By Elliott West
Introduction
In the same year as I was born, 1972, a certain Anthony or Tony Knowles won the Junior Snooker Championship of Great Britain. Then a 16-year-old art student, Tony travelled to play at the tournament held at and sponsored by Accles and Pollock in Pope’s Lane, Oldbury situated in the heart of the West Midlands. An automotive and aerospace manufacturer that had four snooker tables on its premises.
To get a flavour of how good Knowles was to become, Tony made his first-century break here in practice in the dark after the lights had been switched off via the maiden switch taking blacks with his first eight reds to achieve this mission in the dark with a certain ease. A flair about the table that he still has today and one that I have witnessed on many an occasion when in his company in a practice room.
The Race to Glory
This first title crown was far from the smooth path for this young lad from Bolton, Lancashire. In his first match against Dublin’s John Rogers, he was in dire straits. After twice equalising from the odd frame behind, Rogers led in the final frame by 27 points but made a fatal error and let his opponent kill the frame and match off with a 44 break that was ended when the pink was potted.
In the quarter-finals, Tony led the tournament favourite, Willie Thorne, from Baunstaone in Leicestershire 2-0 but the legendary WT pulled the match back to 2-2 but the tide would go on to turn in Knowles’ favour as Thorne looked far from confident in the final frame. An unlucky blue would seal Willie’s fate when it went in-off.
Thorne who had beaten Mark Wildman and lost only 4-3 to Marcus Owen in the Amateur Championship, couldn’t contain his disappointment at letting this title fall from his grasp but his loss was compounded by the pressure of being expected to breeze the tournament thanks to excellent form and the favourite tag that had been placed on him going into the event. A mental pressure that would eventually seal his fate. He did however get some compensation after this defeat by winning the billiards event, retaining the title after defeating Clive Palmer 497-240 after one and a half hours in the final.
Meanwhile, Tony Knowles who had been 2-0 down to Lampeter’s Clive Palmer, a determined and consistent player of the time, used the lunchtime interval to his advantage and coming back from the interval, a recharged and invigorated Knowles returned to the table. Tony carved out a 3-2 victory to set up a clash with Scotland’s Matt Gibson in the final.
The Final
After so many tight matches, the actual final was a walk in the park for this young and inspired natural from Bolton. A victory that was definitely his easiest win in the competition and came down largely due to his opponent not being able to recreate his form of the earlier rounds. In the end, Knowles pushed aside Matt Gibson with a 3-0 whitewash.
Afterthoughts
The 1972 Junior Snooker Championship of Great Britain was an initial victory for Knowles that would go on to him turning professional in 1980, rising up the world rankings to his highest position of number 2 in the 1984-85 season and winning the 1982 International Open, 1983 Professional Players Tournament and three times semi-finalist at the World Championship. A player who thrashed the then-defending world champion, Steve Davis 10-1 in the first round of the 1982 World Championship.
Knowles would also go on to win the 1979 Pontins Spring Open, the 1984 Australian Masters and as part of the England team with Steve Davis and Tony Meo, the 1983 World Team Classic. A two-times British Under-19 champion in 1972 and 1974, defeating England’s Paul Smith 4-1 on the second occasion, Tony remains a force in snooker to this day. A man whose in-depth knowledge of snooker is second to none, knowing every shot in the book and someone has improved the game of many a player through his mentor and coaching skills.
