Alfie Burden

Alfred Burden (born 14 December 1976) is an English former professional snooker player from London. He announced his retirement from the sport on 2 September 2020.

Alfie Burden
Born (1976-12-14) 14 December 1976
Paddington, London, England
Sport country England
Professional1994–2008, 2010–2020
Highest ranking38 (2001/02–2002/03)
Career winnings£487,108
Highest break147:
2016 English Open
Century breaks118
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (2016 China Open, 2016 European Masters, 2017 Gibraltar Open, 2018 Scottish Open)
Tournament wins
Non-ranking1

Career

Burden originally had his eyes set on making a career as a professional footballer, but a badly broken leg curtailed this ambition. He spent a couple of seasons at Arsenal F.C. as a schoolboy apprentice, but was with Swindon Town F.C. at the time of the injury. Burden soon showed he was well above average at snooker and qualified for the World Championship in 1998. He gave Tony Drago a run for his money before losing 8–10.

In the 2006–07 season, Burden qualified for the China Open. He defeated Shokat Ali, Rod Lawler and former top-16 player David Gray to qualify for the tournament but lost in the Wild Card round to Chinese player Mei Xiwen, 2–5. He dropped off the main tour after the 2007/08 season.

On 25 November 2009 he won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Hyderabad, India, beating Brazilian Igor Figueiredo 10–8 in the final. With this he earned a place on the 2010/2011 professional main tour[1] and did well enough over that and the following season to end 2011/12 ranked world number 60, inside the top 64 who retained their places for the 2012–13 season.[2]

Burden had an exceptional 2012/2013 season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events. In the Second Event he beat Andrew Higginson, James Wattana, Barry Hawkins, Robert Milkins and Ryan Day to reach the semi-finals. There, he was defeated 1–4 by Martin Gould.[3] In the European Tour Event 3 played in Antwerp, Belgium, Burden beat Gareth Allen, Joe Swail and Mark King, before losing 3–4 to Neil Robertson in the last 16.[3] These results, together with three other last 32 defeats, helped Burden to 23rd place on the PTC Order of Merit, just inside the top 26 who qualified for the Finals.[4] In the Finals, Burden beat world number one Judd Trump 4–3, clinching the match with a 116 break to reach the last 16, the joint furthest he has ever been in a ranking event and the first since 2000. Burden subsequently lost 2–4 to Xiao Guodong in the last 16.[3] He then reached the final round of World Championship Qualifying with wins over Paul Davison and Dave Harold, but lost 5–10 to Dominic Dale to end the season ranked world number 53.[5][6]

Alfie Burden at 2015 German Masters

Burden qualified for the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic to begin the 2013–14 season, but lost 5–2 to Ali Carter in the opening round.[7] He saw off three players to reach the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open and then beat Michael Holt 5–2 to match his best ever performance in a ranking event.[7] In the last 16 he lost 5–3 against Mark Davis.[8] At the European Tour event, the Gdynia Open, Burden won four matches but was then defeated 4–3 by Sam Baird in the quarter-finals.[9] He finished 34th on the Order of Merit, nine places outside of qualifying for the Finals.[10] Burden got through to the second round of the China Open courtesy of Tony Drago's withdrawal and then lost 5–3 to Jimmy White.[11]

Burden won just two matches in his first eight events of the 2014–15 season[12] but then won four matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the Xuzhou Open, where he lost 4–2 to Tom Ford. He beat David Grace 5–3 and Sam Baird 5–4 in qualifying for the German Masters.[13] Burden defeated Michael Georgiou 5–3 in the first round, closing the match with a 112 break, but fell short of reaching the first ranking event quarter-final of his career as Ryan Day knocked him out 5–2.[12][14] He ended the season 67th in the world rankings which would have relegated him from the tour, but his Asian Tour performances earned him a new two-year card.[15][16]

Burden reached the first ranking event quarter-final of his career in the 2016 China Open courtesy of victories over Robbie Williams, Joe Perry, Rhys Clark and Rory McLeod, where he lost 5–1 to Stephen Maguire.[17] He held a 9–5 advantage over Ryan Day in the second round of World Championship qualifying, before being defeated 10–9.[18]

Burden edged out Ryan Day 4–3 to qualify for the 2016 European Masters and then beat Yu Delu 4–1 and Ricky Walden 4–3 to play in his second career ranking event quarter-final, where he was thrashed 4–0 by Mark Selby.[19]

Four successive wins saw Burden reach the quarter-finals of the minor ranking 2017 Gibraltar Open, where he lost 4–2 to Michael White.

