Doug Mountjoy

Born	(1942-06-08)8 June 1942 Tir-y-Berth,Gelligaer, Wales
Died	14 February 2021(2021-02-14) (aged 78)
Sport country	Wales
Professional	1976–1997
Highestranking	5 (1990–91)
Tournament wins
Ranking	2

Douglas James Mountjoy^{[needs IPA]} (8 June 1942 – 14 February 2021) was a Welshsnooker player fromTir-y-Berth,Gelligaer, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of theworld rankings for 11 consecutive years. He began his professional snooker career by taking the1977 Masters, which he entered as a reserve player. He won both the1978 UK Championship and the1979 Irish Masters. Mountjoy reached the final of the1981 World Snooker Championship where he was defeated bySteve Davis. He was also runner-up at the1985 Masters losing toCliff Thorburn, but by 1988 he had dropped out of the top 16.

Mountjoy enjoyed a resurgence in his 40s, and at the age of 46 he defeatedStephen Hendry in the final of the1988 UK Championship. He followed up by also winning the next ranking event, the1989 Classic, and by the end of the1988–89 season he was back in the top 16, where he remained until 1992. His world ranking peaked at number five in1990–1991. He also won fiveWelsh Professional Championship titles during his career.

Diagnosed withlung cancer in 1993, Mountjoy qualified for theWorld Championship at the age of 50, just weeks before having a lung surgically removed. He continued to play professionally until 1997, and he was coach to theUnited Arab Emirates snooker association between 1997 and 1999 and appeared sporadically at the World Snooker Championship until2002. Mountjoy died in February 2021 after a stroke.

Mountjoy was born on 8 June 1942,^[1][2] inTir-y-Berth,Gelligaer,Glamorgan, Wales.^[3] He was brought up just outsideEbbw Vale and worked for some years as acoal miner, playing snooker in his spare time.^[3] At the age of 17 an underground accident trapped him for several hours when the roof collapsed; he was fortunate to escape.^[4]

A popular player in theSouth Wales Valleys as a junior, he won many amateur tournaments including two Welsh Amateur titles and theWorld Amateur title in 1976,^[3] after defeatingPaul Mifsud 11–1.^[2] After the World Amateur victory he turned professional at the age of 34.^[5]

Mountjoy's first professional tournament, which he entered as a late replacement, was the1977 Masters at theNew London Theatre.^[3] After defeating former world championsJohn Pulman,Fred Davis, andAlex Higgins to reach the final, he beat the defending Masters champion and reigning world championRay Reardon 7–6 to win the title.^[5][6]

At the1977 World Championship a couple of months later, he defeated Higgins again in the first round but lost toDennis Taylor in the quarter-final 11–13.^[2] At the end of 1977, he reached the final ofthe first UK Snooker Championship, losing toPatsy Fagan 9–12.^[7] He won the title at the1978 UK Championship, however, beatingDavid Taylor 15–9, and he defeated Ray Reardon in the same season to win theIrish Masters 6–5.^[6] He won the1980 Champion of Champions, with a 10–8 victory overJohn Virgo in the final.^[8] Mountjoy also won the1978 Pot Black event.^[9]

After being part of the winning Wales team in the first two snookerWorld Challenge Cups, in1979 and1980, and winning the1980 Welsh Professional Championship he had an attack ofBell's palsy which partially paralysed his face.^[3] Recovering from the attack, he reached the final of the1981 World Championship, defeatingEddie Charlton, Dennis Taylor and, in the semi-final, Ray Reardon (against whom he made a 145 break, a championship record at the time). He then playedSteve Davis in the final.^[10] Davis was favourite to win his first world title, and appeared to be racing to an easy victory by winning the first six frames of the match. However, Mountjoy recovered and came close to drawing level on several occasions. Trailing 11–13, and with the score at 60–63 in the 25th frame, he looked certain to cut Davis's lead to one frame but missed a simple blue from its spot; Davis went on to clear the colours,fluking the final black. Mountjoy won only one more frame as Davis won the match 18–12.^[11]

After that run at the World Championship, he had only a short run of titles; he won theWelsh Professional Championship in1982^[6] and1984^[6] to go with his 1980 title. He was back in the final of a major again in the1985 Masters tournament, losing toCliff Thorburn 9–6.^[12] Mountjoy also reclaimed thePot Black title in March that year.^[9]

He won anotherWelsh title in 1987 but otherwise struggled to regain his previous form, including a 1–9 defeat toSteve Longworth in the first round of the1986 UK Championship.^[6] By 1988 he was out of the top 16 in theworld rankings.^[13] In the1988–89 snooker season, however, he reached the final of the1988 UK Championship where he metStephen Hendry. He won 16–12 and gained his first ranking tournament victory, having at one stage scored centuries in three consecutive frames.^[14] In January 1989 he won theClassic, beating fellow WelshmanWayne Jones in the final, to win consecutive ranking titles.^[15] This was enough for him to return to the top 16 the next season, and by 1990 he was number five in the world.^[16] He remained in the top 16 until 1992.

