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Graham Miles became
one of the world's top players in the mid 1970s championship.
His bald head and distinctive style, with his chin hanging
over his cue made him instantly recognisable and his ready wit
endeared him to the fans.
Having been twice Midlands amateur champion, he turned
professional in 1969 playing in the world championship for the
first time in 1972 when he failed to get beyond the qualifying
round.
The following year
he went all the way to the quarter-finals and was invited as a
late replacement to take part in the 1974 Pot black series
when Fred Davis pulled out. He went on to win the title which
he successfully defended the following year. This television
exposure helped to develop his popularity and he was able to
make a good living on the exhibition circuit.
Meanwhile, in the 1974 world championships, he reached then
final but came up against Ray Reardon at his best and lost
22-12. He also reached the final of the 1976 Benson & Hedges
Masters where Reardon beat him again. When the first world
ranking list was published at the end of that season he found
himself in fifth place.
Two successive world quarter-finals in 1977 and 1978 kept him
in the top ten but his only other title came in the 1981 Tolly
Cobbold Classic. In 1985 he failed for the first time to reach
the Crucible stage of the world championship and from than on,
wins became harder and harder to come by. His ranking had
dropped to 38th and continued to fall over the next few
seasons.
He carried on playing the main tour for a few more years but
following the influx of hundreds of new professionals in
1991/92 he decided to call it a day at the end of that season.
He made a brief
return in 2000 to play in the World Seniors Masters where he
reached the quarter-finals. This was to have been the first of
a new seniors' tour but so far no more events have been staged
which is a pity for players like Graham who can still provide
great entertainment.
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