When Neal Foulds arrived on the professional scene he was tipped by many as the man to succeed Steve Davis as World Champion and indeed his progress in his first four seasons, rising to third in the rankings, justified this optimism taking him to the very pinnacle of the game..

Son of former professional Geoff Foulds, Neal started playing at age 11 and when he swapped his spectacles for contact lenses the improvement was immediate. By the early 1980s he was one of the best young players in the London area and appeared in Junior Pot Black in 1981. He beat John Parrott to win the National Under-19 title in 1982 and, after representing his country, applied for professional status in 1983 which was granted.

His first season did not start spectacularly but he won two qualifying rounds of the UK Championship to reach the first round proper. He rounded off the season by qualifying to play at the Crucible, and on his debut beat Alex Higgins 10-9. Doug Mountjoy beat him in the next round, but people were beginning to sit up and take notice. Neal finished his debut season ranked 30th. That performance at Sheffield gave him confidence and he started the next season by reaching the semi-final of the Grand Prix, losing out to eventual winner, Dennis Taylor.

1985/86 saw him reach another ranking semi-final, this time in the Goya Matchroom Trophy as well as the quarter-final of the Mercantile Credit Classic. He was also runner-up to Tony Meo in the English Professional Championship having beaten his Dad in an earlier round.

He was now in the top 16 and he began the next season as one of the players to beat. Barry Hearn had signed him to his Matchroom stable and he did not have to wait long for his first title. It came in the first event, the BCE International where he beat Cliff Thorburn 12-9 in the final.

The next event was the Grand Prix and he reached the semi-final following this with runner-up spot in the UK. He missed out in the Mercantile but made it to his third final of the season in the British Open where Jimmy White beat him and crowned a fantastic season with a semi-final at the Crucible. Just to put the icing on the cake, he won the Pontins Professional tile as well. Only Steve Davis in regaining his world title had a better season and Neal was number three in the rankings.

In ranking events a quarter final at the Crucible was the only time he got beyond the last 16 but he was runner-up in both the Irish Masters and the English Professional.

1989/90 was a productive season, as he reached three quarter-finals and regained his top 16 position. He followed this with an even better year in 1990/91, when he got to the Mercantile Credit Classic semi-final as well as three other quarters. A second Pontins Professional title was added as well and he was up to number six again.

In 1992/93 he won the Scottish Masters and reached the quarter finals of the world championship and Grand Prix.

Foulds is one of that special group of players who have earned over £1million in prize money.

He has recently taken up commentating and is proving to be a hit with television viewers. Other off table activities include voice commentaries for Ladbroke's in their betting shops.

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