Kurt Maflin

2.1. Early Life and Introduction to Snooker

Born on 8 August 1983 in Southwark, London, specifically in Lewisham, Kurt Maflin began playing snooker at the age of four. By the time he was five, he had already achieved a high break of 25. His dedication to practice at the snooker table grew, and he quickly became recognized as a top junior player. Maflin represented England in the 1999 Home International series held in Prestatyn, North Wales, where the English team emerged victorious.

He also made notable appearances on television, featuring twice on the BBC1 snooker game show series Junior Big Break: Stars of the Future in 1997. In 1998, he won a holiday for a contestant on the show. At 14, Maflin was invited by TV Times magazine to team up with former World Champion Dennis Taylor for the 1998 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge. Playing 'Pounds for Points', Maflin and Taylor successfully raised 4.30 K GBP for the Leukaemia Research Fund.

2.2. Junior and Amateur Achievements

Maflin was a prominent figure in English junior snooker, reaching the finals of the English National Championships in both the Under-13 and Under-15 categories. He made history by becoming the first player to successfully retain the English Under-17 national title, winning it in 1999 and again in 2000, a title previously held by Paul Hunter.

In 2001, Maflin was the runner-up in the English Open Championship and also reached the final of the European Championship, which was held in Riga, Latvia. A significant milestone in his amateur career came in 2006 when he won the gold medal at the IBSF World Championships in Amman, Jordan. He defeated Daniel Ward 11-8 in the final, securing the title of World Amateur Champion. During this championship run, Maflin compiled 15 century breaks and won 15 consecutive matches. He also won the Norwegian Amateur Championship in 2006 and again in 2016.

3.1. Early Professional Career and Tour Entry

Maflin embarked on his professional career in 2000, competing on the Challenge Tour, which served as the second-tier professional circuit at the time. In 2001, his strong performances earned him a place on World Snooker's Main Tour, making him the second-youngest professional snooker player globally at that time. Despite reaching the last 48 of the Welsh Open, where he lost to Tony Drago, his other results were not sufficient to maintain his Main Tour status, leading him back to the Challenge Tour. He re-qualified for the Main Tour for the 2003/04 season by winning Event 4 of the Challenge Tour, but again struggled to retain his place.

Following these early career challenges, Maflin moved to Oslo, Norway, with his partner, fellow snooker player Anita Rizzuti. He considered giving up snooker entirely until Norwegian businessman Knut Pederson offered him a sponsorship. Pederson's offer, contingent on Maflin making a century break in a Norwegian league match final, reignited his passion for the sport. Maflin recalled, "I got a 137 in the first frame and never looked back since."

He returned to serious competition in 2006, winning the Challenge Tour to secure his return to the Main Tour for the 2007/08 season. In the non-ranking Masters qualifying tournament in 2008, he had a strong run, defeating notable players like Judd Trump and Jimmy White to reach the final, but ultimately lost to Barry Hawkins, missing out on a wild card spot. His ranking tournament results were generally disappointing, with the exception of a last 48 appearance at the China Open. After a black-ball defeat to Gareth Coppack in the first round of the World Championship qualifying, he was relegated from the tour, finishing 82nd in the world rankings.

Maflin spent the 2008/09 season attempting to re-qualify via the Professional International Open Series (PIOS), narrowly missing out by 20 points, finishing 10th. The following season, he again came close, finishing 15th. Adding to his difficulties, Maflin was involved in a car crash that required a six-inch metal plate and seven screws to be inserted into his shoulder. Despite this setback, he recovered and entered the 2010 EBSA European Play-Offs, where he defeated Alex Borg 5-2 in the final, securing his return to the Main Tour.

In June 2010, at the inaugural Players Tour Championship event in Sheffield, Maflin achieved his first professional 147 break in his first-round match against Michał Zieliński.

3.2. Main Tour Progression and Key Seasons

Maflin's return to the Main Tour in the 2010/2011 season saw him struggle for form in most events after his maximum break, but he found a breakthrough at the 2011 China Open. There, he defeated Simon Bedford, Jack Lisowski, Dave Harold, and Mark King to reach the final stages of a major ranking event for the first time, making four centuries in the process. He led Ding Junhui 4-1 in the last 32 before ultimately losing 4-5. He then lost a deciding frame to Xiao Guodong in the World Championship qualifying, a high-quality match where both players made two centuries. Although he was relegated from the tour, he made an immediate return by winning all his matches in Event 3 of the new 2011 Q School tournament.

In the 2011-12 season, Maflin reached the fifth qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters. He participated in all 12 minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events. His best result came in Event 12, where he defeated James Wattana, former world champion Shaun Murphy, and Jack Lisowski to reach the last 16 before losing to Andrew Higginson. He finished 60th on the PTC Order of Merit. Maflin concluded the season ranked world number 72, just outside the top 64 who automatically retained their places. However, his strong performances in the PTC events secured him a spot on the tour for the 2012-13 season.

