D.O.B. 29 Dec 1971
Lives Vienna, Austria
Last 5 Seasons34-32-31-40-34
Turned Pro 1992
Ranking Tournament Victories Two - Grand Prix 1997, Roewe World Snooker Shanghai Masters 2007
Last season World Snooker Tour prize money
£22,950
Highest Tournament Break 145 - UK Championship 1999
Dale tumbled 11 places down the ranking list after a disappointing 2009/10 season.
His best run took him to the last 32 of the totesport.com Welsh Open, and he might have gone further had he not missed an easy final brown in the deciding frame against Stephen Maguire, losing 5-4.
The Welshman then lost his opening match in the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship qualifiers against Rod Lawler.
Dale lives in Vienna but travels to the UK to practise at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester before each tournament.
Dale became one of only 24 players in snooker history to win multiple ranking events with his sensational victory in the 2007 Roewe Shanghai Masters.
After beating Rory McLeod 5-0 to qualify for the tournament, the player nicknamed the Spaceman soared in Shanghai with victories over Liu Chuang, Ken Doherty, Adrian Gunnell, Dave Harold and Mark Selby to reach the final. He fell 6-2 behind to friend and practice partner Ryan Day, but stormed back to win 10-6 with a mixture of solid break-building, excellent safety and resilience under pressure.
Dale, who sang Frank Sinatra's My Way in his post match
press conference as he celebrated the second ranking title of his career and first in ten years, said: "To be back in the winner's podium after ten years is more than I could have wished for.
"I love Shanghai and I think the fact that I felt relaxed here also helped. Once I got to the quarter-finals I was just enjoying myself," added the player who was rated a 100-1 outsider for the title.
He caused a major upset by winning the 1997 Grand Prix in Bournemouth, defeating John Higgins 9-6 in the final. Ranked 54th in the world at the time, Dale beat Karl Burrows, Andy Hicks, Steve Davis, Dave Harold, Chris Small and Jimmy White on his way to the trophy.
The man with a taste for colourful suits became only the fifth Welshman to win a world ranking title. "I suppose this proves fairytales do happen," said Dale. "Sometimes in practice you pretend you're in situations like this but I've never thought of myself as world class. I hoped I would win a title some day but I never imagined it would come like this."
Dale's best showing at the Crucible came in 2000 when he beat Peter Ebdon 10-6 and David Gray 13-1 before going down 13-9 to Joe Swail in the quarter-finals.
A member of Wales' Nations Cup-winning side in 1999, he helped them reach the final again in 2000 when they were beaten by England.
Known for his colourful personality, Dale collects rare snooker and billiards memorabilia. He also has a penchant for operatic singing and art deco painters such as Tamara de Lempicka.
