Kurt Maflin
| Name | Date of Birth | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Kurt Maflin | 08-08-1983 | Norway |
Career
Maflin began playing snooker at the age of four, achieving a high break of 25 by the time he was five. He increased his time spent at the table practising. As a rated top junior player, Maflin represented England in the 1999 Home International series in Prestatyn, North Wales, where England were victorious.
2014/2015
Maflin had a difficult first half of 2014/15 season, with just two last 16 appearances in the minor-ranking Yixing Open and Lisbon Open to his name, while at the major tournaments he couldn't progress beyond the last 64 stage. He continued to struggle into the early months of 2015 as he suffered a string of first round exits.A return to form came for Maflin at the China Open, as he defeated Ali Carter, Mike Dunn, Robin Hull and Shaun Murphy to reach his second career semi-final, where he faced the reigning world champion Mark Selby. Despite making two century breaks, he lost the last three frames to be denied his first ever final by a 6–3 scoreline.Maflin carried his good form into the World Championship qualifiers, as he convincingly beat David Grace 10–5 and Steve Davis 10–1 to once again reach the final round. Maflin fell 6–3 down to Fergal O'Brien after the first session, but won six frames in a row the next day to find himself one frame away from the victory; O'Brien then fought back to 9–9, however Maflin survived the tense decider to win 10–9 and secured his debut at the Crucible.He was drawn to play Selby in the first round and came from 7–3 and 8–4 down to lead Selby 9–8. Maflin had chances to complete a shock win in the next two frames but could not take them as Selby recovered to win 10–9.
2015/2016
Maflin lost in the first round of the International Championship and UK Championship 6–2 to Jamie Jones and 6–3 to Sean O'Sullivan respectively. His first win at the venue stage of a ranking event this season came at the German Masters courtesy of overcoming Marco Fu 5–1 and then lost 5–3 to Luca Brecel.After knocking out Hammad Miah and Leo Fernandez, Maflin lost 4–2 to home favourite Mark Williams at the Welsh Open.He made it through to the final round of World Championship qualifying and was defeated 10–7 by Robert Milkins.
2016/2017
In the first half of the 2016/2017 season, Maflin got to the last 16 of two tournaments, the World Open (lost 5–1 to Shaun Murphy) and the Northern Ireland Open (lost 4–2 to Mark King.Victories over Fang Xiongman, James Wattana, Mitchell Mann and Yan Bingtao at the Welsh Open saw him progress to the quarter-finals where he was defeated 5–2 by Robert Milkins.