Martin Gould (born 14 September 1981) is an English former professional snooker player from Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. He has appeared in four ranking finals and won one ranking title, the 2016 German Masters.
Gould began his professional career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2000, at the time the second-level professional tour. In 2002, Gould won his first English Amateur Championship, beating Craig Taylor in the final. Gould reached the semi-finals of the 2002 European Championship.
Gould enjoyed a good run in the qualification for the 2003 World Snooker Championship, winning eight matches, beating Alain Robidoux and Stephen Maguire. Gould's campaign ended when he lost to Patrick Wallace. However, he dropped off the Main Tour after this sole season and barely played for the next four years, due to looking after his terminally ill mother.
Gould returned to action in 2007 as he won his second English Amateur Championship, beating David Lilley 8âÂÂ7 in a dramatic black-ball decider, as Lilley potted the black only for the white ball to go in-off. He then won the English Play-offs in Leeds to ensure his return to the Main Tour for 2007âÂÂ08 season.
Gould reached the last 32 of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, beating Matthew Stevens 5âÂÂ4 from 0âÂÂ3 down in the last 48. He also won multiple qualifying matches at both the UK Championship and World Championship qualifying events, although he did not ultimately qualify for either event. He finished the season inside the top 64.
Gould came through qualifying for the 2008 UK Championship, beating Supoj Saenla 9âÂÂ1, Tom Ford 9âÂÂ6, and in the final qualifying round overturned a 2âÂÂ5 deficit to overcome Dominic Dale 9âÂÂ6. In the first round Gould faced eventual champion Shaun Murphy. Murphy went 7âÂÂ3 ahead before Gould rattled off four frames in a row to bring the score back to 7âÂÂ7, but Murphy held on to seal a 9âÂÂ7 victory. Gould then also reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, at the 2009 Welsh Open, beating Stephen Hendry 5âÂÂ3 in the last 32. Solid qualifying results in the remainder of the season helped him into the top 48 in the world rankings for 2009âÂÂ10 season meaning Gould had only to win two matches to qualify for events. In the World Championship qualifying, Gould defeated Rodney Goggins 10âÂÂ7, David Gilbert 10âÂÂ8 and former top-16 player Matthew Stevens 10âÂÂ4 to qualify for the World Championship, where he lost in the first round. Despite dismal results during the first tournaments of 2009âÂÂ10 season, he again returned to the Crucible the following year and defeated Marco Fu 10âÂÂ9 in the first round. In the second round he spectacularly led Neil Robertson 6âÂÂ0, 11âÂÂ5 and 12âÂÂ10, playing arguably his best snooker ever, before ultimately losing 12âÂÂ13. Robertson went on to win the championship that year.
Gould had a strong start to the 2010âÂÂ11 season, reaching the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters after beating Stephen Hendry 5âÂÂ3, and scored his major ranking quarter-final at the World Open, where he lost 1âÂÂ3 to Peter Ebdon. He performed successfully during the minor-ranking PTC events, his best result being the final of the Event 6, where he lost 3âÂÂ4 to Dominic Dale despite Dale needing snookers in the decider. Having qualified to the PTC Grand Finals, in March 2011 Gould reached his first career final, where he was beaten 0âÂÂ4 by Shaun Murphy. Gould once again qualified for the World Championship, and defeated Marco Fu 10âÂÂ8 in a repeat of the previous year's first round match. Gould was then defeated by reigning China Open champion and eventual World Championship runner-up, Judd Trump.
Gould began the 2011âÂÂ12 season by qualifying for the first two ranking events of the year, the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters, being knocked out in the first round by Stephen Hendry in the former and in the second round to Matthew Stevens in the latter. His consistent performances were enough to see him break into the elite top 16 for the first time in October, meaning he would no longer have to qualify for the ranking tournaments.
In November, Gould won the Power Snooker, a new cue sport tournament which was introduced in 2010, beating reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. This was the last Power Snooker tournament to be held. Gould finished 2011 by reaching the final of PTC Event 11, where he lost to Tom Ford 3âÂÂ4. He also reached the semi-finals of Event 9 and Event 12 to finish 10th in the Order of Merit and seal his place in the Finals, where he lost 1âÂÂ4 to eventual winner Stephen Lee in the last 24. Gould's recent rise up the world rankings earned him a place in the prestigious Masters tournament for the first time in 2012. Only the top 16 are invited to the event with Gould drawing Shaun Murphy in the first round and being beaten 2âÂÂ6. After breaking into the top 16, Gould only won two matches in ranking events during the rest of the campaign. His season ended with three successive first round defeats, culminating in an 8âÂÂ10 loss to David Gilbert in the World Championship. He finished the season ranked world number 14, meaning he had climbed 7 places during the year.
The 2012âÂÂ13 season was a year of contrasts for Gould as he won three tournaments, but failed to perform in the ranking events. He began with a 3âÂÂ5 defeat to Jamie Cope in the Wuxi Classic, but then beat Ken Doherty 5âÂÂ3 and Cao Yupeng 5âÂÂ4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open where he lost 2âÂÂ5 to Mark Davis. Gould then won his first professional title carrying ranking points at the minor-ranking Second PTC event of the season. He beat Stephen Maguire 4âÂÂ3 in the final and credited his work with new coach Stephen Feeney as a major reason for his success. He couldn't translate this form in to the main ranking tournaments though, as he lost in the first round of the next three events and lost his qualifying match in another three to drop out of the top 16. At the Snooker Shoot-Out, the event where each match is played over one frame lasting 10-minute under shot clock rules, Gould won the title by beating Mark Allen in the final. The ã32,000 cheque he received is the biggest of his career to date. Despite following this up with first round defeats in the World Open and PTC Finals, Gould had won Group 5 of the Championship League to qualify for the Winners Group. There he won three of his six matches to progress to the semi-finals where he beat Ding Junhui 3âÂÂ0, before seeing off Ali Carter 3âÂÂ2 to win the tournament with a century break in the deciding frame. Gould's season ended when he lost 5âÂÂ10 to Shaun Murphy in the first round of the World Championship to finish the year ranked world number 25, a drop of 11 places from the start season.
