Introduction
I love writing about snooker players whose names you haven’t heard of or seen play for a while. One name that cropped up in my extensive research and I was intrigued to know more about is Wayne Jones. Born in Tredegar in 1954 and now 64, Jones hails from a Wales valley village. Wales has long been a snooker hotbed, and Wayne was touched with the same magical skill. A country associated with Ray Reardon, Cliff Wilson, Terry Griffiths and Mark Williams. Wayne came to prominence when he won the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1984, beating Terry Parsons 8-4 in the final. He also reached the final the following year, losing to the same opponent, losing 7-8.
The Snooker Path
Turning professional in 1984, Wayne reached the final of the Welsh Professional Championship in 1988, losing to Terry Griffiths 3-9. Jones was a player who was one to watch out for. Although he never reached the top 16, his highest ranking came in the 1990/91 season when he reached number 22. He did reach the final of the 1989 Mercantile Classic, defeating Jimmy White, Eugene Hughes, David Taylor, John Parrott and Willie Thorne on the way. He eventually lost 11-13 to Doug Mountjoy in the final.
Jones qualified for the World Championship on four occasions but only progressed past the first round once. This came in 1989 when he beat Neal Foulds 10-9 but then lost to Dean Reynolds 3-13 in the second round. Wayne also reached the quarter-final of the 1986 UK Championship, defeating John Campbell 9-3 and Dennis Taylor 9-2 before losing to Alex Higgins 5-9. Wayne was relegated from the main tour in 2001 when he fell to 143rd in the rankings.
