By Elliott West
Introduction
Australia has long been associated with snooker and produced accomplished players such as Eddie Charlton and Neil Robertson. Despite the fact that the sport is not widely viewed in the country, there still remains a thriving industry. One such player is Glen Wilkinson. Wilkinson who is currently ranked number ten snooker player in Australia and who is the National Director of coaching for snooker in the country, has an accolade of trophies for various tournaments in Australia, has been playing professionally since the early 1980s.
Career
An as an amateur, Glen first came to the sport’s attention in 1983 when in the Australian Open Championship, he got the highest break of 105. Turning professional in 1983, Wilkinson moved to England to compete. His time in the UK didn’t produce any fruits for his labour and he ended up being ranked 96. Making the difficult decision to return to his home country in 1990, his next success was at the Australian Open Championship in Sydney in 1998. He came runner-up in the final.
His next tournament was the Rooty Hill Masters in 1999 which he subsequently won followed by titles in the WPBSA South Pacific and the New South Wales Open Snooker Championship. He won both tournaments again in 2000. He won the New South Wales Open Snooker Championship again in 2001, 2002 and 2004. He also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open Championship in 2001 and 2004. This was followed in 2005 when he won the the NSW Championship again and the Central Leagues Club Classic where he beat Joe Mincini in the final and he was also runner-up in the Australian Open Championship where he was beaten in the final by Dene O’Kane.
This was followed by a final and semi-final in the Princes Coca-Cola Cup and the Kings Australia Cup where he lost to Steve Mifsud and Neil Robertson respectively. In 2006, at the age of 47, Wilkinson won the Australian Masters Championship, beating Paul Asher in the final and was runner-up in the IBSF World Masters, the Central Coast League Club Classic and the Fred Osbourne Memorial Snooker. Numerous good runs in various tournaments followed up to 2007.
In 2008, Glen won the Oceania Championship, beating Chris McBreen and he also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Masters Championship, the Kings Australian Cup and the Lance Pannell Snooker Classic. He is currently ranked as number two in Australia and is one of two coaches along with Robby Foldvari on the Australian Billiards and Snooker Council.
Conclusion
Glen Wilkinson is clearly a very good snooker player with a string of tournament wins under his belt. Perhaps not successful on the UK based tour, he still is at the top of his game in Australia. Whether as a player or coach, he weaves his skill and knowledge through the sport and can be very proud of his numerous achievements.
