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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[1]
Tumble, Wales
Died1995 (aged 65)[2]
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sport country Wales
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. He was the inaugural British Under-16 champion in 1944[3] and reached the final of the prestigious English Amateur Championship six years later. He then gave up competitive play for a number of years, returning only in the early 1960s.[4]

In 1963 he matched the achievement of his brother Marcus, winning the English Amateur Championship.[3] This qualified him to compete for England at the inaugural World Amateur Championship in Calcutta that year. He won all his matches in a round-robin format and took the title. He became world amateur champion for a second time in 1966, beating future world professional champion John Spencer who was the runner-up.[5]

In the 1967 Birthday Honours, Owen was awarded the MBE for services to snooker.[6]

In 1968 Owen, Spencer and Ray Reardon become the first players in a generation to turn professional.[4] 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[2] by 37 frames to 24. A semi-finalist in 1970, he was defeated in the last eight in 1973 and 1975.[7] In 1970 Owen defeated Ray Reardon 6–4 in the final of the Stratford Professional.[8]

Owen emigrated to Australia, taking a job as the resident professional at a snooker club in Sydney, and was runner-up to Eddie Charlton in the 1972 and 1973 Australian Professional championships. After gaining Australian citizenship, he represented his new country at the Snooker World Cup in 1979.[4] He died in Brisbane, Australia.

Performance and rankings timeline

[edit]
Tournament 1968/
69 		1969/
70 		1970/
71 		1971/
72 		1972/
73 		1973/
74 		1974/
75 		1975/
76 		1976/
77 		1977/
78
Ranking[9] No ranking system 10 13
Ranking tournaments
World Championship Non-Ranking Event 2R QF 1R A A
Non-ranking tournaments
Stratford Professional Not Held W A A Tournament Not Held
Park Drive 2000 (Spring) Not Held RR A Tournament Not Held
Pot Black QF RR SF A A A A A A A
World Championship F SF RR A QF Ranking Event
World Masters Tournament Not Held RR Not Held
World Matchplay Championship Tournament Not Held QF NH
Australian Professional Championship A A A SF F F QF A SF LQ
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)

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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 [10]
Runner-up 1. 1969 World Snooker Championship  John Spencer (ENG) 27–46
Winner 2. 1970 Stratford Professional  Ray Reardon (WAL) 6–4 [11]
Runner-up 2. 1972 Australian Professional Championship  Eddie Charlton (AUS) 10–19 [12]
Runner-up 3. 1973 Australian Professional Championship (2)  Eddie Charlton (AUS) 10–31 [12]

Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final/Runner-up Score
Runner-up 1. 1950 English Amateur Championship  Alf Nolan (ENG) 5–6
Winner 1. 1963 English Amateur Championship  Ron Gross (ENG) 11–3
Winner 2. 1963 World Amateur Championship  Frank Harris (AUS) (Runner-up) round-robin
Winner 3. 1966 World Amateur Championship (2)  John Spencer (ENG) (Runner-up) round-robin

References

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  1. ^ Kobylecky, John (2019). The Complete International Directory of Snooker Players – 1927 to 2018. Kobyhadrian Books. p. 186. ISBN 9780993143311.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary: Gary Owen". The Independent. 4 July 1995. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  3. ^ a b Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker: The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 124–125. ISBN 0851124488.
  4. ^ a b c "Obituary: Gary Owen MBE". Snooker Scene. Everton's News Agency. August 1995. p. 10.
  5. ^ Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987-88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0356146901.
  6. ^ "Gary Owen, MBE". Billiards and Snooker. July 1967. p. 3.
  7. ^ Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987-88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. pp. 251–253. ISBN 0356146901.
  8. ^ "Owen defeats title holder". Sport Argus. 5 September 1970. p. 11.
  9. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Owen wins Willie Smith trophy". Billiards and Snooker. February 1968. p. 3.
  11. ^ "Owen defeats title holder". Sport Argus. 5 September 1970. p. 11.
  12. ^ a b "Australian Professional Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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