# James Leadbetter

James Leadbetter (born 23 December 1980) is an English former professional snooker player.

## Career

Leadbetter was born in 1980, and turned professional in 2003. His début season was without any success, and he dropped off the main tour at the end of the 2003/2004 season, but regained his place in 2006.
The highlight of the 2006/2007 season was a run to the last 64 of the 2007 World Championship, where Leadbetter defeated retired professional Les Dodd 10–8, Chris Norbury 10–9 and Stuart Pettman 10–3, before being defeated 7–10 by former World Champion John Parrott, who that year would reach the last 16 in his final appearance at the Crucible Theatre.
These performances earned Leadbetter £4,500 and ranked him 76th in the world, but this was not enough for him to retain his place on tour for the 2007/2008 season, and he immediately became an amateur once more. His subsequent attempts to re-qualify as a professional that season were unsuccessful, despite a run to the semi-final of one PIOS event in 2008, where he was defeated by Simon Bedford.

## Performance and rankings timeline

| Tournament | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2004/ 05 | 2006/ 07 | 2010/ 11 |
| Ranking | | | | | | |
| Ranking tournaments |||||||
| World Open | A | A | LQ | A | LQ | A |
| UK Championship | A | A | LQ | A | LQ | A |
| Welsh Open | A | A | LQ | A | LQ | A |
| Players Tour Championship Grand Final | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | DNQ |
| China Open | A | Not Held | Not Held | A | LQ | A |
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A |
| Non-ranking tournaments |||||||
| The Masters | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | A |
| Former ranking tournaments |||||||
| Players Championship | A | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| British Open | A | A | LQ | A | Not Held | Not Held |
| Irish Masters | NR | A | LQ | A | NR | NH |
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | LQ | NH |
| Malta Cup | A | A | LQ | A | LQ | NH |
| Former non-ranking tournaments |||||||
| Merseyside Professional Championship | A | A | A | 1R | Not Held | Not Held |
Performance Table Legend :
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | NH / Not Held | NH / Not Held | NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. |
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | NR / Non-Ranking Event | NR / Non-Ranking Event | NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. |
| R / Ranking Event | R / Ranking Event | R / Ranking Event | R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. |
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | MR / Minor-Ranking Event | MR / Minor-Ranking Event | MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
| PA / Pro-am Event | PA / Pro-am Event | PA / Pro-am Event | PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. |
* ↑ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
* 1 2 3 4 He was an amateur
* 1 2 New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
* ↑ The event was called the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Grand Prix (2004/2005, 2006/2007)
* ↑ The event was called the Scottish Open (2001/2002–2002/2003)
* ↑ The event was called the European Open (2001/2002–2003/2004)

## Career finals
### Non-ranking finals: 1

| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2003 | Challenge Tour - Event 4 | Kurt Maflin | 2–6 |

### Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)

| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2005 | PIOS – Event 2 | Mark Joyce | 3–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 2013 | Snookerbacker Classic 2014 - Qualifier 7 - Leeds | Sydney Wilson | 4–3 |