In December 2016 Burden scored his first 147 Maximum Break in competition, coming against Daniel Wells in the English Open. Burden went on to lose the match 4-3 but came away with £12,000 prize money on account of his high break.[20]

In January 2017, Burden was found guilty of placing bets totalling £25,000 on snooker matches including those he had played in. He had bet on himself to win and over the 86 bets in 10 years he had lost £2,995. Burden was fined £5,000 and given a six-month ban, which will only come into force if he bets on snooker again before January 2018.[21] His second quarter-final of the season came at the Gibraltar Open and he made breaks of 131 and 109 to force a deciding frame with Nigel Bond, but lost it.[22]

Burden went into Qualifying for the 2018 World Championships in danger of losing his place on the Tour and in need of a good showing to retain his place. He achieved this, clinching the deciding frame in the second round of qualifying to beat higher-ranked player David Gilbert 10-9 and secure his place on the Tour for two more years, despite having finished the season outside the top 64, on account of his performances in the 2017/18 season. Burden lost out to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10–8 in the final round of qualifying and thus failed to emulate his achievement of 1998 in reaching the last 32 and a place at snooker's biggest stage, the Crucible Theatre.

In December 2018 Burden defeated former world champions Peter Ebdon and John Higgins on his way to reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open. Remarkably, in rounds 2 and 3 he came back from 3-0 down to win 4–3 against Marco Fu and Zhang Yong, respectively. A lacklustre performance in the quarter-final resulted in a 5–0 loss to the eventual tournament winner Mark Allen.

He has the highest number of centuries for any player never to have been ranked in the top 32.

Burden announced his retirement from snooker on 2 September 2020. [23]

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 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		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20
Ranking[24][nb 1] [nb 2] 262 186 122 77 61 50 38 38 59 70 70 67 74 [nb 3] [nb 3] [nb 2] 57 60 53 50 [nb 4] 65 60 [nb 5] 77
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 6] Tournament Not Held MR LQ LQ 1R LQ
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 3R LQ
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 1R LQ LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 1R 2R
World Open[nb 7] LQ LQ LQ 3R LQ LQ 2R 2R LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held 1R 1R LQ 2R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 1R 1R
UK Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R
Scottish Open[nb 8] LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R 1R LQ 2R LQ Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 1R 2R QF 2R
European Masters[nb 9] LQ LQ LQ NH LQ Not Held 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NR Tournament Not Held QF 2R 1R 1R
German Masters[nb 10] NH LQ LQ LQ NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held Variant Format Event 3R 1R WD 1R
Players Championship[nb 11] Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR QF 4R 1R 2R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A 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 A LQ LQ LQ A A A A A A A A A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Dubai Classic[nb 12] LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Non-Ranking Event 2R NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 13] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ NR Not Held NR Tournament Not Held
British Open LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ NH NR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 14] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 15] NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 16] Tournament Not Held Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R 3R NR
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ NH 1R 1R LQ NH
China Open[nb 17] Not Held NR LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held LQ LQ WR LQ A A LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R QF 1R LQ LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Finnish Masters NH QF Ranking Event
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held 2R 2R 1R 3R 4R A Ranking Event
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 Heldevent was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventevent is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventevent is/was a ranking event.
RV / Ranking & Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking & variant format event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
VF / Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. He was not on the Main Tour.
  4. Players qualified through Asian Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points.
  5. Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points.
  6. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  7. The event was called the Grand Prix (1994/1995–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  8. The event was called the International Open (1994/1995–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  9. The event was called the European Open (1994/1995-1996/1997 and 2001/2002-2003/2004), Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  10. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  11. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  12. The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  13. The event was called the Thailand Open (1994/1995–1996/1997)
  14. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  15. The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  16. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  17. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1998 UK Tour Event 1 Anthony Davies 6–5
Runner-up 1. 1998 UK Tour Event 2 Joe Swail 1–6

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2008 PIOS - Event 5 Chris Norbury 2–6
Winner 1. 2009 IBSF World Snooker Championship Igor Figueiredo 10–8

References
  1. "2009 IBSF World Snooker Championships". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  2. "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  3. "Alfie Burden 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  4. "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  5. "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  6. "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  7. "Alfie Burden 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  8. "Snooker - Fu recovers to knock out Murphy in Australia". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  9. "Gdynia Glory For Maximum Man Murphy". World Snooker. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  10. "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  11. "China Open: Jimmy White and Peter Ebdon win second-round ties". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  12. "Alfie Burden makes last 16 of snooker's German Masters". Welwyn Hatfield News. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  13. "Alfie Burden 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  14. "Berlin loss for Welwyn Garden City's's Alfie Burden". Welwyn Hatfield News. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  15. "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  16. "Asian Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  17. "Maguire Snatches Crucible Seeding". World Snooker. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  18. "Ryan Day comeback denies Alfie Burden as Ding Junhui remains on course for World Snooker Championship qualification". Live Snooker. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  19. "Alfie Burden 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  20. "Burden Makes First 147". World Snooker. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  21. "Alfie Burden: Snooker player banned for betting on matches". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  22. "Alfie Burden 3–4 Nigel Bond". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  23. https://twitter.com/ABOFLONDON/status/1301279247886159876
  24. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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