Stephen Lee

Lee came close to success at UK Championship

Date of birth: 12/10/74
World ranking: 8
Career earnings: £680,701
2001-2002 points: 17625

Wiltshire player Stephen Lee has fast emerged as one of the main threats to the World Championship crown.

This season has marked a coming of age in the snooker career of Lee after winning the LG Cup.

It was his first world ranking title since he picked up the Grand Prix in 1998.

He followed up the win by reaching the semi-finals of the UK Championship, only to be knocked out by Ken Doherty.

Lee turned professional in 1992 after becoming English amateur champion, but has only recently made an impression on the world scene.

He succumbed to John Higgins in the quarter-finals of the 1999 World Championship.

But neck injuries sustained in an earlier car accident put paid to his bid a year later.

He reached the final of the Regal Welsh Open in 1999 where he was beaten by John Higgins, 9-8, in a thrilling contest.

In the 2000-01 season, Lee reached the semi-finals of the Regal Welsh and the last eight of both the Liverpool Victoria UK Championship and China Open.