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Dave Harold

Harold made a fantastic start to the 2008/09 season by reaching his first ranking event final in 14 years.
His brilliant run came at the Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast as he beat Ricky Walden 5-2, Graeme Dott 5-3, Stephen Lee 5-4, Stephen Maguire 5-2 and John Higgins 6-4.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m in the final,” said the Stoke Potter after beating Higgins to set a new record for the longest gap between ranking finals, having played his previous one at the 1994 Grand Prix. “I felt full of confidence coming here but I didn’t expect this. I’ve got stronger as the tournament has gone on.”
However, Ronnie O’Sullivan proved too potent a force in the final as Harold fell to a 9-3 defeat. "I’ve got a lot of positives to take away from the tournament," he said. "I’ve done my ranking the world of good and I’ve shown that I’m still around and I can beat the top players. I can keep this form going and get better, and I hope it won’t be another 14 years before I get to a final. I still enjoyed it today, but I never really got going and I missed more easy balls than I have done all week."
Harold was steady in events that followed, winning his opening match in six of the first seven ranking events of the campaign, but his bid to regain a place among the top 16 ended when he lost his qualifying match for the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, 10-3 against Liang Wenbo. He finished the season 19th on the list.
Harold slipped down to No 45 at one point, having missed a series of tournaments after breaking a wrist when he fell off his chair during a New Year’s Eve party in 2003.
His greatest moment in snooker came in 1993 when he won the Asian Open in Bangkok. He started the tournament a 500-1 outsider but knocked out Dene O’Kane, Stephen Hendry, Paul Tanner and Paul Davies to reach the final, then thrashed Darren Morgan 9-3 to take the title. "I’m elated. This must rank as my best ever result and I’ll never forget it," said Harold after the match.
The Stoke Potter went on to reach the final of the 1994 Grand Prix and graduate to the top 16. Victories over Neal Foulds and Rod Lawler took him to the quarter-finals of the 1996 World Championship before his run was halted by Nigel Bond.

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