Gray first dropping off the professional tour in 2009 was documented by the late great Clive Everton, who wrote in The Guardian: ‘David Gray’s 5–1 defeat by Tian Pengfei, a Chinese wildcard, on the opening day of the China Open in Beijing sees him relegated from the world-ranking circuit at the age of 30, a dire fate for the 2003 Scottish Open champion and the 2004 UK Championship runner-up.
‘I can think of three players who were completely outstanding at that age group: Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and a lad called David Gray who did win a ranking event and did reach a UK final.
At 16 years and two months, Gray superseded Jimmy White as the youngest ever English amateur champion, defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Crucible in 2000 and reached the quarter-finals there in 2004.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump were, unsurprisingly, standout performers as children and former world number three Neal Foulds remembers one other as a stunningly good junior player.
In 2000 he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in round one at the World Championship and by 2003 he was a ranking event winner after landing the Scottish Open title.
