Rod Lawler
Quick Facts
Biography
Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971 in Liverpool, England) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style, which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod".
Since turning professional in 1990, Lawler has reached one ranking tournament final - the 1996 International Open, where he lost 3–9 to John Higgins - and won one minor-ranking tournament, Event 3 of the 2012/2013 Players Tour Championship, where he defeated Marco Fu 4–2 in the final.
Lawler has compiled 100 competitive century breaks during his career, including his highest, a 143, in qualifying for the 2003 World Championship.
Career
Early career
He turned professional in 1990. His first season proved to be quite successful as he reached the last 32 in the Dubai Classic, losing out 2–5 to former World Billiards Champion Rex Williams. He then followed this up with a run to the Quarter Finals of the Classic, beating John Virgo 5–3 to qualify, as well as Joe Johnson 5–3 in the second round, before losing 2–5 to Mike Hallett. His best run in a ranking tournament was in 1996, when he reached the final of the International Open, beating World Champion Stephen Hendry 5–3 in the second round, but his run ended in the final where he lost 9–3 to John Higgins.
He also reached the final of the 1994 Benson and Hedges Championship, losing 5–9 to Mark Williams in the Final.
In 1995, Lawler reached the semi-final of the Malta Masters, beating future UK Champion Matthew Stevens in the Quarter Final, however he lost in the semi-final to the home favourite Tony Drago. He followed up this result by reaching the last 16 of the Grand Prix, beating the aforementioned Tony Drago in the last 32, before being whitewashed 5–0 by Stephen Hendry.
Lawler has qualified for the final stages of the World Championship on two occasions, the first being in 1995, where he beat a young Marcus Campbell in qualifying, before losing to Peter Ebdon in the last 32 at the Crucible. He qualified again in 1996, beating former World Champion Dennis Taylor in the final qualifying round. At the Crucible he then beat 1991 World Champion John Parrott 10–6, before losing in the last 16 to Dave Harold by 13 frames to 6, this was, to date, his best World Championship performance.
In 1997, Lawler reached the semi-final of the Benson and Hedges Championship, losing a final frame decider against Andy Hicks.
His best result in the UK Championship came in 1998, where he beat Jamie Burnett and John Read, before losing to Matthew Stevens in the last 16.
Lawler also reached the Quarter Finals of the 2003 Welsh Open, beating players such as Stephen Maguire, Jimmy White and Michael Holt before losing 2–5 to seven time World Champion Stephen Hendry
Recent years
Lawler narrowly missed out on a place in the last 32 in the 2009 China Open, winning three qualifying matches, the last of which was against Matthew Stevens, to reach the venue in Beijing, only to lose 3–5 to local wildcard Yu Delu. In 2010 however, Lawler did reach the last 32 of the China Open, winning three qualifying matches against Matthew Selt, Dominic Dale, and Ricky Walden. Also defeating wildcard Supoj Saenla 5–3, before losing to then number 8 seed Mark Selby
The 2011/12 was a disastrous season for Lawler. He reached the third qualifying round in three ranking events. Apart from that he lost a lot of matches which then proved quite costly at the end of the season as he finished ranked 73, losing his place on the main tour. He then entered the Q School and reached the semi-finals of Event 3 by beating another former professional Joe Delaney to regain his tour place for the next two seasons.
Lawler had a great start to the 2012/13 season as he won all four matches to qualify for the Wuxi Classic. At the venue he defeated Li Hang and Stephen Maguire to reach the last 16 where he was narrowly beaten 4–5 by Graeme Dott. In September he won his first professional title at the UK PTC 3 event defeating Marco Fu 4–2 in the final in Gloucester, Beating the likes of Stuart Bingham, Stephen Lee and Dominic Dale en route to the final.
Following his Gloucester success, Rod continued to perform well, reaching the final qualifying round of both the UK Championship and Haikou World Open tournaments, with his results enough to move him back inside the top 64 provisionally.
His victory over Fu at the UK PTC along with a semi-final run in the European Tour 2012/2013 – Event 6 meant that he qualified for the PTC Finals ranked 7th on the Order of Merit. At the venue in Galway he beat Cao Yupeng by a 4–2 scoreline, only to lose to Kurt Maflin in the last 16 by 4 frames to 3, having led throughout the match.
At the 2013 World Championship, Lawler beat Scottish Amateur Fraser Patrick 10–5, he then resisted an admirable fightback to beat Anthony McGill 10–9, after being 7–2 and 8–3 up. However, in the final qualifying round, he lost 7–10 to World number 21 Martin Gould, despite being 5–2 up at one point in the match, however, the progression to the final qualifying round netted him £8,200.
Lawler earned £49,050 during the 2012/2013 snooker season. He also made 15 century breaks, more than in any previous season.
