Kristján Helgason

Kristján Helgason
Born (1974-03-27) 27 March 1974 (age 50)
Sport countryIceland Iceland
Professional1995–1997, 1998–2004
Highest ranking66 (2003/2004)
Best ranking finishLast 32 (x3)

Kristján Helgason (born 27 March 1974) is an Icelandic former professional snooker player.

Career

Born in 1974, Helgason turned professional in 1995. In 1998, he reached the last 48 at the Irish Open, losing 3–5 to Billy Snaddon, but made no further progress in any tournament that season.

The following season, he reached the last 32 at the 2000 Scottish Open, where he defeated Nick Pearce, John Read and Jamie Burnett before losing 3–5 to Mark Williams. In that year's World Championship, he beat Joe Jogia, John Lardner, Joe Johnson, Rod Lawler and Terry Murphy to set up a meeting in the first round at the Crucible Theatre with Stephen Lee. Becoming the first Icelander to appear at the Crucible, Helgason lost 3–10.

In the last 48 at the 2002 China Open, Helgason faced Anthony Hamilton, building a 4–0 lead with consecutive breaks of 93, 91 and 83; however, Hamilton won the next five frames to run out a 5–4 victor.

Helgason played at the last 32 stage of a ranking event for the third time at the 2002 British Open; there, he defeated Jin Long, Ryan Day, Stuart Bingham, Patrick Wallace and Dave Harold, but lost 3–5 to Paul Hunter.

Having reached a career-high ranking of 66th for the 2003/2004 season, Helgason played in only the first two tournaments, losing in the LG Cup 4–5 to Ian Brumby and in the British Open, 4–5 to Michael Wild. He finished the season ranked 103rd, and lost his professional status at the age of 30.

He played in the Gibraltar Open during March 2020.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1998/
99 		1999/
00 		2000/
01 		2001/
02 		2002/
03 		2003/
04 		2013/
14 		2015/
16 		2017/
18 		2019/
20
Ranking[1] [nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] 105 74 70 75 66 [nb 1] [nb 1] [nb 1] [nb 1]
Ranking tournaments
World Open[nb 4] LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ A NH A A
UK Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ A A A A
Scottish Open[nb 5] LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ 1R 1R LQ Not Held A A
European Masters[nb 6] LQ A LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ Not Held A A
Welsh Open LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A A A A
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A 1R
World Championship A LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ A A A LQ A
Non-ranking tournaments
Masters A A A A LQ A A A A A A A
Non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship Tournament Not Held 2R 2R RR NH
Former ranking tournaments
Dubai Classic LQ Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 7] LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ NR Tournament Not Held
British Open LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R LQ Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open[nb 8] Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held A A A NH
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.
  1. ^ a b c d e He was an amateur.
  2. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  4. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1994/1995–1995/1996, 1998/1999–2000/2001) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  5. ^ The event was called the International Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  6. ^ The event was called the European Open (1994/1995, 2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)
  7. ^ The event was called the Thailand Open (1994/1995)
  8. ^ The event was called the China International (1998/1999)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 16 (12 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1993 IBSF World Under-21 Championship Sri Lanka Indika Dodangoda 11–7
Winner 2. 1994 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Gunnar Valsson 9–4
Winner 3. 1996 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Johannes Johannesson 9–6
Runner-up 1. 1996 EBSA European Championships Scotland Graham Horne 5–8
Winner 4. 1997 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Johannes Johannesson 9–5
Runner-up 2. 1997 EBSA European Championships Finland Robin Hull 3–7
Runner-up 3. 1998 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Johannes Johannesson 5–9
Winner 5. 1998 EBSA European Championships Malta Alex Borg 7–2
Runner-up 4. 2005 EBSA European Championships Malta Alex Borg 2–7
Winner 6. 2012 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Thorri Jensson 9–1
Winner 7. 2017 Nordic Snooker Championship Finland Patrik Tiihonen 5–2
Winner 8. 2017 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Jon Ingi Ægisson 9–0
Winner 9. 2017 European 6-Reds Championship England Wayne Brown 5–2
Winner 10. 2018 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Guðni Pálsson 9–1
Winner 11. 2019 Iceland Amateur Championship Iceland Jon Ingi Ægisson 9–2
Winner 12. 2019 European Snooker Open Spain Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 4–1

References

  1. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.