Snooker mourns considered one of its nice characters right now after the announcement that Terry Griffiths died on the age of 77 on Sunday.
The affable Welshman suffered with dementia however handed away peacefully and surrounded by his household on December 1st, the day of the UK Championship closing.
That match was among the many large three that Terry Griffiths received throughout a profitable snooker profession as each a participant and a coach.
Right here, we’ll take a short while to mirror on a few of his biggest achievements on the baize.
“I’m within the closing now, you already know!”
After successful back-to-back English Novice Championships, Griffiths turned skilled in 1978 and was an almost-immediate power on the primary tour.
He needed to qualify for his first World Championship in 1979, however after rising from the preliminaries he proceeded to mount a problem for the title itself.
An preliminary victory over Perrie Mans, the earlier yr’s runner-up in Sheffield, took him to a quarter-final assembly with Alex Higgins that he edged 13-12.
One other epic encounter adopted within the semi-finals, the place he received the final three frames to disclaim Australian Eddie Charlton.
Interviewed afterwards contained in the Crucible Theatre, Griffiths famously quipped, “I’m within the closing now, you already know!”
He accomplished the outstanding run with a 24-16 success over Dennis Taylor within the closing, turning into the primary qualifier to win a World Championship crown.
A Grasp of his Craft
A number of months after successful the world title at his first try, Griffiths nearly added a UK Championship trophy however simply missed out in a dramatic closing to John Virgo in a deciding body.
Not lengthy after, Griffiths participated within the prestigious Masters in London for the primary time in his profession.
After ousting Cliff Thorburn and John Spencer, who he thrashed 5-0, within the early rounds, Griffiths confronted Alex Higgins for glory.
The latter had the vast majority of the help and at one level led 4-3, however Griffiths dominated the second half of the showdown and compiled an incredible 131 century break to win 9-5.
Delivering a Triple Crown
Regardless of his inexperience on the skilled stage in comparison with many others on the tour on the time, the Llanelli lad turned a relentless presence on the enterprise finish of occasions.
A postman earlier than dedicating his life to snooker, Terry Griffiths made it a behavior of delivering his greatest snooker on the calendar’s greatest tournaments.
In truth, between the 1979 World Championship and the 1982 UK Championship, the Griff contested seven out of 11 finals in what would later turn out to be extra generally referred to as the Triple Crown collection.
Disappointing defeats transpired on the 1981 Masters closing, the place Higgins gained revenge for the yr earlier than, and once more in 1982 when he was stopped by Steve Davis.
Griffiths had additionally misplaced to Davis within the 1981 UK Championship closing the place he was humbled 16-3 by the sport’s latest power.
However a 3rd crack at UK glory manifested in 1982 and once more it was Higgins on the other aspect of the desk.
A ding-dong battle in Preston ebbed a technique after which the opposite earlier than Griffiths strung collectively the final three frames to seal a dramatic 16-15 triumph.
Victory ensured that he turned solely the second participant in historical past after Davis to say the profession Triple Crown.
Different notable titles
Following his Triple Crown achievement, Griffiths turned a much less frequent presence in finals as he struggled to maintain up with the rising expertise of the Nineteen Eighties.
The previous world quantity three reached the finals of the 1984 Masters and the 1988 World Championship however was denied by Jimmy White and Steve Davis respectively.
Davis, certainly, turned a selected thorn in his aspect and prevented him from having fun with a extra plentiful profession by way of titles received.
Griffiths misplaced seven occasions to Davis on the Crucible Theatre, however he did file some notable victories over the last decade’s runaway world primary.
He beat the Nugget to win a 3rd Irish Masters title on the trot in 1982 shortly after additionally eclipsing the Englishman to land The Traditional in Oldham.
Ceaselessly a proud Welshman, Griffiths was moreover a member of the Welsh group which received the inaugural World Cup in 1979.
Griffiths retired from the sport as knowledgeable in 1997 after a 10-9 defeat to countryman Mark Williams within the first spherical of that yr’s World Snooker Championship.
A world-renowned coach
Williams, fittingly, would turn out to be one of many notable gamers who Terry Griffiths would go on to teach.
Griffiths rapidly turned one of many main coaches within the sport with Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, Marco Fu, Ding Junhui, and Ali Carter among the many different big-name gamers who acquired his providers.
A number of gamers, together with most of the gamers who got here underneath his wing, expressed their unhappiness at their former mentor’s passing on Sunday evening.
“[Terry Griffiths] sorted me since enjoying in his membership each Sunday since I used to be 12,” three-time world champion Williams wrote on X earlier than including that he was a “mentor, coach, good friend, legend.”
Allen stated that he was “eternally grateful”, a message he accompanied with three broken-heart symbols.
“What a legend of a person who helped form my profession and life each on and off the desk,” the Northern Irishman added.
“[I’m] completely heartbroken. He wasn’t only a coach, he was household.”
Judd Trump, who was topped the 2024 UK champion shortly earlier, stated: “It is vitally, very unhappy information. It’s robust for the household and so they have such a historical past in snooker.”
“It’s extremely unhappy information and a tragic day for Welsh sport typically.”
Featured picture credit score: WST
