Provisional world ranking: 5

Age: 25

World Championship best: Quarter-Final 1999.

Best ranking event performance: Winner of one tournament: Grand Prix 1998.

1999/2000 ranking form: British - QF, Grand Prix - R4, UK - R4, China - RU, Welsh - RU, Malta - SF, Thailand - QF, Irish - R1, Scottish - WD.

Stephen Lee is one of the game's rising stars shooting up through the rankings. Only last season he was number 16 and already he is provisionally inside the top four.

His 9-2 Grand Prix victory over Marco Fu in 1998 sent a warning to the rest of the field as he put in a breath-taking performance to win what is his only ranking title to date.

The Trowbridge-based professional has had an excellent season, reaching the last eight five times. One three of these occasions he progresses to one semi-final and two finals. but one which has seen him in the final of the China International, losing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

He was a member of England's Nation Cup winning side in Reading earlier this year.

Lee, the 1992 English Amateur champion, boasts one of the best cueing actions in the game.