Former snooker star who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White now pub landlord after hanging up his cue

DAVID FINBOW pushed for the top by pulling off big wins – as he made snooker’s top 30.

Now the Englishman, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White, is pushing for the support of locals by pulling pints – as landlord of a pub closed for TWO YEARS.

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Dave Finbow hoped to make the top 16 but quit as his form stuttered[/caption]

The ex-pro from Worcester is now overseeing a pub in Cornwall

Finbow, 56, regularly reached the quarter-finals in rankings tournaments.

But his bid for a spot in the elite top-16 was hampered by anxiety issues.

And at the end of the 2002-3 season he revealed in frustration he’d retire, although he did delay the official announcement.

Apart from recording victories over all-time great Rocket Ronnie and “The Whirlwind” White, Finbow defeated other leading stars like Ken Doherty and James Wattana.

But he laid down his cue and said: “After working on the main snooker pro tour for 15 years I lived in Spain for few years and came back to the UK in 2014.”

He then bought and ran his own village pub in Leicestershire.

However, Finbow sold it to two regulars – shortly before the Covid outbreak in 2020.

He toyed with the idea of a playing comeback.

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Finbow has now taken over his second pub[/caption]

But it never quite came off, so he hunted around for a new pub.

And the one he’s pounced on is in deepest South West England – the Mount Ambrose Inn in Mount Ambrose, Redruth, Cornwall.

The Falmouth Packet quote Finbow as saying: “People had been in and out for five or six years before it closed

“Everybody seems really happy about us opening. I’ve already had around 40 people through the door. I’m really excited.”

He spent four weeks revamping the premises himself before its reopening this week.

Finbow praised the response from locals in the small town as “amazing”.

And he explained how he came to move from the Midlands to a scenic corner of the country.

Finbow said: “I couldn’t find anywhere I liked so it was suggested that I try Somerset and Devon but then I spotted this place. 

“I came down and had a look and thought it really had potential so I decided to take it on.

“It’s pretty similar to the pub I previously ran, but it’s a bit bigger and has a beer garden.”