Frank Jonik

Frank Jonik
birthday	2nd December 1957
date of death	March 31, 2019
Place of death	Sudbury
nationality	Canada
Nickname (s)	Bionic Jonik
professional	1979 - 1992
Prize money	£ 8,168
Highest break	126
Century Breaks	1
World rankings
Highest WRL place	45 ( 1983/84 )

Francis "Frank" Jonik (born December 2, 1957 - March 31, 2019 in Sudbury , Ontario , Canada ) was a Canadian snooker player .

Career

Beginnings and first professional years

After Jonik had failed in the round of 16 of the Canadian Snooker Championship in 1977 at Kirk Stevens , he took part in the Canadian Open in 1978 , where he was defeated by the eventual finalist Tony Meo . against Cliff Wilson in World Cup qualification .

For the 1979/80 season Jonik became a professional player, so he played his first professional game at the Canadian Open against Jim Whittaker and lost 5-1. As part of the Canadian professional championship he succeeded against Kevin Robitaille his first professional victory before he failed at Cliff Thorburn .

Jonik was also unset in the next season , but in the Canadian Open he defeated Jim Bear and ex-world champion John Spencer before losing again to Kirk Stevens. Jonik ended the season with a 6-9 loss to Mike Hallett in World Cup qualification . With the loss of the Canadian Open, Jonik only played one professional game in the following season , which he lost 4-9 to John Bear in qualifying for the World Snooker Championship .

Years of success

With the start of the 1982/83 season, in addition to the World Championship, the International Open and the newly founded Professional Players Tournament were awarded the status of a ranking tournament. After losing his opening game in the former, he defeated the Welshman Doug Mountjoy at the Professional Players Tournament before losing to Tony Meo . Jonik closed the season with a 4-10 loss to Ray Edmonds in World Cup qualification . At the beginning of the next season Jonik got his first place in the ranking, for the coming season he was listed on the 45th place in the world rankings.

Right at the start of the 1983/84 season Jonik reached the final of the Canadian professional championship with wins over Bob Chaperon , Jim Wych and Cliff Thorburn , which he lost 8: 9 to Kirk Stevens . After an opening defeat at the Professional Players Tournament in the Decider against Mark Wildman , he reached the round of 48 after a victory at the Classic , in which he was defeated by Joe Johnson . He then dropped out in the qualifying group phase of the International Masters before losing his game in the World Cup qualifying against Bernie Mikkelsen at the end of the season . In the world rankings, he lost eleven places and landed on rank 56.

At the start of next season , he retired after a victory over Bernie Mikkelsen in the semifinals of the Canadian Professional Championship from before after a victory over Jack McLaughlin in the Round of 64 of the International Open against Marcel Gauvreau lost. Several defeats followed until he again defeated Jack McLaughlin at the British Open and then failed to John Spencer 6-0. At the end of the season he lost in the World Cup qualification against the New Zealander Dene O'Kane . This resulted in a loss of 26 world rankings.

Last professional years

Also at the start of the 1985/86 season he reached the semi-finals of the Canadian professional championship , where he failed after a victory over Bernie Mikkelsen to Bob Chaperon . But then he lost all opening games until the end of the season, including in the World Cup qualification - again against Bob Chaperon. As a result, he lost another 26 places on the world rankings.

At the start of the next season he reached the semi-finals of the Canadian professional championship again with victories over Gino Rigitano and Bob Chaperon , where he lost this time to Cliff Thorburn . After several early defeats, he moved into the first main round at the Classic with wins over Steve James and Tony Drago , where he had to admit defeat to Barry West . At the end of the season he lost the last two opening games, but he made up three places on the world rankings.

At the beginning of the 1987/88 season he reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian professional championship after a white wash over Wayne Sanderson , where he lost to Mario Morra . Shortly thereafter, he failed in the final qualifying round of the Grand Prix after defeating Nigel Gilbert to Tony Chappel , before he had to suffer another opening defeat. Finally, he defeated the Englishman John Dunning at the Classic before losing to Mark Wildman . But again he lost the remaining opening games of the season, so that he lost eleven places on the world rankings.

In the course of the next season he only played a game in the Canadian professional championship , which he lost to Cliff Thorburn . As a result, he lost his world rankings and did not play any more games, although he was listed as a professional player until 1992.

Jonik died in Sudbury on March 31, 2019 at the age of 61 . He had two sisters and a brother.

Play style

Jonik had learned his fast and hard style of play in the Normandy Billiard room , where the amateurs Gabe Tarini and Roger Fernette also played the pros Cliff Thorburn and Bob Chaperon .

successes

output	year	competition	Final opponent	Result
National professional championships
Second	1983	Canadian Professional Championship	Kirk Stevens	8: 9

Web links

• Frank Jonik in the Snooker Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ron Florax: Career Total Statistics For Frank Jonik - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on April 4, 2019 (English, for the individual seasons see under Player Profile and the links there.).  
2. ↑ ^{a b c} The Sudbury Star : Francis “Frank” Jonik. yourlifemoments.ca, 2019, accessed on April 4, 2019 .