ANTHONY HAMILTON (England)

World ranking: 11

Age: 27

World Championship best: Second round (1997, 1998)

Best ranking event performance: Runner-up 1999 British Open

1998/99 ranking form: Grand Prix - R3, UK - R2, Irish - R1, Welsh - QF, Scottish - R2, Thailand - R1, China - R2, British - RU.

Hamilton enters the Championships in top form after reaching his first world-ranking event final at the British Open, losing 9-7 to Fergal O'Brien.

The £32,000 he collected as consolation took his season's earnings into six figures for the first time since turning pro and he has moved up to number nine on the provisional rankings.

Last season he became the first player to secure a top 16 place without reaching the last eight of a counting tournament.

The Nottingham professional gave Nigel Bond a fright on his Crucible debut in 1996. Trailing 5-0, he won seven of the next eight frames to lead 7-6 but eventually lost 10-9.

He became public enemy No. 1 by defeating Jimmy White 10-9 in the first round of the 1997 world championship, but then lost 13-11 to John Parrott and last year, lost 13-9 again in the second round to eventual winner John Higgins, after leading 6-2.

He has already proved he has what it takes to be a winner, claiming the Australian Open and Australian Masters - both non-ranking events - in 1995.

© PA Sporting Life