this season as he could not win another match at a venue until the China Open, when he ousted Jimmy Robertson 5–3, but then fell 5–2 to Barry Hawkins in the second round. He had a consistent year in the minor-ranking European Tour events with a pair of last 16 exits helping him to finish 25th on the Order of Merit to claim the last qualification place for the Grand Final, where he was whitewashed 4–0 by Mark Selby in the opening round. 2015/2016 season At the International Championship, Dale defeated Matthew Selt 6–1 and then lost 6–3 to Joe Perry in the second round. His second round match with Peter Ebdon at the UK Championship finished at 1:30am as Dale relinquished a 5–4 advantage to be beaten 6–5. Breaks of 72, 73, 82 and 61 saw Dale sneak past Mark Williams in the opening round of the Players Championship Finals 4–3, before he lost 4–1 to Shaun Murphy. Dale won more than one match at a ranking event for the only time this season when he knocked out Jamie Jones and Darryl Hill at the China Open, but then was beaten 6–1 by Stephen Maguire in the third round. 2016/2017 season Dale saw off Ishpreet Chadha 4–2 and Marco Fu 4–0 to reach the third round of the Indian Open, where he lost 4–1 to Peter Ebdon. At the Paul Hunter Classic he enjoyed victories over Ben Woollaston, Ian Glover, Michael Holt, Yan Bingtao and Jimmy White to play in the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time since 2007. Dale was defeated 4–2 by Mark Selby. He lost in the second round of the International Championship 6–2 to Stuart Bingham and won three frames in a row to take his third round match with Shaun Murphy at the UK Championship in to a final-frame decider. He had chances in it but could not take them to be ousted 6–5. In the final World Championship qualifying round Dale made the 200th century break of his career, but would be defeated 10–5 by Luca Brecel. Personal life Dale's personality, dress sense and hair styles make him one of the more flamboyant players on the circuit. In his early years he wore a white suit with colourful shirts. In 2007 he sported bleached blonde hair with a bright pink shirt. His interests include snooker memorabilia, Art Deco and operatic