 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2023) |
 Ford at the2016 Paul Hunter Classic | |
| Born | (1983-08-17)17 August 1983 (age 42) Leicester, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 2001–02, 2003–present |
| Highestranking | 13 (May 2024) |
| Current ranking | 26 (as of 9 November 2025) |
| Maximum breaks | 5 |
| Century breaks | 315 (as of 26 November 2025) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 1 |
| Minor-ranking | 2 |
Tom Ford (born 17 August 1983) is an English professionalsnooker player fromLeicester. Turning professional in 2001, Ford won his firstranking event at the2024 Snooker Shoot Out. Ford has reached three further ranking finals - the2016 Paul Hunter Classic, the2023 German Masters and the2023 International Championship.
Ford has compiled fivemaximum breaks in competitive play, and over 300century breaks.
As a junior, Ford played againstMark Selby frequently. He began his professional career by playing theChallenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. His first quarter-final came at the2005 Malta Cup where he beatKen Doherty, but eventually lost toStephen Hendry.In the2007 Grand Prix, he made a147 againstSteve Davis, after having just come out of hospital suffering from gastroenteritis,[1] but still missed out on the last 16, eventually finishing 3rd in his group. He secured the high break and maximum prize, but this event was not televised. In the last 32 of the2007 Northern Ireland Trophy he heldRonnie O'Sullivan to 4–4, before missing the final blue, allowing O'Sullivan to clinch the frame. Ford made his World Championship debut in2010, after beatingJudd Trump 10–3 in the final qualifying round. He playedMark Allen in the first round, where he lost 4–10.
Early in the season Ford won his first professional title,Event 3 of thePlayers Tour Championship, beatingJack Lisowski 4–0 in the final while working with sports mentor Matt Andrews.[2] Ford failed to qualify for the main draws of both theShanghai Masters and theWorld Open, but did beatTony Drago andGerard Greene to reach the Last 32 of theUK Championship. He was drawn againstMark Allen and lost 5–9.[3] Ford did not qualify for the final stages of any other ranking event for the season after losing 8–10 toLiu Chuang in Round 4 of qualifying for theWorld Championship.[4]
The firstworld ranking event of the season was the inauguralAustralian Goldfields Open, where Ford reached the final stages by beatingGerard Greene. He then beat world number 15Jamie Cope 5–3 before being whitewashed 0–5 by eventual winnerStuart Bingham in the last 16.[5] He made it through to his third successiveUK Championship main draw where he played former world championNeil Robertson, but was comfortably beaten 1–6.[6] Ford won his secondPTC title atEvent 11 in December by defeatingMartin Gould 4–3.[7] He finished twelfth in theOrder of Merit to qualify for the2012 Finals,[8] where he lost toMark Davis 1–4 in the last 24.[9] He then qualified for the wildcard round of theGerman Masters with a 5–0 whitewash ofAnthony Hamilton and beat IrishmanPhilip Arnold 5–1 to reach the last 32, where he metMark Allen. Ford held a 3–0 lead, but went on to lose the match 4–5.[10] He qualified for theWelsh Open and beatGraeme Dott 4–2 in the opening round, before losing toStephen Lee 1–4. Ford also reached the second round of theWorld Open, thanks to the withdrawal ofRonnie O'Sullivan, but exited the tournament in a final frame decider versusMark King.[9] He then lost to Lee again, this time in the first round of theChina Open, before failing to qualify for theWorld Championship after being edged out 9–10 byCao Yupeng.[11] Ford finished the season ranked world number 26, meaning he had risen eight places during the year.[12]
Ford qualified for six ranking events during the2012–13 season. Out of those he lost in the first round in three and in the second round of both theAustralian Goldfields Open andWelsh Open toShaun Murphy 1–5 andKen Doherty 3–4 respectively.[13] He couldn't qualify for thePlayers Tour Championship Finals through the Order of Merit as he finished 46th, but he did play in all three of the new Asian PTC's.[14] His best result came in theThird Event, where he lost 3–4 in the semi-finals toStuart Bingham.[13] Ford finished sixth on the Asian Order of Merit, inside the top eight who qualified for the Finals.[15] It was at the Finals that Ford had his best run in a ranking event of his career. He saw offMartin Gould 4–2,Jack Lisowski 4–3 andMarco Fu 4–1 to advance to the semi-finals.[13] His nerves showed early on againstNeil Robertson as he fell 0–3 down, but composed himself to level at 3–3. Ford had three chances to win the deciding frame, but left Robertson a chance when escaping a snooker to lose 3–4.[16] Ford ended the season ranked world number 24.[17]
