Gary Ponting (born 17 January 1975) is an English former professional snooker player.
Career
Ponting was born in 1975, and turned professional in 1993. He reached the last 32 of the 1994 World Championship, losing 2–10 to Willie Thorne, and the same stage of the 1996 Thailand Open, where Peter Ebdon whitewashed him 5–0.
He then progressed to the last 16 of another four ranking events, most notably at the 1998 UK Championship, where he made five century breaks including a 138, which was the highest of his career.
He reached a career-high ranking of 49th for the 1999–2000 season, retaining his top-64 place until the start of the 2002–03 season. Having suffered a loss of form, however, he entered only one further tournament, the 2003 World Championship, where he lost 1–10 in qualifying to India's Manan Chandra.
By 2003, Ponting's ranking had slipped to 73rd and he lost his professional status at the age of 28.
Performance and rankings timeline Tournament1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03RankingNew players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking173113748575495353He was an amateurRanking tournamentsLG CupThe event was called the Grand Prix (1993/1994–2000/2001)LQLQLQ1RLQLQ1RWDLQABritish OpenLQLQLQLQQFLQLQQFLQAUK ChampionshipLQLQLQLQ3R3R1RLQLQAWelsh OpenLQLQLQLQ1R1R1R1RLQAEuropean OpenThe event was called the Irish Open (1998/1999)LQLQLQLQNHLQNot HeldLQAScottish OpenThe event was called the International Open (1993/1994-1996/1997)1RLQ3RLQLQLQ3RLQ1RAWorld Championship1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQNon-ranking tournamentsThe MastersALQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQAFormer ranking tournamentsAsian ClassicThe event was called the Dubai Classic (1993/1994-1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)LQLQLQLQTournament Not HeldGerman MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996-1997/1998)Not HeldLQLQWDNRTournament Not HeldMalta Grand PrixNHNon-Ranking EventLQNRNot HeldChina OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998-1998/1999)Tournament Not HeldNRLQLQLQLQNHThailand MastersThe event was called the Thailand Open (1993/1994-1996/1997)LQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQNRFormer non-ranking tournamentsStrachan ChallengeLQ1RTournament Not Held Performance table legendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi–finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
References