By Elliott West
Introduction
It is always fascinating to delve into the snooker vaults and pluck out a snooker player that you probably haven’t heard of for several years. In this piece, I would like to look at Dave Finbow. A former professional snooker player from Worcester, Finbow was on the main tour from 1991-2005. He came across snooker by chance when a neighbourhood friend introduced him to the game. In his career, he reached a high of 28 in the rankings in the 1996-1997 season and got to four quarter-finals during this time. A player who was coached Midlands’ champion, Maurice Chapman for a while.
Career
Born in 1968 and now 53 years old, Dave was a player that literally managed to beat most of the top players at the time. These included Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ken Doherty and James Wattana. A regular finisher in the last 16 of tournaments, Finbow was tipped for the top 16 but unfortunately, he would go on to suffer from severe bouts of anxiety that literally paralysed his ability to play. An attack that left him nauseated and unable to concentrate in a match. A condition that he attempted to combat with medication but nothing seemed to work. Finbow commented on it during the 2001 UK Championship, saying:
“I didn’t feel too bad before I went out, but towards the end of the first frame I realised something wasn’t quite right. It’s hard to describe what happened. As the match went on I felt dizzy and nauseous- it felt as if I didn’t have the cue in my hands and I couldn’t see the pockets or the angles”.
Dave Finbow
As a professional, he played 320 matches, winning 174 and losing 146. His biggest prize was when he reached the last 16 of the 2001 UK Championship where he eventually lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan 8-0 but earned £11,500 as a result, his biggest single prize. However, during the match, Finbow suffered a massive anxiety attack and was forced to abandon the match at 0-8 down.
Spending 14 seasons as a professional, Finbow made his highest break of 140 in the 1996-1997 season but it was his anxiety that eventually forced him off the professional circuit, retiring at the end of the 2002-2003 season. He has tried since to return to the tour with his latest attempt being at this year’s Q School where he reached the last 16 of Event 3, losing to Billy Joe Castle 4-0.
