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Dominic Dale

Dale in 2016
Born	(1971-12-29)29 December 1971 (age 53) Coventry, England
Sport country	Wales
Nickname	The Spaceman[1]
Professional	1992–2025
Highestranking	19 (1999/00)
Century breaks	248
Tournament wins
Ranking	2
Minor-ranking	1

Dominic Dale (bornChristopher Dale; 29 December 1971) is a Welsh^[2] former professionalsnooker player, as well as a current snooker commentator, pundit and presenter forBBC Cymru Wales andTNT Sports (formerlyEurosport) in the United Kingdom.

Nicknamed "The Spaceman" and known for his flamboyant image, Dale won two ranking titles during his professional career, the1997 Grand Prix, where he defeatedJohn Higgins 9–6 in the final, and the2007 Shanghai Masters, where he beatRyan Day 10–6 in the final. He made ten appearances at the main stage of theWorld Championship at theCrucible Theatre, reaching the quarter-finals twice, in2000 and2014. He attained his highestworld ranking of 19th in the1999–2000 season.

Dale retired from the professional tour at the end of the2024–25 season, aged 53.^[3]

Dale was born inCoventry,England.^[2] He won the Welsh Amateur Championship, which allowed him to compete at the World Amateur Championship in Bangkok. Dale reached the final, but lost 9–11 againstNoppadon Noppachorn. Dale turned professional for the1992–93 season.^[2]

He has won two ranking tournaments in his career, the first of which – theGrand Prix in 1997 – he won while ranked number 54 in the world, beating then world number 2John Higgins 9–6 in the final. It took him a decade to repeat the achievement at the2007 Shanghai Masters, where he defeated compatriotRyan Day 10–6 in the final, from 2–6 behind. On his way to the Shanghai final he beatRory McLeod,Ken Doherty,Adrian Gunnell,Dave Harold andMark Selby.^[4]

Both of his ranking victories were in the season-opening tournaments; he also reached the semi-finals of the season-opening events in 2002 (LG Cup) and 2006 (Northern Ireland Trophy). He also beatPeter Ebdon at the2008 Malta Cup, despite a bout of stomach cramps and a drinking session the night before the match.^[5]

Dale is the only player to have won multiple ranking tournaments without ever reaching the top 16, but he was 14th on the one-year list for both 1997/1998 and 1999/2000 (missing out due to an unsuccessful 1998/1999 season).

His bestWorld Championship performances were in 2000 and 2014, when he reached the quarter-finals.

Dale won the third professional tournament of his career when he wonEvent 6 of thePlayers Tour Championship 2010/2011, beatingMartin Gould 4–3 in the final. This win, along with other consistent performances, were enough to see him back into the top 32 players. He also qualified for theWorld Championship for the first time since 2004,^[6] although he was comprehensively beaten 10–2 in the first round byRonnie O'Sullivan.

Dale had a good start to his2011–12 season as he reached the quarter-finals of the first event, theAustralian Goldfields Open. Dale was originally due to meetRonnie O'Sullivan in the first round, but due to his withdrawal for medical reasons he instead played amateurSteve Mifsud and won 5–2.^[7] He then beat home favouriteNeil Robertson on the final black in a 5–4 win lasting almost four hours,^[8] before losing toMark Williams in another final-frame decider, having never been behind in the match until the end.^[9]He then reached the final stages of theUK Championship for the first time since2005 by beatingNigel Bond in the final qualifying round and was drawn againstJudd Trump in the last 32. Dale led 4–2 before Trump had a large slice of fortune in the seventh frame byfluking a pink. Dale would eventually lose the match 4–6.^[10] He also reached the2012 PTC Finals courtesy of finishing twentieth in theOrder of Merit.^[11] His qualification was largely due to making the final ofEvent 10, where he was beaten byMichael Holt 2–4.^[12] In the Finals he lost 2–4 toXiao Guodong in the first round.^[13]Dale qualified for theWorld Championship with a 10–3 victory overBen Woollaston to set up another first round meeting with Judd Trump.^[13] He led the match 7–6 against an opponent who later revealed to be suffering from food poisoning, before conceding four successive frames to lose 7–10.^[14] Dale finished the season ranked world number 23, meaning he had climbed 8 places during the year.^[15]

