Clark McConachy

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Clark McConachy
Clark McConachy
birthday April 15, 1895
place of birth Glenorchy
date of death April 12, 1980
Place of death Auckland
nationality New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand
Nickname (s) Mac
Active time 1922-1972
Success in snooker
World Championship 2 × finalist (1932, 1952)
Highest break 147 (1951)
Century Breaks > 300
Success in English Billiards
World Championship Winner (1951–1968)
Finalist (1932, 1968)
Highest series 1,943 (1932)

Clark McConachy MBE (born April 15, 1895 in Glenorchy , Otago , New Zealand , † April 12, 1980 in Auckland , New Zealand) was a New Zealand snooker and English billiards player.

Personal

Clark was born in the village of Glenorchy in the Queenstown-Lakes District of the Otago region on the South Island of New Zealand . He was the son of Australian-born warehouse worker Peter Hill McConachy and his wife, Frances Lydia Stead, a native of England. The family moved to Gore shortly after his birth and in 1905 on to Timaru where his father opened a pool hall.

Mac, as he was called, left school when he was 14 to work in his father's pool hall. Under the guidance of Alf Southerwood , his trainer, he developed his considerable skills in English Billiards and Snooker . At the age of 17 he was able to take recordings (English Billiards) of 1,000 points and more.

On October 14, 1915, he married Gertrude Emily Anderson in Wellington . McConachy and his wife settled in Auckland in 1938. He quickly became one of the top 5 players in the world, alongside Australian Walter Lindrum and English trio Joe Davis , Tom Newman and Willie Smith .

Throughout his career, he stood at the table for several hours a day and trained. McConachy attributed his success not only to his talent, but also to his physical fitness. He was a non-smoker and teetotaler and, in order to keep himself physically fit, regularly ran four miles into old age. He was known for running a round on his hands around the gaming table before every game. His legendary fitness is probably the basis of the story that tells that he lifted the chair with one hand on which Walter Lindrum was sitting.

McConachy often donated his winnings to charity. Because of his achievements in billiards and his charity, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1964 . In 1990 he became the first member of the newly formed New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame . As a lifelong member of the New Zealand Billiards and Snooker Association , he also took the referee exams.

In September 1966 his wife Gertrude died, on May 29, 1967 McConachy married the clothing designer Effie Jay, b. Jacobs.

He played his last tournament in 1972, but after that he still showed trickshots at various events.

McConachy died on April 12, 1980, three days before his 85th birthday, at his home on Greenlane, Auckland.

Career

Clark McConachy

English billiards

In 1915, when he was just 19, McConachy won the New Zealand Professional Championship against defending champion Bill Stephenson . He never gave up this title in his life.

He was the first player who could play 1000s recordings in two consecutive games . His best recording to date he played in 1932 against Joe Davis at Leicester Square Hall in London with 1943 points. Two years later, in a game against Lindrum, he scored 1927 points and later, in Manchester , scored 466 points in a row in one shot.

He played his first world championship in English billiards in 1922. It was not until 1932 that he reached the finals and was second behind Davis. In 1951, at the age of 56, he finally became world champion. At the 1968 World Cup he was second to Welsh Rex Williams . At the end of this week-long game, 73-year-old McConachy, who was suspected to be Parkinson's , was just 265 points behind the winner. In 1972, now 78 years old, he got involved in another tournament. At the World Billiards Open in New Zealand he played with a 30 ounce (approx. 850.5 gr) cue to suppress the tremors caused by his illness and won against Michael Ferreira and Mohammed Lafir .

snooker

Although snooker did not have the appeal of English Billiards at the time , McConachy was a finalist in the 1932 World Snooker Championships (defeated by Joe Davis) and 1952 (defeated by Horace Lindrum ). He reached his first maximum break in 1953. During his career he was able to achieve more than 300 century breaks .

Web links

Commons : Clark McConachy  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f N. AC McMillan: Biography with picture ( English ) Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved on April 13, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Player profile with picture ( English ) New Zealands Sport Hall of Fames. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved on April 13, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME McConachy, Clark
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mac
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand billiards and snooker player
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Glenorchy , Otago (Region)
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1980
Place of death Auckland , New Zealand