Mountjoy was diagnosed withlung cancer in 1993, having been a smoker for many years.^[3] That year, at the age of 50, he defeatedAlain Robidoux 10–6 in the first round of theWorld Championship, only weeks before an operation to remove his left lung. This was his last appearance in the final stages of the championship and for fifteen years he was the last player aged over 50 to appear atThe Crucible. He survived the cancer and continued to play snooker until 1997, after which he concentrated on snooker coaching. He would coach in the United Arab Emirates,^[17] but did appear in qualifying for the2002 World Snooker Championship.^[18]

He married Mary (née Richards), a hairdresser and the couple had two children.^[19] He died on 14 February 2021, aged 78, following astroke.^[4][20][21]

In a joint statement,World Snooker chairmanBarry Hearn andWorld Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairmanJason Ferguson said: "Doug was first and foremost a lovely man, who had great friendships with many players on the tour throughout the 1970s and onwards."^[22]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref
Runner-up	1.	1981	World Snooker Championship	Steve Davis	12–18	[24]
Winner	1.	1988	UK Championship (2)	Stephen Hendry	16–12	[14]
Winner	2.	1989	The Classic	Wayne Jones	13–11	[25]
Runner-up	2.	1989	Dubai Classic	Stephen Hendry	2–9	[26]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref
Runner-up	1.	1977	Pot Black	Perrie Mans	0–1	[28]
Winner	1.	1977	The Masters	Ray Reardon	7–6	[29]
Runner-up	2.	1977	Welsh Professional Championship	Ray Reardon	8–12	[30]
Runner-up	3.	1977	UK Championship	Patsy Fagan	9–12	[31]
Runner-up	4.	1978	Irish Masters	John Spencer	3–5	[32]
Winner	2.	1978	Pot Black	Graham Miles	2–1	[28]
Winner	3.	1978	Golden Masters	Ray Reardon	4–2	[33]
Winner	4.	1978	UK Championship	David Taylor	15–9	[34]
Runner-up	5.	1979	Pot Black	Ray Reardon	1–2	[28]
Winner	5.	1979	Irish Masters	Ray Reardon	6–5	[32]
Winner	6.	1979	Pontins Professional	Graham Miles	8–4	[35]
Winner	7.	1980	Welsh Professional Championship	Ray Reardon	9–6	[30]
Runner-up	6.	1980	Irish Masters	Terry Griffiths	9–10	[32]
Winner	8.	1980	Champion of Champions	John Virgo	10–8	[36]
Winner	9.	1982	Welsh Professional Championship (2)	Terry Griffiths	9–8	[30]
Runner-up	7.	1983	Welsh Professional Championship (2)	Ray Reardon	1–9	[30]
Winner	10.	1983	Pontins Professional (2)	Ray Reardon	9–7	[37]
Runner-up	8.	1983	New Zealand Masters	Bill Werbeniuk	0–1	[38]
Winner	11.	1983	Hong Kong Masters	Terry Griffiths	4–3	[39]
Winner	12.	1984	Welsh Professional Championship (3)	Cliff Wilson	9–3	[30]
Runner-up	9.	1984	Hong Kong Masters	Steve Davis	2–4	[39]
Runner-up	10.	1985	The Masters	Cliff Thorburn	6–9	[40]
Runner-up	11.	1985	Welsh Professional Championship (3)	Terry Griffiths	4–9	[30]
Winner	13.	1985	Pot Black (2)	Jimmy White	2–0	[28]
Runner-up	12.	1986	Welsh Professional Championship (4)	Terry Griffiths	3–9	[30]
Winner	14.	1987	Welsh Professional Championship (4)	Steve Newbury	9–7	[30]
Winner	15.	1989	Welsh Professional Championship (5)	Terry Griffiths	9–6	[30]
Runner-up	13.	1990	Welsh Professional Championship (5)	Darren Morgan	7–9	[30]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref
Winner	1.	1974	Pontins Spring Open	John Spencer	7–4	[41]
Winner	2.	1976	Pontins Spring Open (2)	Lance Pibworth	7–1	[41]
Runner-up	1.	1977	Warners Open	Tony Meo	4–5	[42]
Runner-up	2.	1984	Pontins Spring Open	Neal Foulds	4–7	[41]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score	Ref
Winner	1.	1979	World Challenge Cup	Wales	England	14–3	[43]
Winner	1.	1980	World Challenge Cup (2)	Wales	Canada	8–5	[43]
Runner-up	1.	1981	World Team Classic	Wales	England	3–4	[43]
Runner-up	2.	1982	World Doubles Championship	Terry Griffiths	Steve Davis Tony Meo	3–4	[44]
Runner-up	3.	1983	World Team Classic (2)	Wales	England	2–4	[43]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref
Runner-up	1.	1966	Welsh Amateur Championship	Lynn O'Neill	5–9	[45]
Winner	1.	1968	Welsh Amateur Championship	John Terry	6–5	[45]
Winner	2.	1976	Welsh Amateur Championship (2)	Alwyn Lloyd	8–6	[45]
Winner	3.	1976	World Amateur Championship	Paul Mifsud	11–1	[46]

• Doug Mountjoy at theWorld Snooker Tour (archived)
• Doug Mountjoy at Snooker.org

• 1942 births
• 2021 deaths
• Masters (snooker) champions
• People from Gelligaer
• Sportspeople from Caerphilly County Borough
• Welsh snooker players
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• UK champions (snooker)

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