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Gary Owen (snooker player)

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For other people with the same name, see Gary Owen (disambiguation).

Gary Owen, MBE
Born5 March 1929
Tumble, Wales
Died1995 (aged 65)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sport country Wales,  Australia
Professional1968–1979
Highest ranking10 (1976/77)
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (x1)

Gary Owen, MBE (5 March 1929 – July 1995) was a Welsh snooker player. He won the World Amateur Snooker Championship in 1963 and 1966, and was runner-up at the 1969 World Snooker Championship.

Career

[edit]

Owen was born in Tumble, Carmarthenshire on 5 March 1929.[1][2] He played snooker for the junior team at the Welcome Billiards Hall in Llanelly.[3] Three days after his 14th birthday, he won the inaugural British Under-16 snooker championship,[4] defeating Percy Hinton 4–3 in front of an audience of over 1,000.[5][6] Before starting his military National Service, his highest break was 116.[3]

While working as a labourer, he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship in 1950 and was one frame from victory against Alf Nolan at 5–3 before losing the last three frames to finish as runner-up.[7] The next year, he lost 2–5 in the last-16 round to Jim Allen, and in 1952 lost 2–5 in the quarter-finals to Cliff Wilson.[8] He gave up competitive play for a number of years, returning only in the early 1960s.[9]

In 1963 he matched the achievement of his younger brother Marcus, winning the English Amateur Championship.[4] Now working as a fireman, in the final he won nine consecutive frames from 2–3 behind to defeat Ron Gross 11–3.[10] This qualified him to compete for England at the inaugural World Amateur Snooker Championship in Calcutta that year.[1] He won all four of his matches in the round-robin competition and took the title.[11] His attempt to defend his English Amateur Championship title ended in the Southern region quarter-finals, when he lost 0–4 to Jonathan Barron.[12]

He became world amateur champion for a second time in 1966, beating John Spencer, who was the runner-up, in the decisive match.[1][11]

In the 1967 Birthday Honours, Owen was awarded the MBE for services to snooker.[13]

In 1968 Owen, Spencer and Ray Reardon become the first players in a generation to turn professional.[9] His best performance as a professional came in 1969 when he reached the final of the reconstituted World Professional Snooker Championship, losing to old rival Spencer[14] by 37 frames to 24. A semi-finalist in 1970, he was defeated in the last eight in 1973 and 1975.[15] In 1970 Owen defeated Ray Reardon 6–4 in the final of the Stratford Professional.[16]

Owen emigrated to Australia, taking a job as the resident professional at a snooker club in Sydney in 1971,[17] and was runner-up to Eddie Charlton in the 1972 and 1973 Australian Professional championships.[9] After gaining Australian citizenship, he represented his new country at the World Challenge Cup in 1979, which was his last appearance as a professional player in the UK.[9][17] He died in Brisbane, Australia in July 1995, aged 65, after experiencing long-term emphysema.[9][17]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Ranking and results history for Gary Owen
Tournament 1968/
69 		1969/
70 		1970/
71 		1971/
72 		1972/
73 		1973/
74 		1974/
75 		1975/
76 		1976/
77 		1977/
78 		Ref.
Ranking[18] No ranking system 10 13 [18]
Stratford Professional Not Held W A A Tournament Not Held [16]
Park Drive 2000 (Spring) Not Held RR A Tournament Not Held [19]
Pot Black QF RR SF A A A A A A A
World Masters Tournament Not Held RR Not Held
World Matchplay Championship Tournament Not Held QF NH [20]
Australian Professional Championship A A A SF F F QF A SF LQ
World Championship[a] F SF RR A QF 2R QF 1R A A
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament

Career finals

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Non-ranking finals: 5 (2 titles)

[edit]
Legend
World Championship (0–1)
Other (2–2)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Reference
Winner 1. 1968 Willie Smith Trophy  John Dunning (ENG) round-robin [21]
Runner-up 1. 1969 World Snooker Championship  John Spencer (ENG) 27–46
Winner 2. 1970 Stratford Professional  Ray Reardon (WAL) 6–4 [22]
Runner-up 2. 1972 Australian Professional Championship  Eddie Charlton (AUS) 10–19 [23]
Runner-up 3. 1973 Australian Professional Championship (2)  Eddie Charlton (AUS) 10–31 [23]

Amateur finals: 5 (4 titles)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final/Runner-up Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1944 Boy's Snooker Championship  Percy Hinton (ENG) 4–3 [5]
Runner-up 1. 1950 English Amateur Championship  Alf Nolan (ENG) 5–6
Winner 2. 1963 English Amateur Championship  Ron Gross (ENG) 11–3
Winner 3. 1963 World Amateur Championship  Frank Harris (AUS) (Runner-up) round-robin [11]
Winner 4. 1966 World Amateur Championship (2)  John Spencer (ENG) (Runner-up) round-robin [11]

Notes

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  1. ^ World Championship results from 1974 onwards counted towards World Rankings

References

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  1. ^ a b c Morrison 1987, p. 95.
  2. ^ Kobylecky 2019, p. 186.
  3. ^ a b "Nutshell Biographies (No. 19): Gary Owen (Yarmouth)". The Billiard Player. February 1950. p. 11.
  4. ^ a b Everton 1985, pp. 124–125.
  5. ^ a b "Tumble News". The Welshman. 24 March 1944. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Boy's Snooker Championship". The Billiard Player. March 1944. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Third Time Luck for Nolan". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 31 March 1950. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "English Amateur Snooker Championship Results". The Billiard Player. March 1952. p. 3.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Obituary: Gary Owen MBE". Snooker Scene. Everton's News Agency. August 1995. p. 10.
  10. ^ Bate, Stan (9 March 1963). "Hail Gary Owen – One of the Best Champs!". Sports Argus. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b c d Hale 1987, pp. 296–297.
  12. ^ "The English Amateur Snooker Championship". Billiards and Snooker. April 1964. p. 3.
  13. ^ "Gary Owen, MBE". Billiards and Snooker. July 1967. p. 3.
  14. ^ "Obituary: Gary Owen". The Independent. 4 July 1995. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  15. ^ Hale 1987, pp. 251–253.
  16. ^ a b "Owen defeats title holder". Sport Argus. 5 September 1970. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b c "Former Brum Ace Dies". Black Country Evening Mail. 8 July 1995. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  19. ^ Everton 1981, p. 90.
  20. ^ "Charlton downs Reardon". Snooker Scene. February 1977. p. 5.
  21. ^ "Owen wins Willie Smith trophy". Billiards and Snooker. February 1968. p. 3.
  22. ^ "Owen defeats title holder". Sport Argus. 5 September 1970. p. 11.
  23. ^ a b "Australian Professional Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2017.

Books

  • Everton, Clive (1981). The Guinness Book of Snooker. Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0851122302.
  • Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker: The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0851124488.
  • Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987-88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0356146901.</ref>
  • Kobylecky, John (2019). The Complete International Directory of Snooker Players – 1927 to 2018. Kobyhadrian Books. ISBN 9780993143311.
  • Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker (Revised ed.). Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-600-55604-6.
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