Michael Wasley (born 23 February 1990) is an English former professional snooker player.
Wasley turned professional after qualifying via Event 3 of 2012 Q School and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012âÂÂ13 and 2013âÂÂ14 snooker seasons. He won five matches in the event, concluding with a 4âÂÂ3 victory over Fraser Patrick. His biggest achievement to date is reaching the last 16 of the 2014 World Championship.
Wasley's first match as a professional was a 5âÂÂ4 win against Liam Highfield in qualifying for the 2012 Wuxi Classic. He lost 1âÂÂ5 to Passakorn Suwannawat in the following round. In November, Wasley qualified for the main draw of a ranking event for the first time. He beat Jack Lisowski 5âÂÂ1 and former world champion Peter Ebdon 5âÂÂ3 to reach the last 32 of the German Masters, where Neil Robertson comfortably beat him 5âÂÂ1. Wasley also qualified for the Welsh Open thanks to wins over Anthony McGill and top 16 player Mark Davis. He led 2âÂÂ1 in the last 32 against Andrew Higginson, but lost three frames to bow out of the event 2âÂÂ4. Wasley saw off Sean O'Sullivan in the first round of World Championship Qualifying, but his season was ended in the next round as James Wattana beat him 10âÂÂ7. Wasley finished his first year on tour ranked world number 80.
Wasley reached the Wuxi Classic, the first ranking event of the 2013âÂÂ14 season, thanks to Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal for medical reasons and lost 5âÂÂ1 against Gerard Greene in the first round. He played at the main venue in four more ranking events but lost in the first round in all of them. His best run in European Tour events was at the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup where he saw off James Wattana, Zhang Anda and Peter Ebdon, before being beaten 4âÂÂ3 by Jamie Jones. Two other last 32 exits helped Wasley finish 47th on the Order of Merit.
In qualifying for the World Championship, Wasley squeezed past Sydney Wilson 10âÂÂ9 and then beat Rory McLeod and Mark Joyce both 10âÂÂ6 to stand just one victory away from playing in the sport's biggest event for the first time. He played world number 16 Robert Milkins in a dramatic match that went to a respotted black in the deciding frame which Wasley potted to reach the Crucible. In the first round, Wasley caused one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history by eliminating world number two Ding Junhui 10âÂÂ9 after having trailed 6âÂÂ3 at the end of the opening session. In the second round he fell 7âÂÂ1 down to Dominic Dale and could never recover as he was beaten 13âÂÂ4. Despite this run, Wasley could not quite reach the top 64 in the rankings as he was placed number 72, which would have seen him relegated from the tour. However, he received the fourth of eight spots available on the European Tour for non-qualified players to earn a new two-year tour card for the 2014âÂÂ15 and 2015âÂÂ16 seasons.
Wasley won three matches to reach the final qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters, where he was narrowly beaten 5âÂÂ4 by Dominic Dale. At the European Tour event the Victoria Bulgarian Open, Wasley faced Judd Trump in the last 16 and made a 133 break to send the match into a deciding frame in which he made a 75 break from 73âÂÂ0 down to play Peter Ebdon in the quarter-finals and lost 4âÂÂ1. He would go on to finish 29th on the Order of Merit, just outside the top 24 who qualified for the Grand Final. His best runs in full ranking events this season were a pair of last 32 exits at the German Masters (5âÂÂ1 to Shaun Murphy) and the Welsh Open (4âÂÂ2 to Trump). He failed to repeat last year's World Championship performances as he lost 10âÂÂ5 to Alan McManus in the first qualifying round.
Wasley could only win two matches out of 17 during the whole of the 2015âÂÂ16 season. He dropped off the tour at the end of the season as he was placed 87th in the world rankings and he did not enter the 2016 Q School.