Tony Knowles

Anthony Knowles (born 13 June 1955) is an English former professional snooker player.

Tony Knowles was born in Bolton on 13 June 1955.

He began playing snooker at the age of 9 on the tables at the Tonge Moor Conservative Club, which was run by his father, Kevin.

Knowles was the British under-19 snooker champion in 1972 and 1974.

He went on to win the UK Junior Championship twice, in 1972 (against Matt Gibson) and in 1974.

Taylor made a break of 74 to win the 14th frame, but Knowles secured his first major title by claiming the 15th frame with a break of 76.

It was the first tournament apart from the World Snooker Championship to count in the snooker world rankings.

He turned professional in 1980, and surprisingly defeated the defending champion Steve Davis 10–1 in the first round of the 1982 World Snooker Championship.

His application to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to become a professional player was accepted in 1980, after a rejection in November 1979.

He did not win a match in his first year, before progressing through two qualifying rounds to reach the first round of the 1981 World Snooker Championship where he lost 8–10 to Graham Miles.

He reached the quarter-finals of the 1981 UK Championship by eliminating Geoff Foulds, Fred Davis and Doug Mountjoy from the competition before being defeated 5–9 by Terry Griffiths.

He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s.

Later that season, Knowles gained attention when he won 10–1 against defending champion Steve Davis in the first round of the 1982 World Snooker Championship, after staying out late at a nightclub following the first day's play when he had built an 8–1 lead.

He defeated Miles 13–7 in the second round, before losing 11–13 to Eddie Charlton in the quarter-finals.

In the 1982–83 snooker season, he followed up his performance in the World Championship by winning the 1982 International Open with a 9–6 victory against David Taylor.

He had eliminated Eddie Sinclair 5–2 in the first round, Ray Reardon by the same score in round two, Cliff Wilson 5–4 in the quarter-finals, and Kirk Stevens 9–3 in the semi-finals.

In the final, he led Taylor 5–3 after the first, after the pair had been level at 2–2.

He compiled a of 114, the highest of the tournament, to win the ninth frame, before Taylor claimed the next two frames to leave Knowles one ahead at 6–5.

Breaks of 63 and 43 in the next two frames saw Knowles restore a three-frame advantage.

He won only one match in four tournaments between the 1982 International Open and the 1983 World Snooker Championship.

At the World Championship, he progressed to the semi-finals by defeating Miles, Reardon (the second seed), and Tony Meo.

In the semi-final he led Cliff Thorburn 15–13 before losing 15–16 in the after Thorburn the final and went on to take the frame.

He moved to fourth place in the 1983/1984 world rankings.

The next season, he defeated Meo and Thorburn to reach the final of the 1983 Scottish Masters, which he lost 6–9 to Davis.

Having failed to successfully defend the International Open title, losing 4–5 to John Spencer in the second round, Knowles started the 1983 Professional Players Tournament with a 5–1 win against Paul Medati and a 5–4 defeat of Rex Williams, then a 5–0 whitewash of Silvino Francisco.

The same day as his match against Francisco, Knowles won 5–3 against John Campbell in the quarter-finals, after losing the opening two frames.

In the semi-final, Knowles and Willie Thorne were level at 4–4 after the first session, with Knowles going on to prevail 9–7.

In the final, he faced Joe Johnson and established a 6–1 lead, which Johnson reduced slightly to 6–2 by winning the last frame of the first session with the tournament's highest break, 135.

Johnson was two frames behind at 4–6 and 5–7, but Knowles went three frames up with four to play at 8–5.

Johnson won three successive frames to equalise at 8–8.

In the deciding frame, Knowles won on the final to take the title.

His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.

In 1984, tabloid stories about his personal life were published, and he was fined £5,000 by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for bringing the game into disrepute.

His other tournament victories included the 1984 Australian Masters and, as part of the England team with Davis and Tony Meo, the 1983 World Team Classic.

Just before the 1984 World Snooker Championship, Knowles appeared in a series of three articles in tabloid newspaper The Sun, in which he boasted of his sexual adventures, describing himself as "the hottest pot in snooker" and was dismissive of most other competitors in the tournament.

He received £25,000 from the newspaper for the articles, and was subsequently fined £5,000 by the WPBSA for bringing the game into disrepute.

He lost 7–10 to John Parrott in the first round.

At the start of the 1984–85 snooker season, he won the 1984 Australian Masters by defeating John Virgo 7–3 in the final, and was the runner-up, 7–9 to Jimmy White, at the 1984 Carlsberg Challenge.

He was the losing finalist to Davis, by a margin of 2–9, at both the 1984 International Open and the 1985 English Professional Championship.

He reached the 1985 World Snooker Championship semi-final where he was eliminated 5–16 by Dennis Taylor.