In the ranking events of the 2013âÂÂ14 season, Gould reached the second round on four occasions but could never advance beyond this point. He also lost in the qualifying rounds for five other tournaments. Gould's best result on the European Tour was at the Rotterdam Open where he lost in the quarter-finals 3âÂÂ4 to Mark Selby. For the second successive year he qualified for the Winners' group of the Championship League and won through to the semi-finals where he beat Stephen Maguire 3âÂÂ0. Gould was unable to defend his title however, as he was defeated 1âÂÂ3 in the final by Judd Trump. As the tournament is non-ranking Gould was unable to halt his slide down the rankings which meant he needed to win three qualifying matches to reach the first round of the World Championship. He did so with comprehensive 10âÂÂ1 victories over Mitchell Travis and Igor Figueiredo and then beat Liang Wenbo 10âÂÂ7. Gould played Marco Fu over whom he had already beaten twice in the event before, but he was unable to extend this into a hat-trick of triumphs as he lost 7âÂÂ10. He fell five more places this season to end it as the world number 30.
Gould won three matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2014 Wuxi Classic and came from 0âÂÂ57 down in the deciding frame against Stephen Maguire to beat him 5âÂÂ4. In Gould's first ranking event semi-final since 2011 he was defeated 4âÂÂ6 by Joe Perry. He was knocked out in the last 16 of both the Australian Goldfields Open and Shanghai Masters. In October, he reached the final of the Bulgarian Open, but lost 2âÂÂ4 to Shaun Murphy. At the inaugural World Grand Prix, Gould knocked out Alan McManus 4âÂÂ1, Mark Selby 4âÂÂ2 and Peter Ebdon 4âÂÂ2 to meet Judd Trump in the semi-finals. Gould made a 111 break to go 5âÂÂ1 up, but incredibly lost five frames in a row (during which Trump outscored him 395âÂÂ37) to be defeated 5âÂÂ6. He had a chance to exact revenge in the very next event as he met Trump again in the quarter-finals of the PTC Grand Final after eliminating Michael White and turning the tables on Shaun Murphy, but was beaten 2âÂÂ4. However, Gould's good season ended with a surprise 6âÂÂ10 loss to amateur Adam Duffy in the first round of World Championship qualifying.
Gould's season began at the Australian Goldfields Open, where he beat Marco Fu 5âÂÂ4, Michael Holt 5âÂÂ3 and Matthew Selt 5âÂÂ1. He then eased past Stephen Maguire 6âÂÂ1 in the semi-finals to play in the second ranking event final of his career, in which he made two centuries and came back from 5âÂÂ7 down to level John Higgins at 8âÂÂ8. Gould had the first chance in the deciding frame, but could only score eight points as an 89 break from Higgins denied him the title. Gould qualified for the Shanghai Masters by beating Liam Highfield 5âÂÂ2 in the final round of qualifying, and beat Barry Hawkins 5âÂÂ1 in the last 32, before getting revenge on John Higgins for the defeat in Australia by beating him 5âÂÂ3. He crashed out to Stuart Bingham 4âÂÂ5 in the quarter-finals despite leading 4âÂÂ2. Gould would also suffer disappointment at the UK Championship as he let a 5âÂÂ1 lead slip against underdog David Grace in the quarter-finals, losing 5âÂÂ6 after having several chances to close out the victory.
At the German Masters, Gould defeated Mark Williams 5âÂÂ4 in the last 32, Ben Woollaston 5âÂÂ0 in the last 16, Judd Trump 5âÂÂ4 in the quarter-finals (after having suffered three close losses to him the previous season), Graeme Dott 6âÂÂ2 in the semi-finals and Belgian Luca Brecel 9âÂÂ5 in the final to win the first ranking title of his professional career. Gould lost in the final of the Gdynia Open 1âÂÂ4 to Mark Selby. After being knocked out in the second round of the World Grand Prix by Shaun Murphy, Gould ended the season with three first round defeats, culminating with an 8âÂÂ10 loss to Ding Junhui at the World Championship.
A run of failing to get past the third round of a ranking event in the 2016âÂÂ17 season ended when Gould played in the 2017 German Masters. The defending champion beat Jamie Jones 5âÂÂ0, Ricky Walden 5âÂÂ3 and Ryan Day 5âÂÂ2 to face Ali Carter in the semi-finals and he was defeated 2âÂÂ6. The run gave Gould the final place for the World Grand Prix and he edged out Mark Selby 4âÂÂ3, before losing 3âÂÂ4 to Joe Perry. Gould won three matches to qualify for the World Championship and fell 2âÂÂ7 behind John Higgins in the opening session of the first round. He threatened a fightback upon his return, but would be eliminated 6âÂÂ10.
At the 2019 World Championship, Gould was defeated 710 by Mark Williams in the first round. At the 2020 World Championship, Gould beat Stephen Maguire 103 in the first round, before losing 913 in the second round to Kyren Wilson.
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