Tony Knowles

Anthony Knowles (born 13 June 1955) is an English former professional snooker player. 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. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.

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

Career 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. He went on to win the UK Junior Championship twice, in 1972 (against Matt Gibson) and in 1974. 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, It was the first tournament apart from the World Snooker Championship to count in the snooker world rankings.

Cliff Thorburn (pictured in 2007) defeated Knowles in the of their 1983 World Snooker Championship semi-final match. 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.

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. The following year, he dropped from fourth to tenth in the rankings, with a semi-final place at the 1987 British Open the furthest he reached in a ranking tournament in a season that included a 6–10 first round defeat by Mike Hallett at the 1987 World Snooker Championship.

He was ranked 21st for the 1990/1991 season, the first time he had not been in the top sixteen since 1982/1983 after a season where he only reached one quarter-final, at the 1989 Grand Prix. At the 1991 Dubai Classic, he defeated Gary Natale 5–1 in the qualifying competition, then Eugene Hughes 5–2, and Neal Foulds 5–0. A 5–2 win against Dennis Taylor in the quarter-final saw Knowles reach his first ranking semi-final since the 1988 Classic. He then gained his first ranking final place since the 1984 International Open by eliminating Steve James 6–2. in the semi-final. Facing reigning world champion Parrott in the final, Knowles fell 0–3 behind, but won three of the next four frames to trail 3–4 at the end of the first session. Parrott then won five consecutive frames in the next session to claim victory at 9–3.

For the 1997–98 snooker season, only the top 64 players in the rankings at the end of the previous season retained full professional status. Those who finished from 65th to 192nd, including Knowles who was 72nd, played in a new WPBSA Qualifying School series which allowed qualifiers to regain full professional status. Knowles, however, lost his first match at each of the four Qualifying School events, and so was eligible to enter only the World Championship, the Benson and Hedges Championship, and the new "UK Tour" events during the season. losing it again at the end of 2000–01. He continued to play on the Challenge Tour and in World Championship qualifying.

In 2009, Knowles won the inaugural Snooker Super 6s tournament, which played as one-frame matches, with six red balls, rather than the usual fifteen reds, at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. He defeated Neal Foulds in the semi-final, and 13-year-old Ross Muir in the final.

He has entered competitions including World Championship qualifying, Players Tour Championship and Q School in the 21st century. In 2021, he announced that he would enter Q School in an attempt to regain his professional snooker status. He failed to regain his professional status, but reached the last 32 of event 3 of the 2021 Q School, where he lost 2–4 to Mark Lloyd.

During his professional career, Knowles reached the World Championship semi-finals on three occasions (in 1983, 1985 and 1986), but never the final. His highest ranking was second, in 1984/1985, and his highest tournament break was 139. As one of three members of the England Team alongside Davis and Meo, he was a winner of the 1983 World Team Classic, and was runner-up at the 1982 World Team Classic and 1985 World Cup. He partnered White at the 1983 World Doubles Championship, where they were the losing finalists to Davis and Meo. He was a director of the WPBSA in the early-to-mid-2000s. He manages a wine bar in the Lake District.

Performance Table LegendLQ lost in the qualifying draw#R lost in the early rounds of the tournament(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)QF lost in the quarter-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals

Ranking finals: 4 (2 titles) +Ranking finalsOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Winner 1. 1982 International Open 9–6Winner 2. 1983 Professional Players Tournament 9–8Runner-up 1. 1984 International Open 2–9Runner-up 2. 1991 Dubai Classic 3–9

Non-ranking finals: 6 (2 titles) +Non-ranking finalsOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Runner-up 1. 1983 Scottish Masters 6–9 Runner-up 2. 1984 Tolly Cobbold Classic 2–8 Winner 1. 1984 Australian Masters 7–3 Runner-up 3. 1984 Carlsberg Challenge 7–9 Runner-up 4. 1985 2–9 Winner 2. 2009 Snooker Super 6's Ross Muir1–0

Team finals: 4 (1 title) +Team finalsOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeam/partnerOpponent(s) in the finalScore Runner-up 1. 1982 World Team Classic 2–4 Winner 1. 1983 World Team Classic 4–2 Runner-up 2. 1983 World Doubles Championship 2–4 Runner-up 3. 1985 World Cup A Ireland7–9

Pro-am finals: 3 (1 title) +Pro-Am finalsOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Runner-up 1. 1978 Warners Open 4–7Winner 1. 1979 Pontins Spring Open 7–0Runner-up 1. 1990 Dutch Open 4–6

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles) +Amateur finalsOutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Winner 1. 1972 British Under-19 Championship 3–0 Winner 2. 1974 British Under-19 Championship (2) 4–1