# Kristján Helgason

Kristján Helgason (born 27 March 1974) is an Icelandic former professional snooker player.

## Career

Born in 1974, Helgason turned professional in 1995. In 1998, he reached the last 48 at the Irish Open, losing 3–5 to Billy Snaddon, but made no further progress in any tournament that season.
The following season, he reached the last 32 at the 2000 Scottish Open, where he defeated Nick Pearce, John Read and Jamie Burnett before losing 3–5 to Mark Williams. In that year's World Championship, he beat Joe Jogia, John Lardner, Joe Johnson, Rod Lawler and Terry Murphy to set up a meeting in the first round at the Crucible Theatre with Stephen Lee. Becoming the first Icelander to appear at the Crucible, Helgason lost 3–10.
In the last 48 at the 2002 China Open, Helgason faced Anthony Hamilton, building a 4–0 lead with consecutive breaks of 93, 91 and 83; however, Hamilton won the next five frames to run out a 5–4 victor.
Helgason played at the last 32 stage of a ranking event for the third time at the 2002 British Open; there, he defeated Jin Long, Ryan Day, Stuart Bingham, Patrick Wallace and Dave Harold, but lost 3–5 to Paul Hunter.
Having reached a career-high ranking of 66th for the 2003/2004 season, Helgason played in only the first two tournaments, losing in the LG Cup 4–5 to Ian Brumby and in the British Open, 4–5 to Michael Wild. He finished the season ranked 103rd, and lost his professional status at the age of 30.
He played in the Gibraltar Open during March 2020.

## Performance and rankings timeline

| Tournament | 1994/ 95 | 1995/ 96 | 1998/ 99 | 1999/ 00 | 2000/ 01 | 2001/ 02 | 2002/ 03 | 2003/ 04 | 2013/ 14 | 2015/ 16 | 2017/ 18 | 2019/ 20 |
| Ranking | | | | 105 | 74 | 70 | 75 | 66 | | | | |
| Ranking tournaments |||||||||||||
| World Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | NH | A | A |
| UK Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A |
| Scottish Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | Not Held | Not Held | A | A |
| European Masters | LQ | A | LQ | Not Held | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | Not Held | A | A |
| Welsh Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A |
| Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | MR | A | 1R |
| World Championship | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | LQ | A |
| Non-ranking tournaments |||||||||||||
| Masters | A | A | A | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| Non-ranking tournaments |||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 2R | RR | NH |
| Former ranking tournaments |||||||||||||
| Dubai Classic | LQ | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| Malta Grand Prix | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| Thailand Masters | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| British Open | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | 2R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| Irish Masters | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held | Tournament Not Held |
| China Open | Not Held | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | Not Held | A | A | A | NH |
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. |
* 1 2 3 4 5 He was an amateur.
* ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
* ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
* ↑ The event was called the Grand Prix (1994/1995–1995/1996, 1998/1999–2000/2001) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
* ↑ The event was called the International Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
* ↑ The event was called the European Open (1994/1995, 2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)
* ↑ The event was called the Thailand Open (1994/1995)
* ↑ The event was called the China International (1998/1999)

## Career finals
### Amateur finals: 16 (12 titles)

| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 1993 | IBSF World Under-21 Championship | Indika Dodangoda | 11–7 |
| Winner | 2. | 1994 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Gunnar Valsson | 9–4 |
| Winner | 3. | 1996 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Johannes Johannesson | 9–6 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1996 | EBSA European Championships | Graham Horne | 5–8 |
| Winner | 4. | 1997 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Johannes Johannesson | 9–5 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1997 | EBSA European Championships | Robin Hull | 3–7 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1998 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Johannes Johannesson | 5–9 |
| Winner | 5. | 1998 | EBSA European Championships | Alex Borg | 7–2 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2005 | EBSA European Championships | Alex Borg | 2–7 |
| Winner | 6. | 2012 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Thorri Jensson | 9–1 |
| Winner | 7. | 2017 | Nordic Snooker Championship | Patrik Tiihonen | 5–2 |
| Winner | 8. | 2017 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Jon Ingi Ægisson | 9–0 |
| Winner | 9. | 2017 | European 6-Reds Championship | Wayne Brown | 5–2 |
| Winner | 10. | 2018 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Guðni Pálsson | 9–1 |
| Winner | 11. | 2019 | Iceland Amateur Championship | Jon Ingi Ægisson | 9–2 |
| Winner | 12. | 2019 | European Snooker Open | Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz | 4–1 |