Tony Knowles (snooker player)

Anthony "Tony" Knowles (born 13 June 1955, in Bolton, Lancashire) is an English former professional snooker player. He was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s.

Tony Knowles

Born	(1955-06-13) 13 June 1955 Bolton, Lancashire, England
Sport country	England
Professional	1980–1997, 1998–2001
Highest ranking	2 (1984/85)
Career winnings	£772,284[1]
Highest break	139
Century breaks	48[2]
Tournament wins
Ranking	2
Non-ranking	1

Career

Knowles began playing snooker at the age of 3 on the tables at the social club run by his father, Kevin. He went on to win the UK Junior Championship twice, in 1972 and in 1974, and continued to study graphic art. His application to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association to become a professional player was twice turned down leading him to threaten them with legal action before being accepted at the third attempt.

Knowles shot to prominence in 1982 when he defeated defending champion Steve Davis 10–1 in the first round of the World Championship, earning him overnight stardom in a period when the sport was reaching the peak of its popularity. His good looks resulted in his relationship exploits featuring in the tabloid press. After some particularly sordid revelations he was fined £5,000 by the governing body for "bringing the game into disrepute".

He followed up his strong performance in the World Championship by winning the 1982 International Open against David Taylor, and a year later was victorious in the 1983 Professional Players Tournament and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship, leading Cliff Thorburn 15–13 before losing 15–16, with Thorburn getting a very fortunate fluke on one of the colours in the deciding frame. As a result, he moved to no. 4 in the 1983/1984 world rankings.[3]

He remained in the top 16 until the 1990/1991 season, peaking at no. 2 (eclipsed only by Davis). He reached the World Championship semi-finals on three occasions (in 1983, 1985 and 1986), but never the final.

In the 1990s, his success waned, and he dropped off the main tour in 1997. He was critical of a change to the cloths on competition snooker tables in 1986, which led to the pack breaking open more easily. He was involved in a directorial role for World Snooker in the early 2000s. He enters the qualifying event for the World Championship most years and managed to defeat tour professional Stefan Mazrocis in the first qualifying round in 2009.[4]

In 2009, Knowles won the inaugural Snooker Super 6s tournament at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Knowles began the 2011/12 season by entering PTC1.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1978/ 79	1979/ 80	1980/ 81	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01
Ranking[5]	[nb 1]	[nb 1]	[nb 2]	20	15	4	2	3	4	7	8	12	21	16	20	23	21	24	42	[nb 3]	125	94	106
Ranking tournaments
British Open[nb 4]	NH	Non-Ranking Event					3R	2R	SF	2R	2R	3R	3R	2R	1R	1R	2R	3R	1R	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Grand Prix[nb 5]	Tournament Not Held				2R	W	QF	SF	QF	QF	3R	QF	2R	1R	1R	QF	2R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	Non-Ranking Event						QF	QF	QF	3R	3R	3R	QF	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
China Open[nb 6]	Tournament Not Held																			NR	LQ	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held													2R	3R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Thailand Masters[nb 7]	Tournament Not Held					Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		3R	1R	3R	2R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Scottish Open[nb 8]	Not Held			NR	W	2R	F	2R	3R	3R	2R	3R	Not Held		2R	3R	2R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
World Championship	A	A	1R	QF	SF	1R	SF	SF	1R	QF	1R	2R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Scottish Masters	Not Held			A	QF	F	SF	QF	QF	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
The Masters	A	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	SF	1R	1R	QF	QF	LQ	WR	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																QF	A	A	A	A	R	A
Irish Masters	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	SF	QF	1R	QF	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Premier League[nb 9]	Tournament Not Held					RR	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters[nb 10]	Non-Ranking			Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking			LQ	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open[nb 11]	NH	Ranking Event									NH	1R	Tournament Not Held				Ranking		Tournament Not Held
Classic	NH	Non-Ranking Event				QF	1R	3R	1R	SF	3R	1R	1R	1R	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held													1R	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Asian Classic[nb 12]	Tournament Not Held										NR	1R	2R	F	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
German Open	Tournament Not Held																	LQ	LQ	A	Not Held
Irish Open[nb 13]	Tournament Not Held										1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	NH	1R	Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR
Former non-ranking tournaments
International Open[nb 14]	Not Held			1R	Ranking Event								Not Held		Ranking Event
Classic	NH	A	A	A	1R	Ranking Event									Tournament Not Held
UK Championship	A	A	QF	2R	QF	QF	Ranking Event
British Open[nb 15]	NH	A	LQ	LQ	RR	RR	Ranking Event
Tolly Cobbold Classic	A	A	A	SF	A	F	Tournament Not Held
Carlsberg Challenge	Tournament Not Held						F	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Costa Del Sol Classic	Tournament Not Held						QF	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters	Tournament Not Held					A	A	RR	A	Not Held		Ranking Event
Hong Kong Masters	Tournament Not Held					A	A	QF	A	A	A	NH	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Australian Masters[nb 16]	NH	A	A	A	A	SF	W	1R	QF	1R	NH	R	Tournament Not Held				A	A	Tournament Not Held
Canadian Masters[nb 17]	QF	1R	1R	Tournament Not Held				QF	SF	QF	R	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Tournament Not Held										1R	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
English Professional Championship	Not Held		1R	Not Held			F	2R	1R	QF	2R	Tournament Not Held
New Zealand Masters	Tournament Not Held						QF	Not Held			SF	SF	Tournament Not Held
Norwich Union Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held										A	SF	A	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Tournament Not Held												QF	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	A	RR	1R	A	QF	Tournament Not Held					1R	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Pontins Professional	A	A	A	A	RR	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	NH

