Marcus Owen
Born4 April 1935
Carmarthenshire, Wales
DiedDecember 1987 (aged 52)
Hackney, London
Sport country Wales
Professional1973–1985
Highest ranking17 (1976–1977)
Best ranking finishQuarter-final (x1)

Marcus Willoughby Owen (4 April 1935 December 1987)[1][2][3] was a Welsh professional snooker player.

Career

Before turning professional, Owen won the English Under-16 Championship in 1949, and reached the final in 1950.[4] Owen also won the English Amateur Championship on four occasions, in 1958, 1959, 1967 and 1973.[5]

His elder brother Gary was a professional snooker player,[6] and Marcus followed him into the professional game in 1973, entering the 1974 World Championship. As an unknown quantity, Marcus was not expected to progress far; however, he beat Dennis Taylor and Maurice Parkin to set up a last-16 meeting with Gary. Gary held Marcus to 5–5 at one point, but could not prevent him from pulling away to reach the quarter-final with a 15–8 victory. There, Marcus faced Ray Reardon, but having recovered from 3–9 to 7–9, was eventually defeated 11–15.

Owen next played a quarter-final at the 1982 Welsh Professional Championship, which was itself an eight-man event. He lost his first match 0–6 to Cliff Wilson.

Owen had no further success in professional snooker, his last match being a 0–6 loss to Tony Chappel in the first round of the 1985 edition of the Welsh Professional Championship; having held 17th place in the inaugural world rankings in 1976, he had not occupied a position on the list since 1980.

He resigned as a professional player in 1987.[6]

Personal life

Owen died in hospital in December 1987,[1] under 'tragic circumstances'.[7]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1973/
74
1974/
75
1975/
76
1976/
77
1977/
78
1981/
82
1982/
83
1983/
84
1984/
85
Ranking[8] No ranking system 17 23 UR UR UR UR
Ranking tournaments
Professional Players Tournament Tournament Not Held LQ A A
International Open Tournament Not Held NR LQ A A
World Championship QF A LQ A A A LQ A A
Non-ranking tournaments
Welsh Professional Championship Not Held A NH QF QF QF 1R
Former non-ranking tournaments
Norwich Union Open 1R 1R Not Held
Watney Open NH WD Not Held
International Open Tournament Not Held LQ Ranking
UK Championship Tournament Not Held A A LQ A R
Performance Table Legend
LQ 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-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals

Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1958 English Amateur Championship England Jack Fitzmaurice 11–8
Winner 2. 1959 English Amateur Championship (2) England Allan Barnett 11–5
Runner-up 1. 1966 English Amateur Championship England John Spencer 5–11
Winner 3. 1967 English Amateur Championship (3) England Sid Hood 11–4
Winner 4. 1973 English Amateur Championship (4) England Ray Edmonds 11–6

References

  1. 1 2 "Marcus Owen". The Times. 22 December 1987. p. 30.
  2. "FamilySearch.org". Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  3. "FamilySearch.org". Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  4. "Juniors - EABA". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. "English Amateur Championship" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Resigned". Cue World. Birmingham: Snooker Publications. April 1987. p. 31.
  7. Wildman, Mark. "Reminiscences of a Billiards Man". Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  8. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.


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