John J. Astley (born 13 January 1989) is an English former professional snooker player from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Astley first came into prominence in 2007 by winning the national Under-19 title (defeating Michael Georgiou in the final), however wins in the amateur PIOS tournaments proved hard to come by. His attempts to qualify for the main tour via Q School in 2011 and 2012 were unsuccessful as well. Nevertheless, Astley gained enough sponsorship to be able to enter all the PTC events in the 2012âÂÂ13 season as an amateur. He reached the last 32 stage three times and finished fourth highest ranked amateur on the Order of Merit, winning a tour card for 2013âÂÂ14 and 2014âÂÂ15 seasons.
Astley won his opening match of the season 5âÂÂ2 against Mike Dunn to reach the main draw of the Wuxi Classic. In his first appearance in a ranking event Astley was whitewashed 5âÂÂ0 by Robert Milkins. He won a match in a ranking event for the first time by edging out Ken Doherty 6âÂÂ5 in the UK Championship, a performance he described afterwards as the best of his career. He lost 6âÂÂ1 against Stuart Carrington in the next round. Astley also qualified for the China Open with a 5âÂÂ2 success over Robbie Williams and then came through a wildcard round match once in China, before losing 5âÂÂ1 to Ding Junhui. Astley beat Sam Baird 10âÂÂ9 in the first round of World Championship qualifying, but his season ended in his next match with a heavy 10âÂÂ2 loss to Jamie Cope. He finished his debut season on the tour ranked world number 98. Astley was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award at the World Snooker Annual Award Ceremony.
Astley's 2014âÂÂ15 season proved to be disappointing as he could not qualify for any ranking event, other than the UK Championship and Welsh Open for which he gained automatic entry. He lost in the first round of the UK 6âÂÂ2 to Jamie Cope and beat David Gilbert 4âÂÂ1 at the Welsh, before Gary Wilson knocked him out 4âÂÂ3 in the second round. Astley played in all six of the minor-ranking European Tour events but could not win a match in any of them. After losing his first qualifying match for the World Championship to Dominic Dale, Astley was relegated from the tour as he was ranked 86th in the world.
Astley entered the 2016 Q School and in the second event he beat Peter Lines 4âÂÂ0 to secure a two-year tour card.
At the 2016 Riga Masters, Astley beat Joe Perry 4âÂÂ1, Andy Hicks 4âÂÂ2 and Jimmy Robertson 4âÂÂ1 to play in the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career, where he lost 4âÂÂ1 to Mark Williams. He also reached the third round of the Indian Open and Paul Hunter Classic and was defeated 4âÂÂ2 by Nigel Bond and 4âÂÂ1 by Zack Richardson. Astley qualified for the International Championship by overcoming Peter Ebdon 6âÂÂ3 and then saw off Mark King 6âÂÂ4 once in China, before losing 6âÂÂ2 to Mark Selby. He recovered to win 5âÂÂ4 from 4âÂÂ0 down against Kyren Wilson to qualify for the German Masters, where he was edged out 5âÂÂ4 by Ricky Walden in the opening round. Astley progressed through to the fourth round of the Gibraltar Open by 4âÂÂ1 victories over Andreas Ploner, George Pragnall and Ben Woollaston and was eliminated 4âÂÂ2 by Ryan Day. He finished his first year back on the tour ranked world number 76.
In March 2016, Astley appeared on-stage at the Sheffield Crucible in Richard Bean's play, The Nap, as the opponent of lead Jack O'Connell's character.