Joe Grech (snooker player)

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Joe Grech
date of birth July 9, 1954
place of birth Ħamrun
date of death 21 August 2021 (age 67)
Place of death Ħamrun
nationality MaltaMalta Malta
Nickname (s) Ġuzi
professional 1988 - 1997 , 1998 - 2000
Prize money £ 42,030
Highest break 138 ( UK Championship 1998 , Q)
Century breaks 12th
World rankings
Highest WRL place 67 ( 1990/91 )

Joe Grech (born July 9, 1954 in Ħamrun ; † August 21, 2021 there ) was a Maltese snooker and English billiards player. Grech was a professional snooker player for eleven seasons between 1988 and 2000. As an amateur, he won the Maltese Snooker Championship six times , the men's EBSA European Team Championship twice and the seniors once. In addition, he reached the final of the amateur world championship in 1987 . In English Billiards he also won the 1997 edition of the Amateur World Championship and twenty times theMaltese English Billiards Championship .

Career

Born in Ħamrun , Grech was one of Malta's best snooker and English billiards players from the mid-1970s . By the end of the 1980s, he won the Maltese snooker championship three times and was in the final four more times. He therefore regularly took part in the World Amateur Snooker Championship . He had already reached the quarter-finals in 1978 and the semi-finals in 1982 and 1985 , so he was actually in the final of the 1987 edition , but was defeated by the young Welshman Darren Morgan . In the meantime, Grech had started to prepare for a possible professional career or to qualify for it. In the same year he also reached the final of the World Amateur Championship in English Billiards . He also lost this final, against Geet Sethi from India. In Malta he had also won the English Billiards Championship six times from 1978 . Just a year after his near-double success, Grech became a professional snooker player in the 1988/89 season . Grech was only able to cope with this thanks to sponsors. The lengthy journey from Malta to England made life as a professional player difficult for Grech, especially at the start of his professional career.

This is one of the reasons why he only took part in professional tournaments occasionally during his first two professional seasons, but still reached the round of 16 of the Dubai Classic 1989 . As a result, he was ranked 67th in the world for one season, the best position of his career. After that he started to take part in tournaments more regularly, but his results were only average and even got worse over time. While he had been fighting for a place in the top 100 for a long time, he was only ranked 155th in mid-1997. Thanks to a simultaneous change in mode, Grech lost his professional position at that time. The attempt to re-qualify through the WPBSA Qualifying School failed him narrowly. Therefore, he had to play on the second-class, new UK tour next season , but was invited to the first-class professional Malta Grand Prix . Even if Grech's UK Tour results were by no means bad, he also took part in amateur tournaments on the side. After winning the Maltese English Billiards Championship in 1995, he won the Maltese Snooker Championship in 1997 and the English Billiards Amateur World Championship . After participating in the quarter-finals at the European Snooker Championships in 1997 , he became Maltese runner-up in 1998.

All in all, he was able to return to the first-class professional tour in 1998. But his results were quite bad, so that he was only placed 124th in the world rankings. As a result, Grech largely withdrew from the professional tour and only accepted the invitation to the Malta Grand Prix the next season before losing his professional status at the end of the season. Grech later named financial problems and lack of success as the main reasons for his withdrawal. During these two years he had already continued his commitment at the amateur level, after 2000 he continued this despite everything. In three other finals he won two more championship titles in Malta and among other things reached the semi-finals of the 1998 amateur world championship . In addition, he won the men's EBSA European Team Championship four times with the Maltese team , and in 2011 also the seniors. Even at the beginning of the 2010s he was one of the best Maltese snooker players, but Grech did not win any other championship titles. Meanwhile, until 2007, he received invitations to professional tournaments held in Malta almost every year. On these occasions, however, he could never win a game. Meanwhile, Grech dominated the Maltese English Billiards Championship, which he won annually between 2003 and 2015. In total, he won the tournament at least twenty times. Due to the incomplete sources, it cannot be ruled out that he was able to win more championship titles after 2015. In 2017 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Malta Olympic Committee as the second billiards player after Paul Mifsud . During his career, Grech was Malta's Sportsman of the Year three times in 1978, 1987 and 1997 . In 2005 the Maltese team around Alex Borg , Somin Zammitt and himself, which had won the EBSA European Team Championship, was named “Team of the Year”. Grech died of natural causes in his birthplace Ħamrun in mid-August 2021 at the age of 67 .

