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- Mark Williams Says Modern Snooker Stars Owe So Much To Ray Reardon
By Gareth James
Ray Reardon has been hailed as the inspiration behind Mark Williams’ career following the death of one of snooker’s greatest champions.
Welsh three-time world champion Williams hailed Reardon – who died at the weekend at the age of 91 – for paving the way for future generations of snooker players.
“Ray is one of the best sports people ever from Wales and the best snooker player,” said Williams.
“He’s one of the reasons why a lot of us started playing. He put snooker on the map, alongside Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and Steve Davis.
“Anyone playing now owes them a lot because they brought popularity to the game. He is a real inspiration.”
Some sad news to bring you.
Six-time world snooker champion Ray Reardon has passed away at the age of 91. pic.twitter.com/rUkZDCkL55
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) July 20, 2024
Snooker has lost one of its greats following the death of six-time world champion Reardon.
The popular Welshman, nicknamed “Dracula” because of his distinctive widow’s peak hairstyle, died on Friday night after a battle with cancer, his wife Carol confirmed.
A former coal miner and police officer, Reardon was at the forefront of the game’s rise to popularity as a televised sport during the 1970s and is credited with influencing the next generation of superstars.
White paid his own tribute in a post on X which read: “Gutted to hear my very good friend Ray Reardon has passed away. A total class act and very kind to me when I was making my way in the game. A giant of the game. Rest in Peace, mate.”
"He's without doubt the best"
Mark Williams pays tribute to Ray Reardon, a Welsh sporting legend.
Full video: https://t.co/Zw5rWaCyzm | @markwil147 pic.twitter.com/bMFHt3q1Mc
— WST (@WeAreWST) July 20, 2024
Born in Tredegar in 1932, Reardon took up snooker and billiards as a youngster and, having followed his father down the pit at Ty Trist Colliery, proved so adept at the former that he won the Welsh Amateur Championship every year from 1950 to 1955.
He swapped the mines for a career with the police but at the age of 35, and after beating John Spencer to lift the English Amateur title in 1964, he turned professional.
Reardon’s first world championship campaign ended in a 25-24 quarter-final defeat by Fred Davis in 1969, but he won the title for the first time a year later and repeated the feat in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, the last of his wins coming at the Crucible after the tournament’s move to the Sheffield venue 12 months earlier.
https://twitter.com/WPBSAofficial/status/1814691133223473627
That win over South Africa’s Perrie Mans established the then 45-year-old as the oldest man to claim the world crown, a record surpassed by Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2022.
Reardon reached one more world final in 1982, when he was beaten by Higgins, but won 16 other professional tournaments during a career which saw him crowned as the sport’s first number one when rankings were introduced in 1975.
He retired in 1991, but continued to play into his nineties and compiled a century break in November last year.
https://twitter.com/MrMLadd/status/1814742889530044853
Reardon’s death prompted an outpouring of affection for a man whose warmth and humour helped to make him a household name.
Shaun Murphy, world champion in 2005, said on X: “What a man you were Ray. An absolute animal on the table, and a total gentleman off it. It was an honour to spend time with you whether we played snooker or golf – I’ll treasure every minute. Rest in peace.”
Former player and current TV presenter Neal Foulds posted: “Awfully sad news that Ray Reardon has passed away. A giant of our sport. Thanks for the memories Ray. Rest in peace.”
https://twitter.com/MikeBubbins/status/1814734748046008534
Reardon was still playing snooker in recent months, and remarkably made a century break last November, a few weeks after his 91st birthday.
Reardon won his first world championship in 1970 when he defeated John Pulman 37-33 in the final.
That was the beginning of his era of domination, as he went on to claim world titles in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978.
In that final victory in 1978 he became the oldest world champion at the age of 45, a record that was only surpassed by a 46-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2022.
So sad to hear about the passing of Ray Reardon.
A titan of snooker. A marvellous man. And this story about his days in the mines is still one of the most astonishing I’ve ever heard…
— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) July 20, 2024
It was also Reardon’s only success at the Crucible, where the championship had moved in 1977.
He beat Perrie Mans 25-18 in the final and his modern-day record of six titles was not matched until Steve Davis reached that tally in 1989.
Reardon reached one more Crucible final in 1982 when he was beaten by Alex Higgins.
In 2004 he teamed up with O’Sullivan in a mentoring role at the World Championship and helped to steer the ‘Rocket’ to his second world title.
Reardon was awarded an MBE and was inducted into the snooker Hall of Fame in 2011.
Each year the winner of the Welsh Open is presented with the Ray Reardon Trophy.
When he was a coal miner Ray Reardon came close to death in a rockfall. He went on to be a six-time world snooker champion & part of my TV childhood as a regular on the BBC’s Pot Black. Here’s my musical tribute to a sporting legend who has died aged 91. @BBCSport #RayReardon pic.twitter.com/psk3lTDxB3
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) July 21, 2024
