This morning the news was shared by WST and various other sources that Terry Griffiths has left us. He died yesterday evening, surrounded by his family.

I had the privilege to meet Terry as well as his son Wayne on several occasions at SWSA. My thoughts go out to Wayne and the whole family. Terry was a remarkable person, a good person. We have known for some time that Terry was suffering from dementia, that terrible disease that deprives the sufferer of everything, trapping them in a scary world of confusion and solitude. Terry is free of that prison now and it’s the only solace those who loved him can get.

Here is Terry’s obituary by David Hendon

TERRY GRIFFITHS OBITUARY: THE HUMBLE SNOOKER CHAMPION WHO SHAPED A GENERATION

BY DAVE HENDON

Terry Griffiths, the 1979 world champion, was more than a snooker icon. Known for his kindness and wisdom, he mentored countless players, shaping the sport both on and off the table. From his historic Crucible triumph to his work as a coach, Griffiths leaves behind a legacy of greatness and humanity that will be cherished by the snooker world. Eurosport commentator Dave Hendon remembers a great.

After John Virgo became UK champion in 1979 he was engaged for an exhibition tour of Britain with the reigning world champion, Terry Griffiths, who invited him to stay at his Llanelli home for the Welsh leg.

Early one morning, Virgo opened the curtains to see his own car being washed by Griffiths. It was an act of simple decency typical of this gentle giant of snooker, who died yesterday at the age of 77.

Many others within the sport have similar stories. After Joe Johnson came from 12-9 down to beat him 13-12 in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Championship, Griffiths followed him into his dressing room and began giving advice about what to do should he win the title, how to handle the attention and media demands and to offer encouragement for the matches ahead.

Such chats went on with sundry players down the years. Win or lose, Griffiths liked to offer advice and there were few worth listening to more. His knowledge and support assisted many careers. His wisdom will be deeply missed.

Born in 1947, Griffiths was the youngest of three children. His father was employed at the local tin plate works. Griffiths, a bright boy, was accepted into grammar school but his friends all went to the nearby comprehensive and, missing them, he played truant to such a degree that he was expelled.

At 14, he became a regular at Hatcher’s, the local snooker club, and began to improve without any real thoughts of the game becoming a career.

He married Annette and settled into family life with their two sons, Wayne and Darren, taking various jobs including as a miner, bus conductor and postman. A postal strike in 1971 suddenly gave him proper time to practise his snooker and he made his first century and reached the final of the Welsh Championship.

Griffiths then became an insurance salesman and won three Welsh titles and the English amateur championship before taking the plunge by turning professional in 1978.

It did not start well. In the UK Championship, he led Rex Williams 8-2 but was beaten 9-8. It was hard to make a living. There were scarcely any other events until the World Championship in the spring of 1979, being staged for only the third time at the Crucible in Sheffield with more television hours than ever before.

Griffiths qualified and beat Perrie Mans before winning a thrilling battle with Alex Higgins, 13-12. On his debut appearance he was into the semi-finals, where another closely fought encounter ended with him beating Eddie Charlton 19-17 at 1:40am.

Faced with David Vine’s BBC microphone, Griffiths exclaimed: “I’m in the final now, you know,” a mix of innocent joy, humility and disbelief. The TV audience warmed to his down-to-earth relatability and viewing figures grew.

In the final, he defeated Dennis Taylor 24-16. After a decade in which Ray Reardon or John Spencer had won all but one of the World Championships staged, snooker had a new king and his overnight emergence from obscurity to glory inspired a young generation of players who believed if Griffiths could break down the old order, they could also share in the spoils.

Among them was Steve Davis, a great friend of Griffiths who also became a major thorn in his side. In the 1981/82 season they contested five finals. At the Crucible over the years they met seven times, Davis winning on each occasion, including a second world final in 1988.

It did not start well. In the UK Championship, he led Rex Williams 8-2 but was beaten 9-8. It was hard to make a living. There were scarcely any other events until the World Championship in the spring of 1979, being staged for only the third time at the Crucible in Sheffield with more television hours than ever before.

Griffiths qualified and beat Perrie Mans before winning a thrilling battle with Alex Higgins, 13-12. On his debut appearance he was into the semi-finals, where another closely fought encounter ended with him beating Eddie Charlton 19-17 at 1:40am.

