Andy Hicks
| Born |
10 August 1973 |
|---|---|
| Sport country |
 England
|
| Nickname | The Cream of Devon, The Toast of Tavistock |
| Professional | 1991–2013 |
| Highest ranking | 17 (1995/1996) |
| Career winnings | GB£680,958 |
| Highest break | 147 |
| Century breaks | 148 |
| Best ranking finish | Semi-finals (six times) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Non-ranking | 1 |
Andy Hicks (born 10 August 1973 in , Devon, England) is an English former professional snooker player who now competes as an amateur.
Nicknamed "The Cream of Devon", Hicks reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1995, and the same stage at four other ranking tournaments. He was ranked within the world's top 32 players between 1995 and 2000, and again from 2005 to 2007, but was relegated from the main tour in 2013.
Although a professional since 1991, Hicks first came to prominence in the 1995 World Championship, in which he reached the semi-finals, beating Steve Davis, Willie Thorne and Peter Ebdon along the way, but being blocked from the finals by Nigel Bond, 11–16. He has never reached a major final, but reached the semi-finals of the four BBC-screened events within 2 seasons – the 1994 Grand Prix, the 1995 UK Championship and the 1996 Masters (as a wild card).
He spent most of the second half of the 1990s close to the Top-16 elite section in the world rankings, peaking at no. 17 in the 1995/1996 season, and winning the 1997 Masters qualifier. He struggled in the early part of the 2000s, however, winning only two of eighty-three matches in 2003.
Later, he was only one frame loss away from being bumped out of the Top 64, rallying to defeat Craig Butler 10–9 in a close 2003 World Championship qualifier. He ended up ranked no. 62 for the 2003/2004 season. At this point, he had only qualified for the world championship once in six years, a 10–4 defeat to eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2001. However, he returned to form after this. He reached the second round of the 2004 World Championship, beating Quinten Hann in a match memorable for a near-fight between the two players at the end, started by Hann in the middle of the match, when he said to Hicks: 'I've enjoyed the last three times I've breathed on you'. At the end of the match, Hicks retorted that Hann was about to drop out of the Top 16 as a result of the loss. Hicks later admitted his delight at this. This marked the only time Hicks had won a match at the Crucible since 1995. He next gave Ronnie O'Sullivan a challenge in the second round, before ultimately losing, 13–11.
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