Selby 5–2 and Barry Hawkins 5–4 to advance to the semi-finals whilst claiming he wasn't playing his best. He then defeated Stuart Bingham 6–4 to get to his third ranking event final and first in 15 years in a match that finished at 1am. Playing Ali Carter in the final, Hamilton fell 2–5 down early on, but went on to win seven of the last eight frames for a 9–6 victory. It sealed the long-awaited first ranking event title of his 26-year career as a professional, and at the age of 45, he also became the oldest winner of a ranking event since 46-year-old Doug Mountjoy in 1989. Hamilton moved from 66th to 38th in the rankings. He beat Bingham 5–1, before losing 5–2 to Ding Junhui at the Players Championship and failed to reach the World Championship as he was defeated 10–9 by Noppon Saengkham in the second qualifying round. From starting the season with no ranking points he finished it 25th in the world, 31 places ahead of the next newly qualified player, Yan Bingtao. 2019–2020 Hamilton beat Sam Craigie 6–3 and Scott Donaldson 10–5 to qualify for the 2020 World Championship but then withdrew from the tournament. Being an asthmatic, Hamilton had criticised the decision to allow a limited number of spectators into the Crucible in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Defending champion Judd Trump said Hamilton should have made his decision earlier because, by participating in the qualifiers despite knowing there would be spectators in the final stages, he had denied a place to another player. This was despite government advice changing after qualifying entries had been announced. Personal life He is nicknamed the "Sheriff of Pottingham", "Swampy" and "The Robin Hood of Snooker". He now lives in Muswell Hill, north London and regularly plays at Whetstone Snooker Club, in Whetstone, Barnet. In 2001 he suffered a broken wrist while attempting to come to the rescue of a friend who was mugged in a nightclub, an injury which kept him out of three tournaments and ultimately cost him his place in the top 16 of the 2001/2002 season. Performance and rankings timeline Career finals Ranking finals: 3 (1 title) Minor-ranking finals: 1 Non-ranking finals: 4 (4 titles) Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title) References External links Anthony Hamilton at worldsnooker.com 1971 births Living people English snooker players Sportspeople from Nottingham People from Muswell Hill