By Elliott West
Introduction
Roger Bales is probably not a snooker name that many of the current snooker fans have heard of but one that rightly deserves his place in snooker history. A professional from 1984-1993, Bale made the last 32 of ranking tournaments on four occasions and was a very talented amateur and professional player.
Career
Born in 1948, the same year as the Festival of Britain, Roger started playing competitive snooker in 1974 and first competed in the 1974 Pontin’s Spring Open, a pro-am event where he lost in his first match to Mario Berni 0-4. He next played in the same event in 1978 and went one step further, first whitewashing Cliff Wilson 4-0 before losing to Dennis Taylor in a tight next round match 4-3.
With vast experience on the amateur circuit, Bales turned professional in 1984, aged 35 and enjoyed some results, including at the International Open, his first tournament, where he defeated Dessie Sheehan, Tommy Murphy and Mick Fisher to reach the last 48. It looked like he would go further in this event but in his last match against Dean Reynolds, he led 4-2 but Reynolds came back at him and won 5-4.
Bales was now ranked 66th and in the 1985/86 season, reached the last 32 of the British Open, defeating Maurice Parkin 5-1, the then-current World Champion, Dennis Taylor 5-4 but again fell just short of the line when he set up a meeting with Rex Williams. Leading 4-2, he lost the match 5-4.
With his ranking up to 54th, following a run of good form, Roger failed to kick on in the 1986-87 season, winning only £1,685 in the whole season. The one exception was when he made the last 32 of the International Open, beating Fred Davis 5-4, Kirk Stevens 5-3 to qualify for the event but went on to lose to Cliff Wilson 1-5.
Sadly like so many players of this era, Roger’s performance declined rapidly over the next five years and he was only able to produce the odd good result. Reaching the last 32 stages on three more occasions in his professional career, the 1987 Grand Prix, the 1989 British Open and the 1989 International Open. Now ranked 116th in the world rankings and failed to qualify for the 1992 World Championship, losing to Chris Cookson 1-10.
Now on the precipice of falling off the main tour, Bales only won one match in the whole of the 1992/93 season, a match in the sixth round of the qualifiers for the International Open. He went on to lose in the seventh round of the qualifiers for the 1993 World Championship and never played competitive snooker again.
Summary
Roger Bales was a very gifted snooker player from Birmingham. Someone who first started playing snooker, aged just 13 at the Burton Snooker Hall in Selly Oak. Living in his beloved Birmingham and a brief spell of work in Manchester, Bales gave up his main job of being a casino manager to pursue his dream in snooker. His first notable win as an amateur was when he won the National Pairs title with Clive Everton in 1977. A title that was generated by many hours of practice at the Astra Snooker Club. He could often be seen with his practice partner, Anthony Harris in Snow Hill snooker centre in Birmingham or playing with Robin Campbell from UB40 who was always there at the time.
Bales sadly never won any professional snooker titles but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t good enough to attain them. He just happened to play in an era when some of the greatest players that the sport has produced, played alongside him. But his name will be remembered by anyone who saw him play as a fluent and creative player.