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.

1. He was an amateur.
2. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
3. He was not on the Main Tour.
4. The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
5. The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/83–1983/1984)
6. The event was also called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
7. The event was also called the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
8. The event was also called the International Open (1981/1982–1996/1997) and Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
9. The event was also called the Professional Snooker League (1983/1984), Matchroom League (1986/1987 to 1991/1992) and the European League (1992/1993 to 1996/1997)
10. The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981)
11. The event was also called the Australian Masters (1979/1980–1987/1988) and Australian Open (1994/1995)
12. The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Dubai Classic (1989/90–1994/1995) and Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
13. The event was also called the European Open (1988/1989–1996/1997)
14. The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
15. The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
16. The event was also called the Hong Kong Open (1989/1990) and Australian Open (1994/1995)
17. The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1982	International Open	David Taylor	9–6
Winner	2.	1983	Professional Players Tournament	Joe Johnson	9–8
Runner-up	1.	1984	International Open	Steve Davis	2–9
Runner-up	2.	1991	Dubai Classic	John Parrott	3–9

Non-ranking finals: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1983	Scottish Masters	Steve Davis	6–9
Runner-up	2.	1984	Tolly Cobbold Classic	Steve Davis	2–8
Winner	1.	1984	Australian Masters	John Virgo	7–3
Runner-up	3.	1984	Carlsberg Challenge	Jimmy White	7–9
Runner-up	4.	1985	English Professional Championship	Steve Davis	2–9

Team finals: 4 (1 title, 3 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1982	World Team Classic	England	Canada	2–4
Winner	1.	1983	World Team Classic	England	Wales	4–2
Runner-up	2.	1983	World Doubles Championship	Jimmy White	Steve Davis Tony Meo	2–4
Runner-up	3.	1985	World Cup	England A	Ireland	7–9

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1979	Pontins Spring Open	Dave Martin	7–0
Runner-up	1.	1990	Dutch Open	Peter Ebdon	4–6

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1972	British Under-19 Championship
Winner	2.	1974	British Under-19 Championship (2)

Notes and references

1. http://cuetracker.net/Players/Tony-Knowles/Career-Total-Statistics
2. http://cuetracker.net/Players/Tony-Knowles/Career-Total-Statistics
3. "Tony Knowles". Snooker Database. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
4. World Snooker: Veteran Knowles Makes World Progress
5. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 December 2017.

External links

• Global Snooker Profile