Faced with David Vine’s BBC microphone, Griffiths exclaimed: “I’m in the final now, you know,” a mix of innocent joy, humility and disbelief. The TV audience warmed to his down-to-earth relatability and viewing figures grew.

In the final, he defeated Dennis Taylor 24-16. After a decade in which Ray Reardon or John Spencer had won all but one of the World Championships staged, snooker had a new king and his overnight emergence from obscurity to glory inspired a young generation of players who believed if Griffiths could break down the old order, they could also share in the spoils.

By then Griffiths had become one of snooker’s most famous names, a mainstay of the television boom years of the 1980s. He won the Masters in 1980 and UK Championship in 1982, but time and again Davis prevented him – and many others – from adding further major titles to his CV.

However, Griffiths still captured 20 professional titles during his career and spent 17 years as a member of the elite top 16. 

A family man, he found the long periods away from home difficult to deal with. Celebrity didn’t come easily to him. That wasn’t his world.

Even so, he became a chart star when Snooker Loopy reached No. 6 in 1986, joining Davis, Taylor, Willie Thorne and Tony Meo on the Chas & Dave track.

In 1987, Griffiths opened his own snooker club in Llanelli, where many junior talents passed through. A whole generation of Welsh players will have fond memories of their time playing there, learning from the master.

In 1992, he reached the World Championship semi-finals at the age of 44 but after being relegated from the top 16 in 1996 chose to retire, entering the game’s blue riband event one last time a year later. He qualified and was beaten 10-9 on the last black by Mark Williams, a symbolic passing of the baton from one established Welsh great to a future one.

After retiring from playing, Griffiths soon became highly regarded as a coach, working with a string of top players who benefited from his wise counsel and personal experience of so many major occasions.

Stephen Hendry, Williams and Mark Allen were just three players he helped, but there were many others to whom he gave advice on an ad hoc basis, just trying to be of assistance.

Griffiths, who received an OBE in 2007, was also a television commentator and popular figure backstage at tournaments, always keen to chat about snooker and help those at any level with advice and insight.

In recent times, he was suffering from dementia. He died surrounded by his loving family.

So many people in the snooker world, including longstanding fans, will be sad today. ‘The Griff’ was a gentleman, a smart and funny man of integrity who always gave others his time and whose passion for the sport and those involved with it was unfailing.

For all the titles he won, that was what made Terry Griffiths special. He was a warm, humble and decent man who loved snooker and whose passing will be mourned by all those who shared his fascination with the game.

It was semi-finals day in York yesterday, with just one table in operation. We got two very different matches.

In the afternoon, Judd Trump had a surprisingly easy passage (WST report)

TRUMP BLITZES WILSON TO MAKE FINAL

Million pound man Judd Trump took six frames on the bounce to see off rival Kyren Wilson 6-2 and reach his fourth Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final in York. 

Incredibly, this afternoon’s win sees world number one Trump become the first ever player to earn over £1,000,000 in a single season before Christmas. The Ace in the Pack was victorious in the most lucrative frame in snooker history earlier in the campaign, when he beat Mark Williams 10-9 in a decider to win the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and scoop £500,000. 

Trump is seeking a second UK Championship crown, 13 years after his first, in tomorrow’s best of 19 final against either Mark Allen or Barry Hawkins. He lifted the famous trophy in 2011, when he scored a thrilling 10-8 win over Mark Allen in the title match. Trump appeared in two further finals in 2014 and 2020, losing 10-9 to Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson respectively. 

Today’s victory for Trump sees him enact revenge over World Champion Wilson, who has prevailed in their two previous meetings this season. Wilson claimed his first tournament wins as Crucible king with victories over Trump, beating him 10-8 in the Xi’an Grand Prix final and 9-3 in the Northern Ireland Open title match. 

This afternoon saw 32-year-old Wilson seize the initiative in the early stages. He made a break of 64 on his way to moving 2-0 ahead. However, little did he know at the time that would be the last frame win he registered in the tie. 

Trump gained a foothold in the match by winning the sixth, before a run of exactly 100 restored parity at 2-2 heading in for the interval. 

