Gary Owen (snooker player)

Gary Owen (5 March 1929 – July 1995) was a Welsh-Australian snooker player. Winning the 1963 English Amateur Championship qualified him to compete for England at the inaugural World Amateur Snooker Championship in Calcutta that year. He won all four of his matches in the round-robin competition and took the title. He became world amateur champion for a second time in 1966, beating John Spencer in the decisive match.

He became a professional player in 1967, and won the 1968 Willie Smith Trophy, the first tournament that he played in as a professional. He was runner-up to Spencer at the 1969 World Snooker Championship. In 1971 he moved to Australia, and he represented that country at the 1979 World Challenge Cup, which was his last appearance as a professional player in the UK. He died in Brisbane, Australia in July 1995, aged 65, after experiencing long-term emphysema.

Early life and amateur career

Gary Owen was born in Tumble, Carmarthenshire on 5 March 1929. His father was a local champion at snooker, and encouraged his sons to learn the game. Three days after his 14th birthday, he won the inaugural British Under-16 snooker championship, defeating Percy Hinton 4–3 in front of an audience of over 1,000. His highest was 116 before starting his military National Service. 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. In the early 1950s he moved to Great Yarmouth, where his father managed a billiard hall. Owen became a firefighter, and gave up competitive play for a number of years, returning to the game only in the early 1960s. By late 1956, he had moved to Birmingham.

Still working as a firefighter, in 1963 he matched the achievement of his younger brother Marcus in winning the English Amateur Championship. Owen and Gross played a televised challenge match later than year, which Gross won 4–2. Richard Holt of Billiards and Snooker magazine felt that both players were impressive in the televised match, and commented that "Owen was always a joy to watch, with a command of advanced technique and masterful confidence."

He became world amateur champion for a second time in 1966, beating John Spencer in the decisive match. In the 1967 Birthday Honours, Owen was awarded the MBE for services to snooker. Owen was convinced to make the transition by a £250 contract with cue manufacturers Riley Burwat, who were looking for new names to use on their branded cues. As part of the deal, the company handled Owen's bookings. Owen won all three of his matches and took the title. He also made the highest break of the tournament, 80, against Dunning in the final frame of the match that confirmed him as the champion. He made a maximum break of 147 in a non-competitive game at the Central Fire Station in Birmingham; although the break was not officially recognised as it did not happen in a public match, he was reportedly only the third British player to achieve the break.

In 1968–69, the World Snooker Championship was held as a knock-out format tournament after being contested on a challenge basis since 1964. In his first match, he eliminated Rea 25–17. In the semi-final he defeated Fred Davis 37–24. In the final, he faced Spencer, who took a 6–2 lead, before Owen levelled the match at 6–6. The Birmingham Daily Post correspondent praised the players for bringing a "refreshing new look to the game, with bold attacking play, wonderful potting, and a sprinkling of good-sized breaks". Spencer was 15–9 ahead after the second day of the final, and maintained a six-frame lead by the end of day three, at 21–15. On day four, Owen won four of the afternoon session's six frames to close to 19–23. In the evening session, Spencer claimed the first three frames, and finished the day six frames ahead again at 27–21. Owen only won three of the twelve frames on the fifth day, leaving Spencer one frame from victory at 36–24. Owen's brother Marcus commented that, "Gary's cueing is all over the place. Every time he plays a forcing shot, his whole body is moving." Spencer took the first frame on the final day to claim victory by achieving a winning score at 37–24. Owen compiled a 100 break, the highest of the match, in the 66th frame during the s after the title had been decided. In 1970, Owen defeated Reardon 6–4 in the final of the Stratford Professional. In the group stage of the 1971 edition he defeated Paddy Morgan and Norman Squire, but lost to Eddie Charlton and Warren Simpson, and did not progress past that stage. He withdrew from the 1972 World Championship and was replaced in the draw by Charlton.

Owen emigrated to Australia in April 1971, taking a job as the resident professional at the Western Suburbs Leagues Club, a snooker hall in Sydney. He played his brother Marcus in his first match in the 1974 World Snooker Championship, and lost 8–15. At the 1975 World Championship, he progressed through two rounds but was beaten 9–19 by Dennis Taylor in the quarter-finals. Owen was ranked tenth on the 1976–77 ranking list, which was the highest position that he attained in the rankings.

His playing technique included an unusually short . He preferred the use of s rather than in his break-building. In 1963, he said that he usually practised by playing English billiards, as having only three balls on the table helped him practice his ball control.

Performance and rankings timeline

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%"

|+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

| style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Ranking

| align="center" colspan="8" style="color:#555555;"|No ranking system

| align="center" |10

| align="center" |13

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Willie Smith Trophy

| style="text-align:center; background:#0f0;"|W

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" colspan="9"|Tournament Not Held

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Park Drive 2000 (Spring)

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" colspan="2"|Not Held

| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|RR

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;"|A

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" colspan="6"|Tournament Not Held

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Pot Black

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|??

| style="text-align:center; background:yellow;"|SF

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;"|A

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" | World Masters

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" colspan="6"|Tournament Not Held

| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|RR

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" |NH

| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|??

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" |NH

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" | World Matchplay Championship

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;" colspan="8"|Tournament Not Held

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;"|NH

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" |

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;"|A

| style="text-align:center; background:yellow;"|SF

| style="text-align:center; background:#D8BFD8;"|F

| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| style="text-align:center; color:#555555;"|A

| style="text-align:center; background:yellow;"|SF

| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;"|??

|style="background:#EFEFEF;" | World Championship