Rex Williams

Rex Williams
birthday	July 20, 1933
place of birth	Halesowen , England
nationality	England
Active time	1951-1994
Success in snooker
World Championship	Semi-finals (2 ×) 1972, 1974
Highest break	147
Century Breaks	?
Success in English Billiards
World Championship	Winner (7 ×) 1968, 1971, 1973–1976, 1982–1983
Highest series	?

Rex Williams (born July 20, 1933 in Halesowen , England ), son of Minnie Roberts and William Williams, is a former English professional snooker and English billiards player.

Career

In both disciplines, snooker and English billiards, Williams was an excellent junior player. His professional career began in 1951, during a period of decline in snooker. In the 1960s, the World Snooker Championships was played as a challenger tournament, he met champion John Pulman in the finals in 1964 and 1965, but lost both times. In December 1966 during an exhibition in Cape Town , he was the second after Joe Davis to achieve an accredited maximum break of 147 points.

Williams won the World Billiards Championship seven times between 1968 and 1983. In snooker, he was not quite as successful: He reached the semi-finals of the world championship twice, losing to Alex Higgins there in 1972 (four frames ahead and five still to play ), and in 1974 against Graham Miles , he also reached the quarter-finals in 1970 , 1973 and 1975 . After the Crucible Theater in Sheffield became the permanent venue for the World Cup in 1977, he never won a game in a World Cup finals - despite eight other appearances. A record he shares with Cliff Wilson . His chase back against Terry Griffiths in the first round of the 1978 UK Championship is also remembered . Lying 8: 1 behind, he still won 9: 8 in the first televised match by Griffiths, who became world champion at the end of the season. By reaching the Rothmans Grand Prix in 1986 , at the age of 53, he set a new age record for reaching a ranking tournament finals. However, he lost the final against Jimmy White 6:10. His highest world ranking was the sixth place in the 1976/77 season .

Williams was heavily involved in the administration of snooker and English billiards. In 1968 he brought about the reintroduction of the Professional Billiards Players Association under the umbrella organization of the World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA). From 1968 to 1987 and from 1997 to 1999 he served as its chairman. He was removed from office in 2001 after alleged fiduciary irregularities and ordered to repay attorney and court fees of £ 28,268. In the following year, however, he was accepted again as a full member. The association later apologized to him for this action.

In the 1980s, Williams was also a commentator for the BBC and ITV on snooker coverage.

In 2016 he was inducted into the Snooker Hall of Fame by the WPBSA .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ranking History on Snooker.org. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
2. ↑ Snooker: D-day looms for Williams - Sport - The Independent.Retrieved June 4, 2012
3. ↑ Snooker: Williams is expelled after investigation More Sports, Sport - The Independent. Retrieved June 4, 2012
4. ↑ Sporting Life - Snooker World Championship 2002. Accessed June 4, 2012 Page no longer available , search in web archives: SNOOKER World O'Sullivan
5. ↑ Williams faces with a £ 28,000 bill on TheFreeLibrary.com. Retrieved June 4, 2012