At the2013 Australian Goldfields Open Ford reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the third time in his career by beatingRyan Day andBarry Hawkins, before losing 3–5 toRobert Milkins.[18] He won through to the second round of both theIndian Open andWelsh Open but was eliminated byStephen Maguire andJames Wattana respectively.[18] Ford defeated James Cahill 10–6,Luca Brecel 10–1 andMatthew Stevens 10–8 to qualify for theWorld Championship for the second time.[19] He rallied from 6–2 down in the first round againstJudd Trump to level at 8–8, before losing two successive frames to exit the tournament.[20]
Ford qualified for theAustralian Goldfields Open for the fourth year in a row and lost 3–5 toJohn Higgins in the first round.[21] He had five defeats in a row after this until beatingBarry Pinches 6–4 in the opening round of theUK Championship, his first win in the event after six prior losses.[22] Ford was beaten 3–6 byJoel Walker in the second round. He had a resurgence of form at the Asian Tour event, theXuzhou Open by knocking out five players to reach the semi-finals, where he lost the last two frames in a 3–4 defeat toJoe Perry.[21] Ford entered the qualifying rounds of theWorld Championship needing wins to ensure his survival on the tour as he was close to ending the season outside the top 64 in the world rankings. He did so by seeing offAndrew Norman 10–2 andDavid Gilbert 10–8 to meetMatthew Selt in the final round, where he lost 8–10.[23] Ford ended up 59th in the world rankings, a drop of 27 places during the year.[24]
Ford began the2015–16 season by reaching the third final carrying ranking points of his career after overcoming the likes ofJoe Perry,Matthew Selt andBen Woollaston at theRiga Open. Ford won the first frame againstBarry Hawkins, but could not capture another to be beaten 1–4.[25] At theUK Championship, he defeatedScott Donaldson 6–1 and then beatMark Williams for the first time by recovering from 3–5 down to win 6–5.[26] He followed that up by easing pastKyren Wilson 6–1, but accused his opponentLiang Wenbo of boring him off the table in the fourth round after it was Ford who lost 5–6 having been 5–3 up.[27][28] Ford failed to build upon this during the rest of the season as he could not get beyond the second round of any ranking event.[29] However, he was able to build on his world ranking to finish as the world number 43, an increase of 16 spots during the year.[30]
A 4–1 victory overJamie Jones at thePaul Hunter Classic saw Ford reach the second ranking event semi-final of his career and he beatThepchaiya Un-Nooh 4–2, closing the match with a 136 break.[31] In Ford's first ranking event final he was 2–2 withMark Selby, before his fellow Leicester player knocked in two 50 plus breaks to defeat Ford 4–2.[32] At theEnglish Open he beatRory McLeod,Marco Fu andJoe Swail all by 4–2 scorelines, before losing 1–4 toJohn Higgins. Ford qualified for theGerman Masters by oustingJudd Trump 5–1 and then made a 147 in a first round 5–2 win overPeter Ebdon.[33] He saw offMark King 5–2, but then lost 2–5 toAli Carter in the quarter-finals.[31] Ford qualified for his thirdWorld Championship courtesy of victories over Jamie Bodle,Chris Wakelin andHossein Vafaei.[34] From holding a narrow 2–1 advantage overBarry Hawkins in the first round, Ford was eliminated 3–10.[35]
At the2022 UK Championship, Ford reached the semi-final where he lost 3–6 toDing Junhui.[36]Ford beatRicky Walden 10–6 in the first round of the2024 World Championship,[37] but was then defeated 7–13 byJudd Trump in the second round.[38] In December 2024, Ford won his first ranking tournament with victory in theSnooker Shoot Out. After beatingWu Yize in the semi-final, he defeated Liam Graham in the final.[39]
| Tournament | 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 | 2020/ 21 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | 2025/ 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 74 | 51 | 44 | 50 | 48 | 49 | 41 | 34 | 26 | 24 | 32 | 59 | 43 | 33 | 32 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 30 | 22 | 13 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 2R | 3R | RR | A | WD | 3R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 5R | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | QF | LQ | 3R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | 4R | 2R | 1R | SF | 3R | 2R | LQ | 1R | 1R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | A | LQ | A | 2R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | QF | LQ | WD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 2R | WD | 3R | 1R | 2R | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | Not Held | F | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | LQ | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 4R | 1R | 2R | SF | 1R | 1R | 2R | SF | 2R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open[nb 4] | A | LQ | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | MR | Not Held | 1R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | LQ | QF | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | A | QF | 1R | LQ | 1R | SF | 2R | F | 3R | 3R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | 2R | 1R | DNQ | 2R | SF | DNQ | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 5] | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | SF | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 1R | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | LQ | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | LQ | LQ | 3R | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Open[nb 6] | A | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | RR | RR | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | Not Held | 2R | 1R | 1R | LQ | Not Held | 1R | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | Ranking Event | A | A | Not Held | A | 1R | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champion of Champions | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Masters | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | WD | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | RR | RR | RR | A | A | A | RR | RR | RR | 2R | RR | RR | RR | RR | RR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thailand Masters | A | LQ | NR | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irish Masters | Non-Ranking | A | LQ | LQ | NH | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | 2R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bahrain Championship | Tournament Not Held | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuxi Classic[nb 7] | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 2R | QF | 1R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | Non-Ranking | Not Held | Non-Ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic[nb 8] | Tournament Not Held | Pro-am Event | Minor-Ranking Event | F | 4R | 3R | NR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 1R | NH | LQ | 1R | 1R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Open | A | LQ | A | A | 1R | LQ | WR | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | QF | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Riga Masters[nb 9] | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Rank | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | 3R | 2R | 1R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | RR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | 2R | 2R | 2R | 4R | 3R | 4R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters[nb 10] | NH | LQ | A | LQ | QF | LQ | 2R | NR | Tournament Not Held | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 4R | QF | LQ | 2R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters Qualifying Event[nb 11] | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Cup[nb 12] | Tournament Not Held | A | Tournament Not Held | A | NH | RR | A | A | A | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | 2R | SF | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | Ranking Event | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship[nb 13] | Tournament Not Held | 2R | A | A | NH | 3R | A | A | A | A | RR | QF | A | Not Held | SF | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Haining Open | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Rank | 4R | F | A | A | NH | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
| PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. | |||
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2016 | Paul Hunter Classic | Mark Selby | 2–4 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2023 | German Masters | Ali Carter | 3–10 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2023 | International Championship |  Zhang Anda | 6–10 |
| Winner | 1. | 2024 | Snooker Shoot Out |  Liam Graham | 1–0 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2010 | Players Tour Championship – Event 3 | Jack Lisowski | 4–0 |
| Winner | 2. | 2011 | Players Tour Championship – Event 11 | Martin Gould | 4–3 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2015 | Riga Open | Barry Hawkins | 1–4 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2002 | Challenge Tour - Event 1 | Chris Melling | 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2017 | Haining Open | Mark Selby | 1–5 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2007 | Austrian Open | Stephen Lee | 5–4 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1997 | English Under-15 Championship | Stuart Roper | 4–0[40] |
| Winner | 2. | 2001 | English Under-18 Championship | Judd Trump | 5–1[41] |
