By Elliott West
“I’ve no chance of winning it. Let’s face facts, my best days are gone”.
Jack Bates
Introduction
The year was 1977 and in the world of billiards, a certain Jack Bates was having a second shot at the game he adored. The 55-year-old, a former Irish and Scottish champion, born and bred in Muckamore, Ulster was about to have another crack at a tournament. This time it would be the World Open tournament in New Zealand. His invite was a direct result of his friendship with Paddy Morgan, a Belfast born billiards and snooker player during the 1960s and 1970s.
Setting his targets low, Bates just hoped to score a few points through a couple of decent breaks. A simple goal and one that certainly wouldn’t pull up too many trees, anything else was a bonus. The fact remained that he was the best Irish player to have come out of Ireland up to then. A grafter and trier, Jack’s tale reminds of other sporting heroes such as Fred Winter, who won the Grand Steeplechase of Paris on the horse Mandarin in 1962 despite his bridle snapping and the ageing Reg Harris, who came out of retirement in 1976 to win the British Professional Sprint Cycle Championship.
Career
Jack Bates, like so many other players, learnt his craft as a child. His father was a caretaker at the Antrim British Legion and of course, there was a billiards table. Jack was too young to play but used to sneak into the billiards room after school and peel back the dust cover from the table and reveal part of this hidden treasure up to the pink spot. He would put three balls on the table and play away at the top of the table. If he heard footsteps, the balls would disappear and so would he.
That was how Bates learnt his trade at the top of the table and quickly became a master of this vanishing art. Although unsuccessful as a professional, Jack’s luck was blighted when he suffered a severe stroke, which left him slightly paralysed down his left side. However, he fought back this and was able to play again, suffering only a slight stiffness in his left hand.
Jack had been connected with billiards for over 46 years and in his time playing some of the greats of billiards such as Kingsley Kennerley and Alf Nolan, two players who claimed victories over. Recalling a match against Nolan, a bright glint developed in his eye. It was a best-of-seven match played at the Missions to Seamen. In a game that drew at 2-2 and in the fifth game of 750 up, Nolan was over 400 in front. Jack was on 180 and ran it out on three visits which included a break of 229.
Afterthoughts
Jack Bates was a highly skilled billiards and snooker player, winning the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship in snooker three times between 1948 and 1950. Moving to Glasgow in 1952, he also won the 1952 West of Scotland Amateur Billiards Championship, the 1953 and 1954 Scottish Amateur Championship, 1953 Scottish Open Championship, setting a record break of 323. A player who played both Joe and Fred Davis, Jack turned professional during the 1954-55 season and went to play Jack Rea in the 1956 Irish Professional Snooker Championship. He also won the 1957 Scottish Professional Billiards Championship by default as he was the only entrant that year. He returned to Northern Ireland in 1959.
Given a second wind in the late 1970s, Bates attempted one last triumph at the 1977 World Open tournament in New Zealand. Bates had already won the Republic of Ireland National Billiards Championship in 1963 and 1964 but critics would say this was a step too far. However fair play to Jack for trying and rightly setting his sights low. In the end, it was won by Dave Meredith in the snooker event and Brian Kirkness in the billiards event. A competitor until the end, Jack Bates should be considered as a true sportsman and someone who was always prepared to keep fighting, even when the chips were down. A player who carried on playing billiards and snooker until the early 1980s, including an appearance at the 1982 World Championship qualifiers, held at Romiley Forum in Stockport.
