Category: Snooker

The late Raymond “Ray” Reardon retired from professional snooker, aged 58, in 1991 and died from cancer, aged 91, on July 19, 2024. Nevertheless, to readers of a certain age, he will be remembered as one of the greatest British snooker players of all time and a force majeure in the sport throughout the seventies.

Born in Tredegar in Monmouthshire, South Wales on October 8, 1932, Reardon became English Amateur Champion in 1964 and turned professional three years later, aged 35. His timing was fortuitous, since it coincided not only with the advent of colour television – and, hence, “Pot Black”, a weekly, one-frame snooker showcase on BBC2 – but also the revival of the World Snooker Championship, as a knockout tournament, in 1969.

Reardon first won the World Championship in 1970, some seven years before the tournament would find its “spiritual home” at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. In the early days of the modern era of snooker, the world title was decided on a series of lengthy matches played at various venues, at home and abroad, throughout the season.

At Victoria Hall, London on April 11, 1970, Reardon defeated John Pulman 37-33 to win his first title and would go on to win five more, including in Melbourne, Australia in 1975. His one and only title at the Crucible, though, came in 1978, when he defeated Perrie Mans 25-18 in the final. As testament to his ability, and longevity, Reardon was a losing finalist, against Alex Higgins, in 1982 and a losing semi-finalist, against Steve Davis, in 1985, at the age of 52.

To readers of a certain age, mention of Willie Thorne instantly brings to mind the verse devoted to him in the singalong classic ‘Snooker Loopy’, by Chas & Dave, which begins with the lines, ‘But old Willie Thorne, his hair’s all gone, and his mates all take the rise’. Thorne, of course, sang backing vocals, alongside fellow members of the so-called ‘Matchroom Mob’, Tony Meo, Dennis Taylor, Terry Griffiths and Steve Davis, on the song, which was released to coincide with the 1986 World Snooker Championship and reached number six in the singles chart.

Anyway, the occasional foray into the pop charts aside, the ‘Great W.T.’ did, indeed, win a ranking tournament. In fact, he did so in January, 1985, at the Mercantile Credit Classic, played at the Spectrum Arena in Warrington, Cheshire. Thorne beat John Virgo 5-3 in quarter-finals before edging out reigning world champion Steve Davis 9-8 in the semi-finals – the first time in his career he had beaten ‘The Nugget’ – to set up a meeting with Canadian Cliff Thorburn in the best-of-25 frames final. Thorburn led 4-3 after the first session, but Thorne won four of the first five frames in the second, making breaks of 105 and 118 in the process, to lead 7-5. Thorburn rallied, winning two of the remaining three frames and the first frame of the third session to level the match at 8-8. Thereafter, the match belonged to Thorne, who won the next five frames in a row for an historic 13-8 victory.

The following December, Thorne also reached the final of 1985 UK Championship, in which he led Steve Davis 13-8 and 59-50 in the opening frame of the final session, with just blue, pink and black remaining. However, Thorne missed a routine blue off the spot which, he later admitted, he ‘just didn’t look at’, allowing Davis stage a comeback. In fact, ‘The Ginger Magician’ won that frame and seven of the next eight for an unlikely 16-14 victory.

The fastest frame in the history of professional snooker was recorded during a best-of-nine frames first round match between Maltese former professional Tony ‘The Tornado’ Drago and English former professional Danny ‘The Dustman’ Fowler at the Fidelity Unit Trusts International Open at Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent on August 31, 1988. In the fifth frame, Drago needed just three minutes to establish a 62-0 lead and went on to win the match 5-3.

Born in Valletta in September, 1965, Drago turned professional in 1985 and became known for his flamboyance, speed around the table and occasionally volatile temperament, hence his nickname. In his heyday, he was clocked at between 11 and 14 seconds per shot. In 1988, Drago beat Alex Higgins 10-2 and Dennis Taylor 13-5 en route to the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship, where he lost 13-4 to eventual champion Steve Davis.

Eight years later, at the Guild Hall in Preston, Drago set another record that has yet to be broken. In the fourth frame of his last-16 match against a youthful John Higgins in the 1996 UK Championships, he compiled a break of 103 in just 3 minutes and 31 seconds to set a record for the fastest century break in the history of televised professional snooker. Having led that match 4-0, Drago eventually lost 9-8, but the following year, 1997, he beat Higgins in the semi-final of the International Open at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre en route to the only and only ranking final of his career, which he lost 9-1 to Stephen Hendry.

Interestingly, until April, 2019, Danny Fowler also held a long-standing, if unwanted, record. In 1993, he lost 10-1 to Stephen Hendry in the first round of the World Snooker Championships and his points total of 119 ranked as the lowest ever recorded at The Crucible until Luo Honghao scored just 89 points in his 10-0 defeat by Shaun Murphy.

Modern, high quality snooker balls are made from phenolic resin, a synthetic polymer formed by the reaction of phenol, a.k.a. carbolic acid, an aromatic organic compound derived from benzene, and formaldehyde, a colourless, but highly reactive, gas derived from methane. Phenolic resin is a strong, durable material, offering high abrasion impact and shearing resistance, and can easily be polished to the required lustre. Snooker balls are made by pouring liquid phenolic resin, pre-coloured at the production stage, into moulds without the application of pressure – or, in other words, by casting – followed by thermal curing, at temperatures up to 180°C, to stabilise the material and polishing.

The standard diameter of a snooker ball is 2.07″ and high-end grade snooker balls are manufactured within a tolerance of +/- 0.003″, which is less than than the +/- 0.002″ specified in Section 1, 2(b) of ‘The Official Rules of the Games of Snooker and English Billiards’. Furthermore, the tolerance of roundness, or sphericity, which determines balance and rolling characteristics, of such balls is just +/- 0.0012″. Inevitably, snooker balls vary in weight, albeit only slightly, such that a maximum tolerance of 0.11oz, between the heaviest and lightest ball in a set is permitted. Again, high-end grade snooker balls are matched into sets with a maximum tolerance of 0.04oz per set.