By Elliott West
Introduction
South Africa has a long history of producing great snooker players with people such as Jimmy Van Rensburg, Perrie Mans, Peter Francisco and Silvino Francisco. Joining this long list of snooker legends was Robbie Grace. Hailing from the country that has the nickname Mzansi, Robbie played in an age when his birthplace was a dominant force in snooker, a land that suffered years of political unrest but shined through in a game that ate and spat out many players and one that only rewarded a selected few.
Career
Born in 1954 and now 67, Robbie Grace turned professional in what has been described by snooker enthusiasts as a golden age of snooker, the 1980s. A professional from 1985-1993, Grace travelled the long-distance at the time by aeroplane to play in Sheffield, making his first appearance at the 1986 World Championship. It was the only tournament that he entered that season, winning his first qualifying match against Maurice Parkin 10-8 but going on to lose in the second round to the Welsh snooker player, Wayne Jones 3-10.
During this period of snooker, there were 118 players on the main tour, which has risen in the current tour to 128. A controversial decision by Barry Hearn to create more opportunities for lower-ranked players. I digress, coming back to Robbie Grace, he had already risen to 63rd in the rankings and in his next season, Grace increased his participation on the tour, playing in five tournaments. These included the UK Championship where Robbie made his best professional performance. He beat Pat Houlihan 9-6, Paul Medati 9-6 and Murdo MacLeod 9-6 to reach the last 32 of the competition. He would go to lose to Willie Thorne by a thumping 1-9 scoreline.
Grace never really cut it in this country and would go on to appear in Event 1 of WPBSA non-ranking series in the 1988-89 season reaching the last 48. However, he would go on to lose to David Greaves 3-5.
Between 1990 and 1992 Robbie only played nine matches and sadly lost all of them. His last victory as a professional would come in the first qualifying round of the 1990 World Championship. He won his first match against Anthony Harris 10-8 but went on to lose to Dave Gilbert in the second round 9-10. By then Grace had fallen to 193rd at the end of the 1991/1992 season and dropped off the tour as a result.
Grace would go on to play snooker in his native South Africa, entering the South African Professional Championship in the 1980s, reaching the final in 1989, losing to Perrie Mans 5-8. He also won the 1997 South African Amateur Championship.
