By Elliott West
Introduction
Born 1945 in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, Colin Roscoe was a former ice cream salesman and a professional snooker player from 1981-1995. As an amateur, Colin won the converted Welsh Amateur Championship in 1981 and soon after became a professional. He reached his highest ranking of 39th in the 1984-1985 season and had an impressive run of making the last 32 stage of ten ranking tournaments over the next eight years.
Career
Roscoe first came to prominence at the 1982 International Open, beating John Dunning and Doug French, eventually losing to Steve Davis, 5-0 in the last 32. Two years later, Roscoe reached the last 16 of the 1984 Classic. He lost to Terry Griffiths 2-5 after leading the match 2-0. Despite this surge in form, Colin’s career had nosedived by the mid-1980s as he took the decision to play in only a few tournaments and those that he did, performed badly in. He did, however, win three matches to appear in the last 32 at the 1988 Classic , beating Paul Watchorn, Wayne Jones and Eddie Charlton before losing, 0-5 to Tony Jones.
This was followed by three last-32 finishes in the 1988/89 season . At the 1988 Canadian Masters, lost 1-5 to David Taylor, was defeated by Stephen Hendry at the 1988 UK Championship, 3-9 and lost to Tony Meo, 3-5 at the 1989 British Open. At the 1989 World Championship, Colin’s crusade to reach Sheffield was short lived, losing his first round qualifying match to sixty year old, Jack Fitzmaurice.
At the 1989 Asian Open, Roscoe defeated Barry Pinches and Jimmy White, eventually losing to Peter Francisco in the last 32. Later that season, he reached his first quarter-final when he competed in the 1990 European Open in France. Here he was victorious against Mark Wildman, Peter Francisco, John Virgo and Nick Dyson. He then went on to lose to Steve James, 2-5.
With two last-32 finishes in the 1990/91 season, Roscoe also reached the last 16 of the 1991 British Open, definitely a highlight of his career but then lost to Steve Davis, 3-5. This was the last of Colin’s career, good form and he subsequently slipped out of the top 64 in 1993. More bad luck followed in the 1993/1994 season, winning only one match, a 5-4 win at the Grand Prix against David Rippon. He then went on to lose 3-10 in his first round match against Dominic Dale at the World Championship. Subsequently he dropped down to 136th by the end of the season and lost his professional status the next year, aged 49. He went on to do a spell as a snooker commentator and was a great trick shot player.
Summary
Roscoe was a very good player in his time and certainly wouldn’t have won the Welsh Amateur title if he didn’t have natural talent. Perhaps the lack of tournaments and competition the field presented, prevented Colin from winning major silverware but he did manage a 111 break at the 1989 Welsh Professional Championship, made two career centuries, had a career high of 39 in the rankings and made £73,920 in career earnings. Clearly one of many talented players during this era. Colin now runs a taxi company with his wife in Flintshire.