Dale qualified for nine of the eleven ranking events during the2012–13 season, but lost in the first round in eight of them.^[16] The exception was at theInternational Championship where he beatGraeme Dott 6–3, before losing 5–6 to 14-year-oldLü Haotian in the second round.^[17] Dale's best run in thePTC's came atEvent Three by reaching the semi-finals in a run that included a 4–2 overMark Selby, but he lost to world number 65Rod Lawler 0–4.^[16] Dale finished 28th on the Order of Merit, just outside the top 26 who qualified for theFinals.^[18] Dale reached the opening round of theWorld Championship by dispatchingAlfie Burden 10–5 and playedJudd Trump at this stage for the second successive year where he was defeated 10–5.^[16] His end of season ranking was world number 23 for the second year in a row.^[19]

Dale reached his second quarter-final in theAustralian Goldfields Open in three years in the early stages of the2013–14 season. He eliminatedMike Dunn andFergal O'Brien, but then lost 5–1 toMarco Fu.^[20]In the next four ranking events he lost in the first round of two and failed qualify for both of the others.^[20]

In January 2014, Dale won theSnooker Shoot-Out final in Blackpool, beating Stuart Bingham in a close frame. Dale had received significant support from the crowd and had promised to singMy Way should he win the event. In his post-match interview he sang a short rendition of the song, showcasing an impressive baritone voice.^[21] The result seemed to kick start his season as the following week he beatSteve Davis andJohn Higgins at theGerman Masters, but let a 3–1 lead slip in the last 16 againstDing Junhui to lose 5–3.^[22] Dale also won two matches before falling at the third round in theWelsh Open andWorld Open, losing toMark Selby andAlan McManus respectively.^[20]

Dale qualified for theWorld Championship courtesy of defeatingAndrew Higginson in the final round of qualifying.^[23] He facedMark Davis in the first round and beat him 10–5, marking his first win at the Crucible since 2000.^[24] Dale followed this up with a 13–4 win overMichael Wasley (who had beaten pre-tournament second favouriteDing Junhui in his opening match) to reach the quarter-finals for the second time, 14 years after the first.^[25] Dale playedBarry Hawkins and trailed 11–5 after the second session, but then amazingly won seven frames in a row to be just one away from reaching the semi-finals and matching the biggest comeback at this stage ever at theCrucible. However, Hawkins won the two frames he required without giving Dale a chance to beat him 13–12. Later, Dale revealed that he had reverted to an old cue action before the start of the final session.^[26]

Dale lost 5–3 toMark Davis in the first round of theAustralian Goldfields Open and he reached the semi-finals of theSix-red World Championship, whereRicky Walden beat him 7–1.^[27] At theShanghai Masters he knocked outJudd Trump 5–2, before losing 5–1 toStuart Bingham.^[28] This last 16 defeat would prove to be Dale's best finish in a ranking event this season as he could not win another match at a venue until theChina Open, when he oustedJimmy Robertson 5–3, but then fell 5–2 toBarry Hawkins in the second round.^[27] He had a consistent year in the minor-rankingEuropean Tour events with a pair of last 16 exits helping him to finish 25th on theOrder of Merit to claim the last qualification place for theGrand Final, where he was whitewashed 4–0 byMark Selby in the opening round.^[27]

