes coming in Event 10 and Event 12, where he reached the last 16. He was ranked 63rd in the PTC Order of Merit. Grace ended the season ranked world number 77 and would ordinarily be relegated from the snooker tour as he did not finish in the top 64 who retain their places. However, due to his performances in the PTC events, he earned his place for the 2012âÂÂ13 season.
Grace reached the final round of qualifying for the 2012 Shanghai Masters after seeing off Michael Leslie, Li Yan and Xiao Guodong, but was edged out 4âÂÂ5 by former world champion Peter Ebdon just one match away from reaching the main stage of a ranking event for the first time. He played in all ten Players Tour Championship events this season, where he enjoyed his best result in the PTC Event 1 by beating James Gillespie, Jimmy White and Gareth Allen, before losing to Jack Lisowski. Grace was placed 74th on the PTC Order of Merit. His season ended when he was beaten 9âÂÂ10 by Craig Steadman in the first round of World Championship Qualifying. Grace fell 11 places in the rankings during the year to finish it world number 88.
Grace went one better than last season in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 Shanghai Masters by winning four matches, concluding with a 5âÂÂ2 victory over Tom Ford, to reach the main stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career where he was whitewashed 5âÂÂ0 by Barry Hawkins. He lost his first match in all eight remaining ranking events after this. Grace also had his best form in the early part of the season in the European Tour events by reaching the last 16 of the second event, the Rotterdam Open, where he was beaten 4âÂÂ1 by Mark Davis. This helped him to finish 53rd on the Order of Merit, which saw Grace earn a fresh two-year place on the tour for the 2014âÂÂ15 and 2015âÂÂ16 seasons.
At the minor-ranking Yixing Open, Grace won three matches to reach the last 16 where he was whitewashed 4âÂÂ0 by Ryan Day. Grace qualified for the first ranking event of the 2014âÂÂ15 season, the Wuxi Classic by beating Jimmy Robertson 5âÂÂ4, but he lost 5âÂÂ1 to Judd Trump. This last 64 appearance proved to be his best result in a ranking event this year.
In the qualifying rounds for the 2015 Shanghai Masters, Grace beat Joe O'Connor 5âÂÂ3, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5âÂÂ2 and Cao Yupeng 5âÂÂ4 to reach the final round. He faced Ali Carter and defeated him 5âÂÂ3, a victory he described as the best of his career afterwards. Grace was due to play Mark Selby in the first round, but he received a bye after Selby withdrew due to family bereavement. In the second round Grace was knocked out 5âÂÂ1 by Mark Allen. At the UK Championship, Grace defeated Andrew Higginson 6âÂÂ1, Robert Milkins 6âÂÂ2, Jack Lisowski 6âÂÂ4 and Peter Ebdon 6âÂÂ2 to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career. He fell 5âÂÂ1 down to Martin Gould, but remarkably won five successive frames to eliminate him 6âÂÂ5. In the semi-finals, Grace built a 4âÂÂ2 advantage over Liang Wenbo, but saw it erased to be 5âÂÂ4 behind. He then missed a simple pink in the next frame which would have taken the match to a decider, stating afterwards that he had twitched on it. Despite this, Grace earned ã30,000 for his first last four showing after he had made ã13,000 in the previous two seasons. His form continued into the Gibraltar Open where he won four matches to meet Liang in the quarter-finals and was beaten 4âÂÂ1. However, Grace could only win two out of nine matches during the rest of the season which included making his debut at the World Grand Prix (lost 4âÂÂ2 to Mark Allen in the first round). Grace finished a season inside the top 64 in the world rankings for the first time as he was 60th.
At the Paul Hunter Classic, Grace beat Sean O'Sullivan 4âÂÂ0 and Matthew Stevens 4âÂÂ3 and then did not drop a frame in eliminating Jack Lisowski and Robbie Williams. This saw him play in his second career ranking event quarter-final in which he led Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3âÂÂ1, but lost 4âÂÂ3. Grace was beaten 4âÂÂ1 by Barry Hawkins in the third round of the English Open and lost in the quarter-finals of the Shoot-Out to Shaun Murphy.
Grace then qualified for his first World Championship by overcoming Thor Chuan Leong 10âÂÂ6, Mark Joyce 10âÂÂ6 and Akani Songsermsawad 10âÂÂ3 and played Kyren Wilson in the first round. Grace only trailed 5âÂÂ4 at the end of the first session after being 5âÂÂ1 down and then made a century to be 7âÂÂ6 behind. However, Wilson then took three successive frames to win 10âÂÂ6. His end-of-year ranking of 44 is the highest Grace has ever been.
He dropped off the tour at the end of the 2017/18 season but entered Q School in an attempt to win back a place. However, his bid to regain professional status ended unsuccessfully, as he lost in all three 2018 Q School events.
Grace also works at the Northern Snooker Centre and sells his own portrait paintings of snooker players.