World ranking: 7
Last five seasons: 12-13-7-5-3
Date of birth: 27-08-70
Lives: Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
Turned professional: 1991
Ranking tournament victories: 4 - Grand Prix 1993; Thailand Open 1997; British Open 2000; Regal Scottish 2001
Last season's prize money: £225,210
Career prize money (up to start of 2001-2002 season): £1,498,445
Highest tournament break: 147 - Strachan Professional 1992, UK Championship 1992

Peter Ebdon re-established himself as a major force in snooker during the 2000-2001 season by doubling his tally of ranking tournament victories to four.

The horseracing enthusiast started the British Open at Plymouth Pavilions in October at odds of 66-1 but proved outsiders can come in as he disappointed a partisan crowd by defeating 'People's Champion' Jimmy White 9-6 in the final.

"I'm very emotional," said the father-of-four as he fought back the tears. "I've put in so much work to try and haul my way back; that's why I'm like this."

His second success came in the Regal Scottish at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in April as he denied Irishman Ken Doherty a hat-trick of ranking titles with a determined 9-7 victory.

"I set myself a target of winning two ranking tournaments this season and now I've achieved that goal," he said. "I would love to re-establish myself as top-four player again and the way I have played here this week, I must have a good chance of succeeding."

Ebdon is more than halfway there, climbing from 12th to seventh in the world rankings despite going out of the Embassy World Championship at the quarter-final stage to the eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan (13-6).

He had once again expressed his emotions in his own inimitable way after coming through a titanic second-round battle against Stephen Lee 13-12.

It was at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre that a pony-tailed Ebdon first burst on to the snooker scene in 1992, beating six-times world champion Steve Davis 10-4 in the first round and going on to reach the quarter-finals in his first season as a professional.

His achievement earned him the WPBSA Young Player of the Year award and he went from strength-to-strength by collecting his first ranking title - the Grand Prix - a year later. Victories followed in the 1995 Irish Masters, 1996 Regal Masters and 1997 Thailand Open.

Stephen Hendry has twice prevented him from capturing two of the sport's top titles. He beat him 10-3 in the final of the 1995 UK Championship and 18-12 in the final of the 1996 Embassy World Championship.

Ebdon defeated White, Davis and O'Sullivan in tight finishes to reach the final but those matches had left him mentally drained and he was unable to prevent Hendry from collecting his sixth world title.

"I had a very tough draw and having produced all that effort just to get to the final, there was nothing left," he said. "But it was a privilege just to play Stephen because he is the greatest player ever to have picked up a cue."

Ebdon suffered a shock 10-3 defeat against Stefan Mazrocis at Sheffield the following year but reached the quarter-finals again in 1998. He was beaten by Matthew Stevens in round one in 1999 and by Dominic Dale at the same stage in 2000.