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Rory McLeod

McLeod won the first professional title of his career during an excellent 2009/10 season.

The Pokerstars.com Masters qualifying tournament in Prestatyn saw him beat Daniel Wells, Ricky Walden, David Gray and Ben Woollaston to reach the final, where he hammered Andrew Higginson 6-1 to earn a wild card to snooker’s greatest invitation tournament.

"It’s been a long time coming. I’ve won loads of pro-am events but this one is more prestigious and it’s great to be able to take home a trophy," said father-of-three McLeod, who coaches the Qatar national team. "I wanted to win this all week, I just had to keep calm. I’ve done the job now so I’m happy.

"The Masters is such a big tournament, I went to Wembley to see Paul Hunter win it in 2001 and it was a great atmosphere. Only the big boys play there and after the Crucible it’s the next venue you want to get to."

However his debut at Wembley Arena did not go to plan as he lost 6-2 to Mark Williams.

McLeod also got to the last 32 of the Pukka Pies UK Championship, losing 9-7 to Ali Carter, and the same stage of the Sanyuan Foods China Open, losing 5-0 to wild card Liu Chuang. He finished the season with a rise of five place in the rankings to No 34.

The previous season saw McLeod become the first black player to qualify for the Crucible. Wins over Andy Hicks and Ian McCulloch put him on the road to Sheffield where he faced Mark King. It wasn’t a match for the purist and it needed three sessions for King to scrap through 10-6.

He is based in Wellingborough though his parents come from Jamaica. McLeod is a devout Muslim and often listens to versus of the Koran on his ipod in between matches.

He was a promising footballer in his youth and supports Liverpool FC. During a break from his snooker career he had spells as a hairdresser and pub landlord.  

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