Alan McManus

[edit] Biography

Alan McManus (born January 21, 1971) is a Scottish professional snooker player, known for his clever tactical play and safety shots, giving rise to his nickname "Angles" McManus.

McManus has long been a consistently good player, but has never quite managed to achieve the very top flight. He was ranked in the top 16 from 1990 to 2006, dropping out after an unsuccessful 2005/2006 season. His highest ranking was 6 (in 1993/94 and 1996/97). He has reached 21 professional semi-finals, but won only four events. He has reached the semi-finals of the world championship twice, but has never appeared in a final. Until 2005 he had gone 11 years without reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament, despite consistent achievements in other events.

The highlight of his career to date was claiming the Masters title at Wembley in 1994, ending Stephen Hendry's remarkable unbeaten run in the tournament, which dated back to 1989. Some snooker pundits attribute the fact that McManus hasn't done as well as he could otherwise have to the fact that he "digs" too much when striking the ball. McManus' cue, when lining up for a shot, is off-line with respect to the ball that he intends to hit (the object ball). Therefore, he always has to correct this misalignment when he actually strikes the cue ball. That is why he is not always as precise, especially with long shots, and this may have denied him some victories along the way.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Tournament Wins

• Thailand Open: 1 (1996)
• The Classic: 1 (1994)
• The Masters: 1 (1994)

[edit] Rankings

• World Number 1: Never
• Highest Ranking: 6

[edit] Breaks

• Century Breaks:
• Highest Break: 143

[edit] References

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