Trivia

He was awarded MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Snooker.

Good friends with Matthew Stevens and Stephen Hendry and boxer Joe Calzaghe.

When he was 15 he did a 12-hour shift down the mines.

Is proud of his Welsh heritage, and has a tattoo depicting the Welsh Dragon eating the English flag.

Won the Masters on two occasions, in 1998 and 2003.

Due to a bad form of play, he dropped out of the top 16 following the 2007-2008 season. Regained his place for 2009-2010.

Is the third player after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to win all three Triple Crown events in one season.

Was encouraged to play snooker by his father Dilwyn, who was a miner.

In January 1996 won his first ranking tournament when he claimed the Welsh Open title, beating John Parrott 9-3 in the final.

Won 18 ranking tournaments (fifth on the all-time list), including the UK Championship twice, in 1999 and 2002.

Was a promising Amateur boxer, being undefeated in 12 fights as a schoolboy.

Is the World Champion of 2000 and 2003.

Achieved the highest break of 147 twice.

In the 1998 World Championship, he reached the semi-finals, losing 14-17 to Ken Doherty.

Won his first junior event when he was 11.

At the age of 11 realized wanted to pursue a career as a snooker player.

Scored his first century break when he was 13.

Most successful season in his career was the 2002-2003 season. He won the acclaimed treble of tournaments (known as the Triple Crown): the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship.

Turned into a professional snooker player in 1992.

Won the Grand Prix in October 1996, beating surprisingly the finalist Euan Henderson 9-5 in the final.

In February 1998 beat Stephen Hendry in the final. Got his first Masters title, winning on the final black 10-9 after recovering from 6-9 down, in a thrilling final.

Has compiled 568 century breaks during his career.

In April 1997 won the British Open, beating Stephen Hendry 9-2 in the final.

From 1 December 2015 his ranking is 13.

Has 3 sons: Connor (born April 2004), Kian (born 2007) and Joel (born 2013).

Has 24 ranking titles.

On 26 November 2017 won the Irish Open. He defeated Yan Bingtao 9-8 in the final.

On 4 February 2018 won the German Masters as he beat Graeme Dott 9-1 in the final.

On 7 May 2018 won for the third time in his career the World Championship by defeating John Higgins 18-16 in the final. Thus he became the second oldest winner in history of the tournament at the age of 43 behind Ray Reardon, who won his last title, when he was 45.

In 2017 was seriously considering his retirement from the sport. Got convinced to continue by his wife, Joanne.

Refers to his compatriot and protege Jackson Page as his fourth son.

Is also a keen poker player and a golfer.

His wife Joanne is a businesswoman and runs a travel agency.

Runner-up at the 2025 World Snooker Championships. He lost to Chinese Zhao Xintong 12-18 in the final.

Became the oldest player in snooker history to reach the finals of the World Championships in 2025. He was 50 years old at the time.