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Ian McCulloch

For Ian McCulloch, the turning point of the 2008/09 season was, quite literally, a pain in the neck.
He made a strong start to the campaign, beating Mike Dunn, Neil Roberson and Mark Selby to reach the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Trophy, before his run was ended by John Higgins.
In the Maplin UK Championship, the Preston Potter thrashed Joe Delaney 9-1 in the final qualifying round to set up a last 32 clash with Ali Carter. But McCulloch was forced to retire from the match after losing the first session 6-2 due to a cricked neck. "I’m heartbroken, I’ve never withdrawn from a tournament before in my life,” he said. "I woke up in the morning and I just couldn’t move my neck. I must have slept really badly.”
Things went from bad to worse for McCulloch in the remainder of the season as he failed to win a match in the last three ranking tournaments and dropped ten places down the rankings to No 35.
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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