Hugh Abernethy (born 23 December 1967) is a Scottish former professional snooker player.
Born in Scotland in 1967, Abernethy turned professional in 1994. In his first season, he beat Richy McDonald, Steve Lemmens and Karl Broughton en route to the last 128 of the 1994 European Open, but lost at this stage 0âÂÂ5 to Wayne Brown. He could not progress beyond the fourth qualifying round in any other event, but his performances were sufficient that he ended the season with a ranking of 343.
Moderate success followed in 1994-95, as Abernethy reached the last 64 in the 1995 Benson & Hedges Championship, the qualifying event for the Masters, beating Ashot Potikyan 5âÂÂ0 before losing 4âÂÂ5 to Jason Prince, and the fifth qualifying round of the 1996 Welsh Open, where he defeated Ian McCulloch 5âÂÂ2, but lost 3âÂÂ5 to John Giles. He reached the same stage in the 1996 World Championship, where he lost 1âÂÂ5 to Joe Perry.
Starting the 1996-97 season ranked 244, Abernethy immediately improved his personal best performance, again beating McCulloch before losing 1âÂÂ5 to Fergal O'Brien in the last 96. In the 1997 World Championship, he won three matches - beating Karl Beare 5âÂÂ2, Jason Pegram 5âÂÂ4, and Joe Grech 10âÂÂ5, to reach the last 128, but lost there 1âÂÂ10 to Nick Dyson. He thus improved his ranking to 167 at the season's conclusion, but this was not enough for him to keep his place on the main tour, and after failing to progress through Qualifying School in 1997, he reverted to amateur status for 1997-98.
On the UK Tour, Abernethy found success, recording a quarter-final finish in Event 3 and, in Event 5, beating Dermot McGlinchey, Brian Rowswell, Leigh Robinson, Tony Knowles, Jason Weston and Grech again en route to the final, where he lost 5âÂÂ6 to Paul Sweeny. Despite this defeat, his performances on the UK Tour earned him an immediate return to the professional tour.
The 1998-99 season started poorly in ranking events for Abernethy, his best showing a last-96 appearance in the 1999 Scottish Open, where he lost to Lee Walker, but he continued his good form in non-ranking and pro-am events, reaching another quarter-final at Event 1 of the UK Tour and losing 3âÂÂ5 to Peter Lines in the semi-finals of the 1998 Merseyside Professional. In the 1999 Thailand Masters, he made a breakthrough, defeating Ali Carter 5âÂÂ2, Karl Burrows 5âÂÂ1, Joe Johnson 5âÂÂ4, Prince 5âÂÂ3, and most notably Jimmy White 5âÂÂ3 to qualify for the tournament proper - where, selected to compete in the wildcard round, he followed these performances with a 5âÂÂ3 victory over Atthasit Mahitthi to reach the last 32 of a ranking tournament for the first time. There, having led Mark Williams 3âÂÂ2 and made a break of 50 in the eighth frame, he lost that frame 50 points to 55, and the match 3âÂÂ5.
Starting the 1999-2000 season ranked 132, Abernethy continued where he had left off, beating Dene O'Kane and Prince again to reach the last 64 of the 1999 British Open, but there he lost 4âÂÂ5 to James Wattana. His best performance of the season came in the same event as in the previous, the 2000 Thailand Masters; this time, he overcame Troy Shaw, Matthew Couch, Jonathan Birch, and Brian Morgan to qualify again for the last 32, but could not progress any further, losing 2âÂÂ5 to Ken Doherty.
The 2000-2001 season was steady for Abernethy, as he recorded three appearances in the last 64 of a ranking event, at the 2000 British Open, the 2000 Grand Prix, and the 2001 Thailand Masters. As a consequence, he broke into the top 100 of the rankings for the first time, finishing the season ranked 80. He was unable to rise any higher in 2001-2002, dropping to 87, but came within one win of qualifying for the 2002 Masters in reaching the final of the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. Having compiled a break of 135 to beat Shaun Murphy 6âÂÂ4 in the semi-finals, he held Ryan Day to 5âÂÂ5, but eventually lost 5âÂÂ9. Further poor results followed in the 2002-03 season, and at its conclusion Abernethy, ranked 119, dropped off the main tour for the second time.
Competing on the Challenge Tour for the 2003-2004 season, Abernethy lost in the second round in Event 1 to Steve James, but rediscovered his best form in Event 2, where he overcame Shailesh Jogia and Paul Davison to reach the final, in which he whitewashed Gary Wilson 6âÂÂ0, and carried this over to Event 4, where he beat Davison again before losing 4âÂÂ5 to Wilson in the quarter-finals. These results were enough to secure another immediate return to the main tour.
Abernethy's first season back as a professional was disappointing, as he failed to progress beyond the last 80 in any event except the 2004 Grand Prix, where he lost in the last 64 to Stephen Lee. He began the following season ranked 81, but could not improve upon this performance, only equalling it in beating Sean Storey and Patrick Wallace before losing in the last 64 of the 2006 China Open to Wattana. He lost 3âÂÂ10 to Jogia in the first qualifying round of the 2006 World Championship, and was relegated for the third and final time from the main tour, aged 38.
After falling off the main tour, he continued playing at amateur level in the Pontins International Open Series, reaching three event quarter-finals in 2007 and one in 2009, and in the 2010-11 season he entered two Players Tour Championship events; after beating Rhys Clark 4âÂÂ0 to qualify for the first of these, he led Barry Hawkins 2âÂÂ0 and 3âÂÂ2 in the last 128, but succumbed 3âÂÂ4. He withdrew from the next event, and did not compete thereafter.