Steve Duggan

Steve Duggan

Born	10 April 1958 (age 60)
Sport country	England
Professional	1983–1996
Highest ranking	35 (1986–1987)
Career winnings	£84,948[1]
Highest break	133 (1993 Grand Prix qualifying)
Century breaks	4
Best ranking finish	Quarter-final (1985 Matchroom Trophy)

Steve Duggan (born 10 April 1958) is an English former professional snooker player.

Career

Born in 1958, Duggan turned professional in 1983. He reached the last 32 of his first tournament, the 1982 Professional Players Tournament, losing 2–5 to Ray Reardon, but made little progress over the next two years. In the 1985 Matchroom Trophy, Duggan defeated veteran Fred Davis 5–1, the still-competitive Reardon 5–4, Ian Black of Scotland 5–1 and Willie Thorne 5–4 before losing in the quarter-finals, 2–5 to Cliff Thorburn having at one stage led Thorburn 2–1. This marked the best run of Duggan's career up to, and after, that point, and helped improve his world ranking for the 1986-87 season to 35th.

Further success followed; Duggan played Rex Williams in the last 32 of the 1986 International Open, losing 4–5, and Jimmy White in the last 16 at the 1987 Classic, where White defeated him 5–2. At the British Open that year, he lost 2–5 to Thorne in the last 32, but a 3–10 loss to Tony Chappel in qualifying ended his World Championship hopes.

The following year, Duggan progressed further in the World Championship, but was defeated 5–10 by John Virgo in the last 48.

The 1988-89 season saw a resurgence in form, as Duggan reached the last 32 of the 1988 International Open, Grand Prix, Canadian Masters, UK Championship, and in 1989 made his first appearance at the Crucible Theatre, in the last 32 of the World Championship. He had managed to comfortably defeat Fred Davis and John Spencer alongside Mark Rowing in the qualifying rounds, but was considered an underdog to his first-round opponent, the popular Welshman Cliff Wilson. Duggan led Wilson 5–0 and beat him 10–1, but was eliminated 3–13 by Steve Davis in the last 16; Davis would go on to win that year's championship.

After this, however, Duggan's form slipped again, and he fell out of the top 64 in 1992, ranked 84th in the world. Finishing the 1995-96 season 228th, Duggan lost his professional status thereafter, aged 38.

References