When play resumed, Trump won two tight frames, before firing home breaks of 65 in the seventh and 100 in the eighth to get over the line and make the final. 

“It was a tricky game. We both have a lot of respect for each other. At the start we were just trying to figure each other out. I got the upper hand and after the interval I scored a little bit heavier. My long potting was good. It wasn’t an absolute classic, but it is just about getting over the line when you aren’t at your best,” said 2019 World Champion Trump. 

“It definitely means a lot more to me than when I was younger. You know it’s not going to last forever. Being ranked number one in the world and doing what I’m doing, you aren’t going to be in that form forever. I’ve put in the work over the last five or six years and got the rewards. It gets harder as you get older. I want to make the most of it while I can.

“Even though I’ve reached the final a couple of times and lost 10-9 both times, you kind of get forgotten about. I’ve been so close to winning more titles here. Those little details shape your career. I could be on six or seven Triple Crowns now but I’ve come up short in a couple of finals. It is nice to have a chance to rectify that tomorrow.

“If you looked ten years ago you’d never have dreamed of winning a million pounds in a season. Taking that up a notch and winning it before Christmas is an amazing achievement. It is nice getting the rewards for being consistent. You see further down the rankings, to get into these invitational events you need to win a lot of money. People have been asking and moaning over the last ten years that the rewards aren’t there. If you have a good run in an event now there is a lot of money up for grabs.”

In the evening, or actually well into the night where I am, Barry Hawkins prevailed against Mark Allen (WST report):

HAWKINS PREVAILS IN MIDNIGHT MARATHON

Barry Hawkins came through a deciding frame to beat Mark Allen 6-5 in a gruelling late night battle to make the final of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York. 

With the clock just shy of 1am, the Hawk cracked in a stunning long range red to set up a steely winning clearance of 26 to book a place in his first ever UK final and fourth Triple Crown title match. 

Hawkins has won four ranking titles, but 28 years after first turning professional in 1996, he’s still hunting a maiden Triple Crown win. Having lost Masters finals to Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan and a World Championship final against the Rocket, Hawkins now faces Judd Trump tomorrow for the title and £250,000. 

The Londoner’s run this week has already seen him defeat O’Sullivan, before adding wins against David Gilbert and Shaun Murphy. This evening’s match was possibly the sternest test of his mental fortitude, with the game panning out in an attritional and fragmented manner. 

It was 2023 UK Champion Allen who led 4-2, before breaks of 57 and 84 helped Hawkins to restore parity at 4-4. Allen regained the lead and moved one from the win, but a superb 114 from Hawkins forced the final frame. After five hours and six minutes of play, he got over the line to seal a momentous win. 

Hawkins said: “It was an absolutely gruelling match. To come through one of those games, I’m over the moon. It wasn’t pretty to watch. I had one good frame to level at 5-5. I can’t remember many other frames that were any good. It was just a battle. I’m completely drained. 

“I stuck in there. I just kept trying, that is all you can do. I just tried not to beat myself up. When you are scoring bad and missing balls it becomes really hard. You never know what can happen, I’ve fell over the line tonight and I’m pleased I managed to dig in.

“It isn’t easy is it? Look at how many great players I had to beat this week. To get to another Triple Crown final is brilliant. I am really looking forward to playing Judd. It should be a great occasion. I’ll get the family up and I hope we put on a good performance.”

I’m not sure what to write about these semi-finals. I didn’t like what I saw from Kyren after Judd started to come back at him and it was 2 minutes short of 3 am where I live when the evening match finished. Needless to say, I had given up on that one well before it even neared its conclusion.

When I say that I didn’t like what I saw from Kyren, I’m not suggesting any foul play or lack of effort. Not at all. There were however quite a few shot selections I questioned given Judd’s current form and ability. I’m all for players being positive but when their opponent keeps potting anything from distance maybe it’s time to seriously further “tighten the bolts” as we say in French …

There were again complaints about the tables and, as usual WST dismissed them saying that the fitters work at the highest standards. That may well be the case but if true it means that the problem is elsewhere and they should seriously look into it. Having said that, if the issue is caused by external factors, there may not be any easy practical solution. When there is a big crowd of people wearing thick winter cloths saturated with humidity because of the outside weather and it’s necessary to heat the venue, it will feel damp no matter what.