2013/2014 season
At the Start of the 2013/2014, Lawler was ranked 59th in the World rankings. In the qualifiers for the 2013 Wuxi Classic, Lawler lost his qualifying match 2–5 against Chinese youngster Lyu Haotian. In the qualifiers for the Australian Goldfields Open, Lawler lost his opening match in the last 96 to Scotsman Ross Muir 1–5. Lawler lost his opening game in the Shanghai Masters 1–5 to Mohamed Khairy. Lawler ended this run of bad results to beat Jak Jones 4–0 to qualify for the inaugural Indian Open. He defeated Indian wildcard Kamal Chalwa 4–1, before receiving a bye to the last 32, due to the withdrawal of Ali Carter, however, he was defeated 2–4 by Neil Robertson. He followed this up with a run to the last 16 of the third European Tour event, beating James Cahill, Liam Highfield and John Higgins before losing to Mark Allen 2–4. Lawler also qualified for the International Championship, beating Ian Burns 6–4 in qualifying, he then beat Aditya Mehta 6–4, before losing 4–6 to Fergal O'Brien in the last 32. Lawler lost in the last 64 of the UK Championship, having defeated Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 6–3, before losing 1–6 to John Higgins, he also qualified for the German Masters, defeating Mitchell Travis 5–1 in qualifying. He also managed to qualifying for the World Open, this time defeating Elliot Slessor, also by a 5–1 scoreline.
2014/2015 season
Rod qualified for the first ranking tournament of the season, the Wuxi Classic, beating Vinnie Calabrese 5-3. He faced Shaun Murphy in the first round proper and was defeated 5-1. Rod failed to qualify for both the Shanghai Masters and the Australian Goldfields Open but then reached the a semi-final in the second Euro Tour (PTC) event, eventually losing 4-3 to Mark Allen in a deciding frame. A solid run of results followed, reaching a quarter-final in PTC4 where he eventually lost 4-3 to Robert Milkins, and also reaching the fourth round in the UK Championship where he got his revenge on Mark Allen by beating him 6-4 in the third round, eventually losing 6-3 to Judd Trump. Rod failed to achieve another deep run in a tournament in the rest of the season, but was consistent in the qualifying for the main stages of ranking tournaments, and therefore accumulated enough prize money to finish 39th on the rankings list at the end of the season.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament | 1990/ 91 | 1991/ 92 | 1992/ 93 | 1993/ 94 | 1994/ 95 | 1995/ 96 | 1996/ 97 | 1997/ 98 | 1998/ 99 | 1999/ 00 | 2000/ 01 | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2004/ 05 | 2005/ 06 | 2006/ 07 | 2007/ 08 | 2008/ 09 | 2009/ 10 | 2010/ 11 | 2011/ 12 | 2012/ 13 | 2013/ 14 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking | UR | 54 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 40 | 20 | 26 | 40 | 51 | 51 | 64 | 66 | 53 | 57 | 60 | 46 | 49 | 60 | 61 | 49 | 58 | 73 | 59 | 39 | 39 | 47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Riga Masters | Tournament Not Held | MR | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Open | Not Held | 2R | 2R | NH | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | Not Held | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hunter Classic | Tournament Not Held | Pro-am Event | Minor-Ranking Event | 3R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shanghai Masters | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Masters | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | NR | Not Held | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International Championship | Not Held | LQ | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Tournament Not Held | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | 1R | 2R | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 5R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | 4R | 1R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scottish Open | Not Held | LQ | 1R | 1R | F | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | Not Held | MR | Not Held | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German Masters | Not Held | QF | LQ | LQ | NR | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | SF | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welsh Open | NH | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 2R | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | QF | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship | Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | 2R | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Open | Not Held | NR | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | WR | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Seniors Championship | NH | A | Not Held | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | NH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Not Held | 1R | Ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Variant format tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Snooker Shoot-Out | 2R | Not Held | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classic | QF | 2R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strachan Open | NH | LQ | MR | NR | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dubai Classic | 2R | 2R | 3R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malta Grand Prix | Not Held | Non-ranking | 1R | NR | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thailand Masters | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Not Held | NR | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | WD | 4R | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | LQ | LQ | NH | NR | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Trophy | Not Held | NR | 1R | 1R | LQ | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bahrain Championship | Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wuxi Classic | Not held | Non-ranking | 2R | LQ | 1R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Goldfields Open | Not held | NR | Not held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH |
Performance Table Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi–finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
DQ | disqualified from the tournament |
NH / Not Held | event was not held. | |||
NR / Non-Ranking Event | event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
R / Ranking Event | event is/was a ranking event. | |||
MR / Minor-Ranking Event | event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
Career finals
Ranking event finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Legend |
World Championship (0–0) |
UK Championship (0–0) |
Other (0–1) |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 1996 | International Open | Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins | 3–9 |
Minor-ranking event finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 2012 | Players Tour Championship – Event 3 | Fu, MarcoMarco Fu | 4–2 |
Non-ranking event finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)
Legend |
Masters (0–0) |
Premier League (0–0) |
Other (1–2) |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 1994 | Benson & Hedges Championship | Williams, MarkMark Williams | 5–9 |
Winner | 1. | 1995/96 | Merseyside Professional Championship | Reynolds, DeanDean Reynolds | 5–4 |
Runner-up | 2. | 2000/01 | Merseyside Professional Championship | Holt, MichaelMichael Holt | 3–5 |
Pro-am wins
- Finnish Masters – 1996
- China Masters – 1996
- ^ Turner, Chris. "Merseyside Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Retrieved 20 September 2014.