By Elliott West
Introduction
Held in 1984 at the Grand Hotel in Malahide, County Dublin, this was a momentous tournament as it was the first time that someone outside England or Wales won the title. The crown this year went to Omprakash Agrawal from India. The Indian player defeated Terry Parsons, a postman from Llanelli, Wales, 11-7 in the final. This win denied Terry the honour of becoming the third player to retain the title, the others being Gary Owen in 1963 and 1966 and Ray Edmonds in 1972 and 1974.
In addition to Agrawal’s success, there was concrete evidence of the game’s broadening horizons in the growth of the championship with 41 players representing 22 countries. This growth, together with the increasing attraction of the professional lifestyle, suggested at that time, that the title would never again be retained.
The Tournament
This was the last of the biennial World Amateur Championships and in 1985, the tournament changed to an annual event. However the sheer size of numbers entering the tournament, the lure and competitiveness, suggested that nobody else would come as close as Terry Parsons to pulling off the double.
The statistics showed that in this year, the players were predominantly from England and Wales with both countries making up half of the quarter-final entries. However, despite this stark figure, the rest of the world was catching up at that stage.
The preliminaries in Calgary did produce a single century break compared to when it was held at Malahide in Canada when there were nine. These came from countries such as the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Canada and Hong Kong.
Tony Drago smashed the highest break in this tournament, achieving a 132 break, setting a new World Amateur record. The achievement surpassed the previous record that Eugene Hughes set in Tasmania in 1980, a break of 128. Drago, then 19, went on to set new statistics by recording centuries in successive frames while 15 year old Scottish champion, Stephen Hendry, compiled a 118 break.
This was a highly successful tournament and was played to a high standard, culminating in the victory of Omprakash Agrawal, who worked for his family dairy business in Bombay. Omprakash had a personal charm and he won over the spectators. There was also general sympathy for India, a country that had been struck by tragic happenings in the preceding years.
Results
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 frames)
Jon Wright (England) v Alf Micallef (Malta) 5-1
Omprakash Agrawal (India) v Dilwyn John (Wales) 5-4
Chris Archer (England) v Tony Drago 5-4
Tony Parsons v Glen Wilkinson (Australia) 5-2
Semi-Finals (Best of 15 frames)
Terry Parsons (Wales) v Chris Archer (England) 8-3
Omprakash Agrawal (India) v Jon Wright (England) 8-5
Final (Best of 21 frames)
Omprakash Agrawal (India) v Terry Parsons (Wales) 11-7
Summary
The 1984 World Amateur Snooker Championship was a highly successful tournament with fantastic victory for India in the player, Omprakash Agrawal. Agrawal. As a result of this win, Agrawal joined the main tour and competed in the 1985/1986 season. He went on to win his first professional match, the Matchroom Trophy after beating Paul Watchorn 5-2 but lost by the same score line to Danny Fowler in the next round. He also reached the last 64 of the 1985 Grand Prix and defeated a sixteen year Stephen Hendry in the 1985 UK Championship 9-2 in the first round including a 110 break. Agrawal resigned his professional status in 1987 and sadly passed away from cancer in May, 1994, aged only 39.