The 2012-13 snooker season saw Maflin reach the final qualifying round for two of the first five ranking events, the Wuxi Classic and the International Championship. At the 2013 German Masters, he won two matches to reach the main stage in Berlin, where he defeated Xiao Guodong 5-4 before losing 3-5 to Michael Holt in the last 16. Maflin had a very strong season in the minor-ranking PTC events, reaching the quarter-finals of the Gdynia Open and the FFB Open. In the latter event, he achieved a significant career victory by coming back from 0-3 down to defeat the in-form Neil Robertson in a televised match. He also reached the last 16 of the Scottish Open, where he compiled his second professional maximum break. These results helped him finish 23rd on the Order of Merit, qualifying for the Finals. At the Finals, Maflin had his best run in a ranking event to date, defeating 1997 world champion Ken Doherty 4-2, Rod Lawler 4-3, and Ben Woollaston 4-3 to reach the semi-finals. He was subsequently outplayed by Ding Junhui, losing 0-4 and scoring only 52 points in total. Despite the loss, the 20.00 K GBP prize money for reaching the last four was the highest of his career at that point. Maflin advanced to the final round of World Championship Qualifying by defeating Craig Steadman and Steve Davis. He held an 8-6 lead over former world champion Peter Ebdon but lost four consecutive frames, narrowly missing his first appearance at the World Championship. He ended the season ranked world number 64, an improvement of eight spots.

The 2013-14 snooker season began with unremarkable performances for Maflin, until he reached the last 16 of the 2013 International Championship. He defeated Luca Brecel 6-4 in qualifying, then beat Robert Milkins and Mark Williams both 6-2 at the venue. He faced Graeme Dott and, despite making a 71 break while 5-3 down, lost in a deciding frame. A surprising 6-4 loss to amateur Mitchell Travis in the last 64 of the 2013 UK Championship did not prevent Maflin from moving up to 51st in the world rankings by the end of 2013. In 2014, he reached the last 16 of the 2014 German Masters for the second consecutive year, notably defeating world number two Mark Selby. He was eventually beaten 5-1 by Joe Perry, losing the final frame under the three miss rule without a single ball being potted. This result further improved his ranking, placing him in the top 48 for the first time. An early defeat at the Gdynia Open meant he failed to qualify for the PTC Finals. At the Haikou World Open, he defeated Perry and Ali Carter to reach his third last 16 of the season, but lost 5-3 to Mark Joyce. Maflin's season concluded with last 64 defeats at the China Open and the World Championship to Judd Trump and Andrew Higginson, respectively. He finished the season ranked 34th in the world, an impressive rise of 30 places from the previous year.

The first half of the 2014-15 snooker season proved challenging for Maflin, with only two last 16 appearances in minor-ranking events: the Yixing Open and the Lisbon Open. He struggled in major tournaments, failing to progress beyond the last 64, and continued to experience a string of first-round exits into early 2015. However, Maflin found a return to form at the China Open, where he defeated Ali Carter, Mike Dunn, Robin Hull, and Shaun Murphy to reach his second career semi-final. He faced reigning world champion Mark Selby and, despite making two century breaks, lost the last three frames to be denied his first final appearance, with a score of 6-3. Maflin carried his strong form into the World Championship qualifiers, convincingly beating David Grace 10-5 and Steve Davis 10-1 to reach the final round. He fell 6-3 behind to Fergal O'Brien after the first session but won six consecutive frames the next day to be one frame away from victory. O'Brien fought back to 9-9, but Maflin won the tense decider 10-9, securing his debut at the Crucible. He was drawn against Mark Selby in the first round and mounted a comeback from 7-3 and 8-4 down to lead 9-8. Maflin had opportunities to secure a shock victory in the next two frames but could not convert them, and Selby recovered to win 10-9.

In the 2015-16 snooker season, Maflin lost in the first round of the 2015 International Championship (6-2 to Jamie Jones) and the 2015 UK Championship (6-3 to Sean O'Sullivan). His first venue-stage win of the season came at the 2016 German Masters, where he overcame Marco Fu 5-1 before losing 5-3 to Luca Brecel. At the Welsh Open, he defeated Hammad Miah and Leo Fernandez before losing 4-2 to home favourite Mark Williams. He reached the final round of World Championship qualifying but was defeated 10-7 by Robert Milkins.

During the first half of the 2016-17 snooker season, Maflin reached the last 16 of two tournaments: the World Open (losing 5-1 to Shaun Murphy) and the Northern Ireland Open (losing 4-2 to Mark King). Victories over Fang Xiongman, James Wattana, Mitchell Mann, and Yan Bingtao at the Welsh Open propelled him to the quarter-finals, where he was defeated 5-2 by Robert Milkins.

In the 2019-20 snooker season, Maflin qualified for the 2020 World Snooker Championship. In the 16th frame of his first-round match against David Gilbert, he attempted a 147 break. However, after potting the 14th red, the cueball hit the yellow on its spot, preventing him from getting on the black to continue the maximum. In frustration, he stuck his middle finger at the cueball and was subsequently warned by the referee at the start of the next frame, though he was not fined for misconduct. Despite this incident, he won the match, then went on to defeat John Higgins in a match voted one of the top-10 matches of the season. His impressive run ended in the quarter-finals, where he lost to Anthony McGill.

3.3. Career Milestones and Records

Kurt Maflin has achieved several notable milestones throughout his professional snooker career. He reached his career-high ranking of 21 in April 2021, a significant progression from his previous high of 31 in January-February 2015. He is recognized as a prolific break-builder, having compiled more than 200 century breaks in professional competition. Maflin is also one of a select group of players to have made more than one 147 break in professional tournaments, having achieved this feat twice.

5.1. Performance and Ranking Timeline

5.2. Career Finals

Kurt Maflin has competed in a number of finals throughout his professional and amateur career, securing titles in both categories.