Martin O'Donnell

O'Donnell at the2013 German Masters
Born	(1986-06-04)4 June 1986 (age 39) England
Sport country	England
Nickname	The Minister of Defence[1]
Professional	2012–2014, 2015–2022, 2023–present
Highestranking	30 (October 2020)
Current ranking	44 (as of 9 November 2025)
Best ranking finish	Runner-up (2024 Welsh Open)

Martin O'Donnell (born 4 June 1986) is an English professionalsnooker player. He gained a two-year place on the main snooker tour by coming through the2012 Q School. He finished with the most points during theQ Tour of the 2022–23 season and gained a two-year tour card as a result. He is known as "The Minister of Defence" because his initials spell out "MoD", in what is jocularly taken as a reference to theUK government body responsible for the Armed Forces.^[2]

As an amateur, O'Donnell played in all 12 of thePlayers Tour Championship events during the2010/2011 season. He reached the second round on three occasions, but could not progress any further, however, inEvent 3 he defeated formerworld champion,Shaun Murphy 4–3.^[3] O'Donnell finished 109th on the Order of Merit.^[4] He entered the2011 Q School in an attempt to turn professional and in the final event he was one match away from achieving this. He playedKurt Maflin and lost 1–4.^[3]

In the2011/2012 season, O'Donnell was again confined to entering thePTC events, playing 9 of the 12. He reached the main draw on six occasions but failed to win a match once there.^[5] He won the SnookerBacker Classic, which guaranteed him entry into Q School at the end of the season.^[6] O'Donnell won five matches at the first2012 Q School event, concluding with a 4–1 victory over Adrian Ridley, to secure a two-year tour card beginning with the2012/2013 season.^[7]

O'Donnell's first match as a professional was in qualifying for theWuxi Classic. He beatDavid Grace 5–2, before losing toAlfie Burden 3–5.^[8] He went one better in qualifying for the next ranking event, theAustralian Goldfields Open, by defeatingJeff Cundy and Grace once more, but was then whitewashed 0–5 byDavid Gilbert.^[9] He did not win two consecutive matches in qualifying for any other event this season.^[8]

O'Donnell played in all ten minor-rankingPlayers Tour Championship events and did not win a match in any of them, until his final attempt at theEuropean Tour Event 5 in Scotland. He saw offSean O'Sullivan,Craig Steadman,Kurt Maflin all by 4–3 scorelines to reach the quarter-finals, but his run was ended asAndrew Higginson advanced with a 4–2 win.^[8] This helped O'Donnell to finish 83rd on the PTC Order of Merit.^[10] His season ended when he was beaten 5–10 byTian Pengfei in the first round ofWorld Championship Qualifying.^[11] O'Donnell finished his first year on the tour ranked at world number 86.^[12]

O'Donnell was beaten in the qualifying rounds for eight ranking events in the2013/2014 season. All 128 players on the tour entered theUK Championship andWelsh Open at the first round stage, with O'Donnell losing at this stage in both.^[13] The only event he qualified for this season was theChina Open by defeatingDavid Gilbert 5–1. He received a bye through the first round due toStuart Bingham's withdrawal which meant he would play in the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time.^[13] O'Donnell facedCraig Steadman and was edged out 5–4.^[14] In theEuropean Tour events his best result came at theRotterdam Open where he beat experienced playersRobert Milkins andMarcus Campbell, before losing 4–0 toStuart Bingham in the last 16.^[13] As he ended his second season at world number 92, outside the top 64 in the rankings, his other route to remain on tour next year was through theEuropean Order of Merit, with eight places available to non-qualified players.^[15] O'Donnell finished 59th, less than 300 points short ofTony Drago who received the final spot and entered the2014 Q School to retain his professional status.^[16] He was eliminated in the last 64 in both events and had amateur status for the coming season.^[13]

O'Donnell qualified for the first round of three of the sixEuropean Tour events during the2014/2015 season. His only win came at the first event, theRiga Open where he defeatedAlfie Burden 4–2, but then lost 4–1 toMark Williams in the second round.^[17] At the end of the season he won his place back on the tour by coming through three matches at the EBSA Play-offs, culminating with a 4–3 victory overJamie Clarke.^[18]

O'Donnell overcameGerard Greene 6–4 to qualify for theInternational Championship and lost 6–2 toNeil Robertson in the first round.^[19] In the first round of theWelsh Open he knocked outStephen Maguire, making a 130 break along the way, but was then defeated 4–2 byMatthew Stevens.^[20] O'Donnell beat another multiple ranking event winner when he recovered from 3–1 down toMark Williams to triumph 5–3 and qualify for theChina Open.^[21] He then oustedJoe Swail 5–2 andMatthew Selt 5–1 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, but he was thrashed 5–0 byMark King.^[19]

O'Donnell qualified for theRiga Masters and beatSam Craigie 4–3, before losing 4–3 toJimmy Robertson. He had to wait until the penultimate event of the year to reach the last 32 again as he qualified for theChina Open by edging pastThepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–4 and thrashed Jimmy Robertson 5–0.^[22] O'Donnell would be defeated 5–1 byMark Selby and played in the2017 Q School as he was ranked 74th in the world, outside the top 64 who kept their places.^[23][24] He lost 4–1 toLukas Kleckers in the last round of the first event and 4–3 toAshley Carty in the third round of the second, but took the final place through the Q School Order of Merit to earn a new two-year tour card.^[25][26]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2024	Welsh Open	Gary Wilson	4–9

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2017	Italian Snooker Open	Alexander Ursenbacher	3–2[27]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2006	English Amateur Championship	Mark Joyce	3–8
Runner-up	2.	2012	English Amateur Championship(2)	Gary Wilson	9–10
Winner	3.	2012	Snookerbacker Classic – Grand Finals	John Sutton	4–0
Winner	4.	2022	Q Tour – Event 2	George Pragnell	5–1
Runner-up	5.	2022	Snooker Legends – The 900	Ant Parsons	0–1
Winner	7	2022	Q Tour – Event 6	Ross Muir	5–1
Winner	8	2023	Snookerz Christmas Cracker[28]	Paul Ganley	3–1

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMartin O’Donnell.

• Martin O'Donnell atWPBSA
• Martin O'Donnell at theWorld Snooker Tour
• Martin O'Donnell at Snooker.org

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• English snooker players
• English people of Irish descent
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Dunstable

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