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Ian McCulloch

McCulloch's best run of the 2009/10 season took him to the last 32 of the Grand Prix. He scored 5-4 wins over John Parrott and Joe Swail to qualify for the venue, before losing 5-3 to Mark Allen.

He managed to win his first match in the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship qualifiers, beating Tony Drago 10-6, but, with a place at the Crucible at stake, he fell 10-7 to Barry Hawkins.

McCulloch ended the season with a fall of 13 places in the rankings to No 48.

Lancashire’s leading player, McCulloch has appeared in two ranking finals though he has yet to lift a major trophy.
His first was the 2002 British Open in Telford when he saw off the likes of John Higgins and Mark Williams but eventually lost to Paul Hunter.

The second was at the 2004 Grand Prix when McCulloch was inspired by his local fans at the Preston Guild Hall, beating Stephen Hendry and Stephen Maguire on his way to the final.

Ronnie O’Sullivan ran out a 9-5 winner but McCulloch said: "I’m sure I will win one eventually. It was very special to have a good run on home turf in Preston.”

Later that season, the left-hander enjoyed a brilliant run in the World Championship, beating Dott 10-9, Williams 13-12 and McManus 13-8 to reach the semi-finals.

He put up an impressive fight against Matthew Stevens but it was the Welshman who went through 17-14.
"I thought it was going to be my year but Matthew deserved to win," admitted McCulloch. Those results put him into the official top 16 of the rankings, although Shaun Murphy’s Crucible triumph allowed him to leapfrog McCulloch in the seedings and bump him down to No 17.

The father-of-two enjoys playing golf, keeping fit and supporting Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. His quick-witted nature has made him popular on the exhibition circuit around Lancashire.

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