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

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)

Career

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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

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

Performance and rankings timeline

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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 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

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Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles)

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

References

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  1. ^ a b "Marcus Owen". The Times. 22 December 1987. p. 30.
  2. ^ "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  3. ^ "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Juniors - EABA". Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. ^ "English Amateur Championship" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b "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.