Joe Swail, born in Belfast on 29th August 1969, is Northern Ireland's most prominent professional snooker players. Known throughout the snooker world as 'The Outlaw', a pun on the 1976 film The Outlaw Josey Wales, Joe is widely recognised as one of the most likeable players on the professional circuit and is famed for his dramatic comebacks, admitting he plays at his best when under pressure and coming from behind.

Currently ranked at number 20, Joe was Irish Champion in 2005, has reached nine major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships, and has captained Northern Ireland international. His highest ranking to date is number 10 in 2001/2002, and he achieved his highest break of 142 In the China Open in 2000.

After a couple of successful seasons since 2005 when I was ranked 40, I found myself within striking distance of the elite top 16. I had a great chance at the recent World Championships in Sheffield to achieve the top 16 but I was denied it in a cracking last 16 encounter with Liang Wembo. It was a great game and it was one of the most thrilling and most talked about matches in recent history. I felt like my game was really coming together at the right time. Who knows what might have happened after such a mediocre year, I won quite a few matches but struggled to find my top form!! Looking ahead to next year, I want to start the season afresh; I’ve picked up a new cue made for me by Tony Wilshaw in Stoke. It’s a cracking piece of wood and I’ve taken to it immediately. I’m busting for the new season to start, it kicks off with the Northern Ireland Trophy in my home town of Belfast and hopefully by next Spring I might find myself back in the elite top 16!!

It was the gift of a £8 snooker cue from his parents Billy and Josephine at the age of 11 which ignited Joe's enthusiasm for snooker, a passion which continued throughout his teenage years and which saw him experience huge success on the Irish amateur scene. Joe credits his early snooker inspiration as Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins, a fellow Ulsterman from Sandy Row, Belfast, who twice achieved World Champion. He attributes his decision to take up snooker partly to Higgins, acknowledging him as his hero during his formative years. Joe was also greatly inspired by fellow Northern Irish snooker player, Dennis Taylor, citing Dennis' black ball world championship win over Steve Davis in the final as one of his favourite snooker moments.

Despite the difficulty faced by new professionals due to numerous qualifying rounds for each snooker event, Joe enjoyed a successful debut season, winning the Irish Professional Title and earning a ranking of 53, the third best of all the 300 rookies. By the end of his second season Joe had collected his first major professional title in the Strachan Challenge, had reached a further semi-final and two quarter-finals in full ranking events and had competed at the Crucible for the very first time. As a result of all these achievements, after only two seasons Joe had reached the top 32 at 25th, proceeding the following season to enter the elite top 16 at number 12.

In spite of a few setbacks in the 1997/98 season in which Joe dropped to number 36 in the ranking, his triumph in reaching the semi-finals in the World Championships 2000 made his name at the Crucible and ensured his return to the top 16 in the ranking, the first player to ever do so after dropping out of the top 32. His success continued the following season when once again Joe reached the semi-finals of the 2001 World Championships. Despite losing the semi to Ronnie O’Sullivan 17-11, Joe received his largest sum of prize money of his career, £93,000, and being ranked at an incredible number 10, his best ever position. In recognition of his resurgence into the professional rankings, Joe was presented with an Embassy Special Award, to commend the remarkable improvement in performance which Joe had worked so hard to achieve.

Such an accomplishment is made even more significant by Joe’s own admission that, only a few months prior to his comeback, Joe had considered giving up professional snooker altogether, after a turbulent year in which he had suffered the tragic loss of his mother Josephine to cancer. However, displaying the determination for which he is now renowned, Joe fought to rebuild his career. Commenting on the turnaround, Joe pays tribute to his mum for his decision to renew his ambitions and continue his professional career.

“Since my mum died I have realised it is what she wanted and for the first time in my life I have practised harder than ever before, and lucky enough the results are starting to pay off,"
The 2002/03 season began well for Joe, reaching the semi-finals of the LG Cup and maintaining his top 16 position. However, over the next few years a number of setbacks resulted in a drop in ranking, and a by 2004/05 a difficult season had fixed Joe’s position at number 40. Nevertheless Joe remained true to form with an impressive performance in the 2005/2006 season which once again returned him to his rightful position within the top 32. He broker a record at the Pontin's International Open Series winning 9 out of 9 qualifying matches. This return to form further emphasised his alternative nickname of the ‘Comeback Kid’!

After finishing only one place short of the top 16 after beating Mark Williams in the first round of the 2007 World Championships, this year’s 2008 tournament at the Crucible has seen Joe only narrowly miss entry into the quarter-finals after a tense 13-12 finish against Liang Wenbo.  His current ranking at this stage is number 20 in the provisional rankings for the main tour. Alongside his professional career, Joe now also spends time playing exhibition matches and coaching.

Joe is congenitally hearing-impaired, however he has stated that he regards this as an advantage when playing snooker, as he is much less likely to be distracted or put off by noise from the crowds, especially at venues such as the Crucible, where two tables play simultaneously. Away from the snooker table, Joe enjoys spending time with his partner Tracey and their son Joe Junior, whom he describes as ‘brilliant’. He also enjoys golf and football and is an avid Liverpool FC fan, although as he spends a good deal of time in Manchester you may catch him visiting Old Trafford from time to time watching Manchester United!

Achievements

Did you know?

• Joe is renowned for his unusual, but effective, method of cueing up, bending his cue-arm 45 degrees outward instead of keeping it vertical as most players would. While this is not a technique which he would ever teach to young players as it would seem to make potting balls extremely difficult, it works for Joe. As he says, “As long as the ball goes in who cares!"
• If he wasn’t playing snooker professionally, Joe says that he would most likely be working in a pub, following in his fathers footsteps.
• To maintain professional standard, Joe recommends four or five hours practice per day.
• In his second round match at the 2008 World Championships, Joe potted a black which Willie Thorne described as a “1 in 1000 pot”.