Agnes Davies Explained

Agnes Davies
Birth Date:1920 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Saron, Carmarthenshire, Wales
High Ranking:46 (aged 77)

Agnes Davies, born Agnes Morris, (30 September 1920 – 13 February 2011)[1] was a Welsh snooker and billiards player. She was known for having a competitive playing career spanning 64 years,[2] during which she won the Women's Professional Snooker Championship in 1949,[3] and reached world championship snooker finals in 1940,[4] 1948,[5] 1950,[6] and 1980.

Biography

Davies learned how to play billiards in her father's billiard hall in Saron, which he had set up using his compensation payment for pneumoconiosis caused by working as a coal miner. She first won the Welsh women's amateur championship in 1939, and won the following two years as well.

Davies, then still known as Agnes Morris, was runner up in the 1940 Women's Professional Snooker championship[7] and the winner in 1949. She was married to Dick Davies (who died in 1996) in 1940, and took a break of some 30 years from competitive snooker. Returning to competition in the late 1970s, she won three tournaments before reaching another world championship final in 1980. In 1985 Davies was Voted Life President of the World Ladies' Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA).

In 1998 she qualified for the Ladies Welsh Open at Newport, Wales at the age of 77 – sixty years after winning as a 17-year-old[8] and was ranked 46 in the Embassy Ladies World Rankings for 1997/98.

Until 1999, Davies played in the home international series for Wales. She also played in the Amman Valley league until 2001.

Davies died in 2011. In 2012, Women's World Snooker held the Agnes Davies Memorial tournament, which was won by Jaique Ip.[9]

Titles and achievements

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent Score Ref.
Winner 1 1937 Welsh Ladies' Snooker Champion [10]
Winner 2 1938 Welsh Ladies' Snooker Champion
Winner 3 1939 Welsh Ladies' Snooker Champion
Winner 4 1939 Welsh Ladies' Billiards Champion
Winner 5 1939 Women's Amateur Champion
Runner-up 6 1940 2–11 [11]
Runner-up 7 1948 14–16 [12] [13]
Winner 8 1949 16–15
Runner-up 9 1950 10–20 [14] [15]
Winner 10 1977 Pontins Ladies' Bowl Champion 3–1 [16]
Winner 11 1978 Women's Amateur Champion (UK Championship)
Runner-up 12 1979 Pontins Ladies' Bowl Champion 0–3
Runner-up 13 1980 2–4 [17]
Winner 14 1982 Pontins Ladies' Bowl Champion 3–0
Runner-up 15 1999 Ladies Regal Scottish Masters seniors' (over 40s) final Mary Hawkes 0–2 [18]
Runner-up 16 2003 Ladies Regal Welsh Championship seniors' (over 40s) final Maureen Twomey 1–2

Notes and References

  1. News: Everton . Clive . 1 March 2011 . Agnes Davies obituary . . 28 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190726173756/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/mar/01/agnes-davies-obituary . 26 July 2019 .
  2. News: 9 March 2011 . Snooker Queen Agnes Dies . South Wales Guardian . 28 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190728024714/https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/8897709.snooker-queen-agnes-90-dies/ . 28 July 2019.
  3. . Bath City Signings. Snooker Title Won on Last Frame. 5 . 20 June 1949. The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019..
  4. . Snooker Championship . The Times . 48578. 3 . 1 April 1940 . The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019..
  5. News: . Miss Adcock Takes Snooker Title. Daily Mirror. 5 . 22 May 1948. The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019..
  6. News: . Bath City Signings. Western Mail. 5 . 25 June 1950. The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019..
  7. News: 1 April 1940 . Snooker Championship . The Times . 48578 . 3 . The Times Digital Archive .
  8. News: Malone . Emmet . 3 January 1998 . On The Sidelines . Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland) . NewsBank.
  9. Web site: Jaique Ip Wan In . Women's World Snooker . 28 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190728024721/https://www.womenssnooker.com/player/jaique-ip-wan/ . 28 July 2019.
  10. Web site: Agnes Davies Ammanford's World Snooker Champion . users.ic24.net/~terrynorm/ . Welcome to the town of Ammanford . 26 August 2020.
  11. News: 28 March 1940 . Women's Title . The Manchester Guardian . 2 . ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer .
  12. News: . The Women's Championships . The Billiard Player. May 1948) . 6.
  13. News: . A really grand finale. The Billiard Player. June 1948) . 8.
  14. News: . North East West South . The Billiard Player. June 1950) . 5.
  15. News: . Women's Professional Championships (1949–50) . The Billiard Player. July 1950) . 7.
  16. Book: Morrison, Ian . 1987 . The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker . Twickenham . Hamlyn Publishing Group . 43. 0600556042 .
  17. Web site: World Champions. Women's World Snooker. 28 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190818024929/https://www.womenssnooker.com/about/world-champions/. 18 August 2019.
  18. Web site: 1999 Regal Scottish Masters (Seniors) - Results . World Women's Snooker . snookerscores.net . 3 September 2020.