successes

singles

exit year competition Final opponent Result
Amateur snooker tournaments
Second 1976 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Paul Mifsud 2: 7
Second 1978 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Paul Mifsud 5: 7
winner 1980 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Paul Mifsud 7: 6
winner 1981 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Albert Mangion 7: 1
Second 1982 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Paul Mifsud 5: 7
Second 1983 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Paul Mifsud 2: 7
winner 1987 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 8: 3
Second 1987 IBSF World Snooker Championship WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Darren Morgan 4:11
winner 1997 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 8: 7
Second 1998 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 7: 8
winner 1999 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 8: 6
winner 2000 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Simon Zammit 8: 4
Second 1998 Maltese Snooker Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 4: 8
Amateur tournaments in English Billiards
winner 1978 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Paul Mifsud 2307: 1856
winner 1980 Maltese English Billiards Championship unknown
winner 1981 Maltese English Billiards Championship unknown
winner 1983 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Alfred Micallef 2047: 476
winner 1984 Maltese English Billiards Championship unknown
winner 1987 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Victor Ellul 2369: 1495
Second 1987 IBSF World Billiards Championship IndiaIndia Geet Sethi 3256: 4846
winner 1995 Maltese English Billiards Championship unknown
winner 1997 IBSF World Billiards Championship IndiaIndia Ashok Shandilya 2895: 2836
winner 2003 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 7: 5
winner 2004 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 7: 5
winner 2005 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Richard Balani 5-0
winner 2006 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Brian Cardona 5-0
winner 2007 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Pancrazio Borg unknown
winner 2008 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Pawlu Galea 914: 425
winner 2009 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Thomas Busuttil 1247: 491
winner 2010 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Duncan Bezzina 1075: 558
winner 2011 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Publius Grech 973: 546
winner 2012 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Thomas Busuttil 892: 288
winner 2013 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg 918: 716
winner 2014 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Mario Brincat 993: 597
winner 2015 Maltese English Billiards Championship MaltaMalta Mario Brincat 894: 442

team

Result year competition Team partner Opponent in the final Final score
winner 1997 Continental Team Cup MaltaMalta Alex Borg unknown
MaltaMalta 		GermanyGermany Germany Group stage
winner 1999 Continental Team Cup MaltaMalta Alex Borg unknown
MaltaMalta 		BelgiumBelgium Belgium 2: 1
winner 2000 Continental Team Cup MaltaMalta Alex Borg unknown
MaltaMalta 		NetherlandsNetherlands Rolf de Jong unknown unknown
NetherlandsNetherlands
NetherlandsNetherlands 		2: 1
winner 2005 EBSA European Team Championship MaltaMalta Alex Borg Simon Zammit
MaltaMalta 		IrelandIreland Martin McCrudden Robert Murphy Brendan O'Donoghue
IrelandIreland
IrelandIreland 		11: 6
winner 2011 EBSA European Team Championship - Masters MaltaMalta Simon Zammit EnglandEnglandDavid Brown Phil Hartley
EnglandEngland		 7: 5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Janie Watkins: Euro Player Profile: Joe "Guzi" Grech (Malta). (No longer available online.) Global Snooker Center, 2005, archived from the original on December 26, 2008 ; accessed on July 29, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Ron Florax: Career Total Statistics For Joe Grech - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  3. ↑ a b c Guzi Grech - Billiards And snooker champion who also won a world title. Malta Independent, January 3, 2006, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  4. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1975-1976 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1977-1978 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1978-1979 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1980-1981 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1981-1982 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1982-1983 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1984-1985 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1985-1986 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1986-1987 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1987-1988 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .








  5. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1985-1986 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  6. ↑ a b Past Champions. IBSF , 2019, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  7. ↑ a b National Billiards Championship Roll of Honor. (PDF) Malta Billiards & Snooker Association, accessed July 30, 2021 .
  8. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1988-1989 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1989-1990 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  9. ↑ a b c d Ron Florax: Ranking History For Joe Grech. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  10. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1990-1991 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1991-1992 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1992-1993 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1993-1994 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1994-1995 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1995-1996 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1996-1997 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .





  11. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1997-1998 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  12. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1996-1997 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  13. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1997-1998 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  14. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1998-1999 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  15. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1999-2000 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  16. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1998-1999 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 1999-2000 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2000-2001 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2003-2004 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2004-2005 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .



  17. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2011-2012 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2012-2013 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  18. ↑ Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2000-2001 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2001-2002 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2004-2005 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2005-2006 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 . Ron Florax: Joe Grech - Season 2006-2007 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed July 29, 2021 .



  19. ↑ Grech champion. The Times of Malta, June 27, 2006, accessed July 29, 2021 . Joe Grech makes it six in a row. The Times of Malta, June 5, 2008, accessed July 29, 2021 . Grech makes it 11. The Times of Malta, May 24, 2013, accessed July 29, 2021 . National Billiards Championship Results. (PDF) Malta Billiards & Snooker Association, accessed July 29, 2021 . Billiards: Tenth Triumph for Guzi Grech. Malta Independent, July 14, 2005, accessed July 29, 2021 .



  20. ^ Hall of Fame. Malta Olympic Committee , accessed July 29, 2021 .
  21. ^ Winners Sport Malta Awards Sportivi Nazzjonali. Malta Sports Journalists, 2020, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  22. ↑ Samuel Lucas: Imut l-eks Champion tad-Dinja tal-Billiard Ġużi Grech. One News, August 21, 2021, accessed August 22, 2021 (Maltese).
personal data
SURNAME Grech, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ġuzi (nickname)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Maltese snooker and English billiards player
BIRTH DATE July 9, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Ħamrun
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Ħamrun