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To win your second
ever professional event is something special but when that event
is the world championship it is nothing short of sensational but
that is what Terry Griffiths did in 1979.
A Welshman from Llanelli, Terry had been playing since he was a
teenager winning the Llanelli and District championship when he
was 16. He did not play seriously however until he was 25 when
he entered the Welsh Amateur championship.
He went on to win
that title in 1975 beginning a glittering amateur career. This
was followed by a quarter final in the world championships. He
went on to win the English Amateur title in 1977 and 1978 but,
as a Welshman, he needed his national title to qualify for the
1978 world amateur event. He failed to do this losing out to
Steve Newbury in the quarters and so he decided to turn
professional having tried his hand at various jobs.
His first professional event was the UK championship and in the
qualifying round he led Rex Williams 8-2 but lost 9-8 and so it
was on to the 1979 Embassy at the Crucible. Victories over
Perrie Mans and Alex Higgins were followed by a memorable
semi-final against Eddie Charlton which Terry eventually won
19-17 in the early hours. When David Vine approached him for an
interview he uttered those now immortal words, "I’m in the final
now, you know!" Dennis Taylor was his opponent, also in his
first world final and Terry won convincingly 24-16. He was world
champion.
He proved this was no fluke by reaching the UK final a few
months later, losing to John Virgo and then winning both the
Masters at Wembley and the Irish Masters. Like many before, and
since, he fell at the first hurdle in his world title defence to
a certain Steve Davis.
This was to be the
first of many great battles between the two who had both made
their debuts the previous year. 1980/81 saw them meet again in
the UK semi-final with Steve again the winner. That season he
was runner up in the Masters and retained the Irish Masters also
winning the Pontins Professional title. The following season
Davis again beat him in the UK final but he won the Lada Classic
as well as a third Irish Masters.
He finally won the UK title in 1982 beating Alex Higgins in the
deciding frame and the next few seasons saw him reach the world
quarter finals each year from 1984 to 1987. He did win the Welsh
professional championship in 1985, 1986 and 1988 as well as the
1986 Belgian Classic and the Pontins professional title in ‘85
and ‘86 but success in ranking events eluded him although he
consistently reached the latter stages.
In 1988, however, he reached his second world final only to come
up against Davis again - and to lose again. Three Scottish
Masters finals and one European Open final were the best Terry
could manage over the following seasons and he began a slow
slide down the rankings from a peak of third, to finally drop
out of the top 16 at the end of the 1994/5 season.
He only played one more full season but did enter the 1997 world
championships when, although he did qualify for the final stages
at the Crucible he lost his first round match to Mark Williams
but only after taking his fellow Welshman to a deciding frame.
Terry was built up a reputation as one of the world's finest
coaches and has taken a particular interest in bringing on a
fine group of young Welsh players, many of whom practice at his
club in Llanelli, including Dominic Dale.
He initiated a Welsh Junior Snooker Academy, based at his club,
in 1998 and since then has turned his attention to the careers
of Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams, guiding the former to the
final of the world championship in 2002 and Williams, his fellow
Welshman to victory in 2003.
Although many teased him about his slow and deliberate style of
play, Terry was always a very popular figure with the public who
never forgot the charm and modesty he showed when he won that
world title back in 1979. |
