Tony Jones (snooker player)

Tony Jones

Born	(1960-04-15) 15 April 1960 (age 64) England
Sport country	England
Professional	1983–2004
Highest ranking	15 (1991/1992)
Tournament wins
Ranking	1

Tony Jones (born 15 April 1960) is an English former professional snooker player from Nottinghamshire.

Early life

From Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, he won the Nottingham Junior Championship at the age of 15 years-old, but only started playing snooker seriously in 1981. That year, he moved to Chesterfield, Derbyshire, to become resident player/coach at the Chesterfield Snooker Centre despite never having been coached himself. ^[1]

Career

In 1983, Jones became the English Amateur Champion, beating Neal Foulds in the southern area final, and then John Parrott in the final itself, 13–9. He turned professional in 1983 and joined Ron Gross in London. He made his Crucible Theatre debut at the 1985 Snooker World Championship, losing 10-8 to Tony Knowles. He was also a World Championship doubles finalist (with partner Ray Reardon) in 1985, losing in the final 12-5 to Steve Davis and Tony Meo. ^[1]

He had a run to the last 16 of the 1988 British Open ended by eventual winner Stephen Hendry. ^[2] His ranking fluctuated inside the top-64 in the late 1980s, moving from world number 55 to no. 42 in 1987-88, and then to no. 49 and to no. 62 in 1989-90. ^{[3] [4]}

Jones was the surprise winner of the 1991 European Open in Rotterdam, when, ranked no. 35 in the world, he beat Mark Johnston-Allen 9–7, despite never having previously been beyond the quarter-final stage of a ranking tournament. He reached no. 15 in the 1991/1992 rankings as a result. ^{[5] [6]} He dropped out of the top sixteen the following season and slid down the rankings over the following seasons. ^[7]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04	2004/ 05
Ranking [8] [nb 1]	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	50	55	46	49	62	35	15	22	29	34	43	63	60	63	65	79	96	84	85	[nb 4]
Ranking tournaments
Grand Prix [nb 5]	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	3R	1R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	QF	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
British Open [nb 6]	NR	1R	1R	2R	3R	1R	LQ	QF	2R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
UK Championship	NR	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	1R	3R	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held								3R	2R	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
European Open [nb 7]	Tournament Not Held					1R	LQ	W	3R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event																			LQ	LQ	A
World Championship	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	WR	A	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ	A	A	A	LQ	LQ	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters	Not Held		Non-Ranking			LQ	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open	Non-Ranking Event					NH	3R	Not Held				NR		Tournament Not Held
Classic	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held								1R	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic [nb 8]	Tournament Not Held					NR	2R	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
German Open	Tournament Not Held												LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held											Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
China Open [nb 9]	Tournament Not Held														NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held
Thailand Masters [nb 10]	Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		QF	LQ	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Not Held
Players Championship [nb 11]	A	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	3R	Not Held		QF	2R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
UK Championship	1R	Tournament Not Held
British Open [nb 12]	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Canadian Masters	Not Held		QF	A	A	R	Tournament Not Held
English Professional Championship	NH	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Tournament Not Held							1R	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Tournament Not Held							1R	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held					1R	A	A	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Tournament Not Held					A	A	A	1R	A	Tournament Not Held

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 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.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.

1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
2. He was an amateur.
3. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
4. He was not on the Main Tour.
5. The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1983/1984) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
6. The event was also called the International Masters (1983/1984).
7. The event was also called the Irish Open (1998/1999) and Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
8. The event was also called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
9. The event was also called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
10. The event was also called the Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
11. The event was also called the International Open (1983/1984 to 1984/1985, 1986/1987 to 1996/1997), Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986) and the Scottish Open (1998/1999 to 2002/2003).
12. The event was also called the International Masters (1983/1984).

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1991	European Open	Mark Johnston-Allen	9–7

Team finals: 1

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1985	World Doubles Championship	Ray Reardon	Steve Davis Tony Meo	5–12

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1983	English Amateur Championship	John Parrott	13–9

References

1. Morrison, Ian (1988). Who's Who in Snooker. Hamlyn. p. 58. ISBN   0-600-55713-8.
2. Smith, Terry (1988). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year. Pelham Books. p. 28. ISBN   0-7207-1830-9.
3. Smith, Terry (1989). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year. Pelham Books. p. 15. ISBN   0-7207-1944-5.
4. Smith, Terry (1987). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year. Pelham Books. p. 24. ISBN   0-7207-1797-3.
5. Janice, Hale (1991). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1991-92. Queen Anne Press. p. 144-146. ISBN   0-356-19747-6.
6. "European Masters snooker: A tournament spanning 34 years, nine countries, 17 champions, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Jimmy White". TNT Sports. 16 August 2023.
7. McCann, Liam (2013). Snooker player by player. Demand Media. p. 58. ISBN   978-19092-17454.
8. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 November 2017.