Martin Gould

D.O.B: 14 Sep 1981
Lives: Pinner, Middlesex
Turned Pro: 1999
Best Ranking Performance: Runner-up, 2011 Player Tour Championship Grand Finals
Last season World Snooker Tour prize money: £86,251
Highest Tournament Break: 137 - 2003 World Championship

Gould enjoyed an excellent 2010/11 season, highlighted by a run to the final of the PartyCasino.com Players Tour Championship Grand Finals.

He qualified for the event by finishing among the top 24 of the PTC Order of Merit, thanks to a run to the final of PTC6. In fact he should have won that event, but lost 4-3 to Dominic Dale after Dale got the three snooker he required in the deciding frame.

At the Grand Finals in Dublin, Gould beat Jamie Jones, Judd Trump, Michael Holt and Mark Selby to reach the final of a ranking event for the first time in his career. But he was no match for Shaun Murphy and had to settle for the runner-up prize after losing 4-0.

"Obviously you don't like losing 4-0 but I enjoyed the atmosphere, hit some great balls and missed some silly ones," said Gould. "When you play someone like Shaun you're going to get punished but I will take it on the chin and I will be back. I set out to reach the final and I didn't want to lose but in my heart of hearts I had reached a goal by getting to the final. That took a bit more pressure off of me and maybe I was too relaxed and didn't have many nerves."

Gould also got to the quarter-finals of the 12BET.com World Open, and finished the season by qualifying for the Betfred.com World Championship. For the second consecutive year he beat Marco Fu in the first round at the Crucible, this time by a 10-8 scoreline.

"I've had my best ever season, I've been consistent and got to a couple of finals," he said. "I want to be part of this and a regular fixture at the big tournaments."

Unfortunately for Gould he ran into Judd Trump in the next round and fell 13-6.
A year earlier at the Crucible, Gould beat Fu 10-9 then led Neil Robertson 11-5 but eventually lost 13-12. "If I'd beaten Neil then I would have fancied going all the way," he said. Gould was able to take the positives out of that match and carry his newfound confidence into the season that followed.

Gould earned a place on the pro Tour for the second time by winning the 2007 English Association for Snooker and Billiards play-offs. He beat David Grace 6-3 in the final at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.

Gould has twice been English Amateur champion. He beat Craig Taylor in the 2002 final then took the title again in 2007 when he edged out David Lilley 8-7, thanks to a dramatic in-off from Lilley as he potted the final black.
The Pinner potter enjoyed a tremendous run in the qualifying rounds of the 2003 World Championship. He won eight matches, beating the likes of Alain Robidoux and Stephen Maguire, before he was stopped by Patrick Wallace just two hurdles short of the Crucible.

The Tottenham fan used to work part time as a croupier in a casino in North London.