At theInternational Championship, Dale defeatedMatthew Selt 6–1 and then lost 6–3 toJoe Perry in the second round.^[29] His second round match withPeter Ebdon at theUK Championship finished at 1:30am as Dale relinquished a 5–4 advantage to be beaten 6–5.^[30] Breaks of 72, 73, 82 and 61 saw Dale sneak pastMark Williams in the opening round of thePlayers Championship Finals 4–3, before he lost 4–1 toShaun Murphy.^[31] Dale won more than one match at a ranking event for the only time this season when he knocked outJamie Jones andDarryl Hill at theChina Open, but then was beaten 6–1 byStephen Maguire in the third round.^[29]

Dale saw off Ishpreet Chadha 4–2 andMarco Fu 4–0 to reach the third round of theIndian Open, where he lost 4–1 toPeter Ebdon. At thePaul Hunter Classic he enjoyed victories overBen Woollaston,Ian Glover,Michael Holt,Yan Bingtao andJimmy White to play in the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time since 2007.^[32] Dale was defeated 4–2 byMark Selby.^[33] He lost in the second round of theInternational Championship 6–2 toStuart Bingham and won three frames in a row to take his third round match withShaun Murphy at theUK Championship in to a final-frame decider. He had chances in it but could not take them to be ousted 6–5.^[34] In the finalWorld Championship qualifying round Dale made the 200th century break of his career, but would be defeated 10–5 byLuca Brecel.^[32]

At the2024 World Championship, Dale, aged 52, became the oldest qualifier to reach the main draw sinceSteve Davis in 2010, but was beaten 1‍–‍10 byKyren Wilson in the first round.^[35]

Dale retired from professional snooker after failing to progress through qualifying for the2025 World Championship. His final match was a defeat toDaniel Wells.^[36][37]

Dale was originally namedChris but changed his name while working at a law firm, as they offered to do it for free. He choseDominic because he worked with two people called Dominic and Dominique and said he just "liked the name".^[38]

Dale's personality, dress sense and hair styles make him one of the more flamboyant players on the circuit. In his early years he wore a white suit with colourful shirts. In 2007 he sported bleached blonde hair with a bright pink shirt. His interests include snooker memorabilia,Art Deco and operatic singing. After his Shanghai Masters semi-final win, he celebrated by singing "My Way" at the post-match conference.^[39][40] and also did so after his victory in2014 Snooker Shoot-Out. In December 2007 Dale moved toVienna with his then girlfriend.^[41] His form declined after this move, which he attributed to not having a professional training partner in Vienna,^[42] and he returned to live in the UK four years later, although only for a year.^[40]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1997	Grand Prix	John Higgins	9–6
Winner	2.	2007	Shanghai Masters	Ryan Day	10–6

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2010	Players Tour Championship – Event 6	Martin Gould	4–3
Runner-up	1.	2011	Players Tour Championship – Event 10	Michael Holt	2–4

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1996	Malaysian Masters	Drew Henry	8–3
Runner-up	1.	2003	Masters Qualifying Event	Neil Robertson	5–6
Runner-up	2.	2004	General Cup	Issara Kachaiwong	3–6
Winner	2.	2014	Snooker Shoot Out	Stuart Bingham	1–0

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2004	Liam O'Connor Memorial	Mario Fernandez	6–1[44]
Winner	2.	2005	Liam O'Connor Memorial(2)	Jamie Jones	6–0[45]
Runner-up	1.	2007	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 2	Leo Fernandez	2–4[46]
Winner	3.	2007	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 5	Stephen Craigie	4–2[47]
Winner	4.	2008	3 Kings Open	Richard McHugh	5–0[48]
Winner	5.	2010	3 Kings Open(2)	Matthew Couch	5–1[49]
Winner	6.	2011	3 Kings Open(3)	Tony Drago	5–1[50]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1999	Nations Cup	Wales	Scotland	6–4
Runner-up	1.	2000	Nations Cup	Wales	England	2–6

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1991	Welsh Amateur Championship	David Bell	8–7
Runner-up	1.	1992	World Amateur Championship	Noppadon Noppachorn	9–11

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