Marcus Owen

Marcus Willoughby Owen (4 April 1935 – December 1987)[2][3][4] was a Welsh professional snooker player.

Marcus Owen

Born	4 April 1935 Carmarthenshire, Wales
Died	December 1987 (aged 52) Hackney, London
Sport country	Wales
Professional	1973–1985
Highest ranking	17 (1976–1977)
Career winnings	£1,500[1]
Highest break	102 (1974 World Championship)
Century breaks	1
Best ranking finish	Quarter-final (1974 World Championship)

Career

Before turning professional, Owen won the English Under-16 Championship in 1949, and reached the final in 1950.[5] Owen also won the English Amateur Championship on four occasions in 1958, 1959, 1967 and 1973 [6]

Owen followed his brother Gary into professional snooker in 1973, entering the 1974 World Championship. As an unknown quantity, Marcus was not expected to progress far; however, he beat Dennis Taylor and Maurice Parkin to set up a last-16 meeting with Gary. Gary held Marcus to 5–5 at one point, but could not prevent him from pulling away to reach the quarter-final with a 15–8 victory. There, Marcus faced Ray Reardon, but having recovered from 3–9 to 7–9, was eventually defeated 11–15.

Owen next reached a quarter-final at the 1982 Welsh Professional Championship, which was itself an eight-man event. He lost his first match 0–6 to Cliff Wilson.

Owen had no further success in the professional game, his last match being a 0–6 loss to Tony Chappel in the first round of the 1985 edition of the Welsh Professional Championship; having held 17th place in the inaugural world rankings in 1976, he had not occupied a position on the list since 1980.

Personal life

Owen died in hospital in December 1987,[2] under 'tragic circumstances'.[7] His older brother Gary was also a professional snooker player.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1973/ 74	1974/ 75	1975/ 76	1976/ 77	1977/ 78	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85
Ranking[8]	No ranking system			17	23	UR	UR	UR	UR
Ranking tournaments
Professional Players Tournament	Tournament Not Held						LQ	A	A
International Open	Tournament Not Held					NR	LQ	A	A
World Championship	QF	A	LQ	A	A	A	LQ	A	A
Non-ranking tournaments
Welsh Professional Championship	Not Held			A	NH	QF	QF	QF	1R
Former non-ranking tournaments
Norwich Union Open	1R	1R	Not Held
Watney Open	NH	WD	Not Held
International Open	Tournament Not Held					LQ	Ranking
UK Championship	Tournament Not Held				A	A	LQ	A	R

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

NH / Not Held				means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				means an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals

Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1958	English Amateur Championship	Jack Fitzmaurice	11–8
Winner	2.	1959	English Amateur Championship (2)	Allan Barnett	11–5
Runner-up	1.	1966	English Amateur Championship	John Spencer	5–6
Winner	3.	1967	English Amateur Championship (3)	Sid Hood	11–4
Winner	4.	1973	English Amateur Championship (4)	Ray Edmonds	11–6

References

1. "Career-total Statistics for Marcus Owen - Professional - Snooker Results & Statistics". CueTracker. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
2. "Marcus Owen". The Times. 22 December 1987. p. 30.
3. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVQ8-P6YH
4. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZW-4QWS
5. "Juniors - EABA". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
6. "English Amateur Championship" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
7. Mark Wildman. "Reminiscences of a Billiards Man". Retrieved 11 August 2015.
8. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.