Doug Mountjoy


Doug Mountjoy is a retired Welsh snooker player. He was a mainstay of the professional snooker circuit during the late 1970s and 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for eleven consecutive years. He began his professional snooker career by clinching the title at the 1977 Masters tournament, which he had entered as a late replacement. He won both the 1978 UK Championship and the 1979 Irish Masters, and reached the final of the 1981 World Championship where he lost to Steve Davis. He also finished in second place at the 1985 Masters, 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 defeated future seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry in the final of the 1988 UK Championship. He followed this up with the 1989 Classic title, and by the end of the 1988–89 season he was back in the top 16, where he remained until 1992. His world ranking peaked at #5 in 1990/1991. He also won five Welsh Professional titles during his career.
Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993, Mountjoy qualified for the World Championship at the age of 50, just weeks before having one of his lungs surgically removed. He continued to play professionally until 1997, and he was coach to the United Arab Emirates snooker association between 1997 and 1999.

Early life

Mountjoy was born on 8 June 1942. He was brought up just outside Ebbw Vale and worked for some years as a coal miner, playing snooker in his spare time. A well-known player in the valleys as a youth and young man, he won many amateur tournaments including two Welsh Amateur titles and the World Amateur title in 1976, for which he beat Paul Mifsud 11–1. After the World Amateur victory he turned professional, at the age of 34.

Career

Mountjoy's first success was as a late replacement in the 1977 Masters at the New London Theatre, his first professional tournament. He beat former world champions John Pulman, Fred Davis and Alex Higgins, and in the final defeated the then world champion Ray Reardon 7–6 to win the title.
At the World Championship a couple of months later, he beat Higgins again in the first round but lost to Dennis Taylor in the quarter-final 11–13. At the end of 1977 he reached the final of the first-ever UK Snooker Championship, losing to Patsy Fagan 9–12. He won the title a year later beating David Taylor 15–9, and in the same season he beat Ray Reardon to win the Irish Masters 6–5.
In 1980 he won the Champion of Champions, beating John Virgo 10–8 in the final.
After being part of the winning Wales team in the first two snooker World Cups, in 1979 and 1980, he had an attack of Bell's palsy which partially paralysed his face. With the problem cleared, he reached the final of the 1981 World Snooker Championship, where he beat Eddie Charlton, Dennis Taylor and, in the semi-final, Ray Reardon. He then played Steve Davis in the final. Davis was favourite to win his first world title, and appeared to be racing to an easy victory when he won the first six frames of the match. However Mountjoy recovered, and on several occasions came close to drawing level. 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, and Mountjoy would win only one more frame as Davis eased to an 18–12 victory.
After that run at the World Championship, he had only a short run of titles; he won the Welsh Professional Championship in 1982 and 1984 to go with his 1980 title. He was back in the final of a major again in the 1985 Masters tournament, losing to Cliff Thorburn. Mountjoy also reclaimed the Pot Black title in March that year, having previously won it in 1978.
He won another Welsh title in 1987 but otherwise he struggled, including a 1–9 defeat to Steve Longworth in the 1986 UK Championship. By 1988 he was out of the top 16 in the World Rankings. It was at this time that he turned to the snooker coach Frank Callan, who had a reputation for being a valuable teacher to the professionals. In his book Frank Callan's Snooker Clinic, he relates the rebuilding of Mountjoy's game. Callan identified a particular fault in his technique, where he would play shots that required side spin by cueing across the ball, rather than moving his bridge hand over and striking in a straight line. This was how Mountjoy had always played a shot with sidespin, which was a testament to just how talented he was. Callan instructed Mountjoy to use a 'drill' when preparing to strike the ball, rather than spending varying amounts of time and care on a shot dependent upon its difficulty. With a blanket approach to every stroke, Mountjoy found his game returning.
In the 1988/89 season, with Mountjoy noticeably using his new drill, he reached the final of the 1988 UK Championship. At the age of 46 he was meeting the young pretender Stephen Hendry in the final. He won 16–12 and gained his first ranking tournament victory, having at one stage scored centuries in three consecutive frames, and after the match praised Hendry as a future talent: "I can see him getting into the Top 300 at some point. Tee hee." In January 1989 he won the Classic, beating fellow Welshman Wayne Jones in the final, to win consecutive ranking titles. That gave Mountjoy his second ranking title during his twelve years as a professional, both of them won within two months. He then won his fifth Welsh Professional title the following month. He was back in the top 16 the next season, and by 1990 he was number 5 in the world. He stayed in the Top 16 until 1992.
In 1993, not long after dropping out of the top 16, Mountjoy was diagnosed with lung cancer after being a smoker for many years. That year, in his final World Championship finals appearance, at the age of 50, he beat Alain Robidoux 10–6 in the first round only weeks before an operation to remove his left lung. For fifteen years he was the last player aged over 50 to appear in the final stages. He survived the cancer and continued to play snooker until 1997.
After 1997 he concentrated on snooker coaching but did compete in the World Championship again in 2000 and 2002.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1.1981World Snooker Championship Steve Davis12–18
Winner1.1988UK Championship Stephen Hendry16–12
Winner2.1989The Classic Wayne Jones13–11
Runner-up2.1989Dubai Classic Stephen Hendry2–9

Non-ranking finals: 27 (15 titles, 12 runners-up)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1.1977Pot Black Perrie Mans0–1
Winner1.1977The Masters Ray Reardon7–6
Runner-up2.1977Welsh Professional Championship Ray Reardon8–12
Runner-up3.1977UK Championship Patsy Fagan9–12
Runner-up4.1978Irish Masters John Spencer3–5
Winner2.1978Pot Black Graham Miles2–1
Winner3.1978Golden Masters Ray Reardon4–2
Winner4.1978UK Championship David Taylor15–9
Runner-up5.1979Pot Black Ray Reardon1–2
Winner5.1979Irish Masters Ray Reardon6–5
Winner6.1979Pontins Professional Graham Miles8–4
Winner7.1980Welsh Professional Championship Ray Reardon9–6
Runner-up6.1980Irish Masters Terry Griffiths9–10
Winner8.1980Champion of Champions John Virgo10–8
Winner9.1982Welsh Professional Championship Terry Griffiths9–8
Runner-up7.1983Welsh Professional Championship Ray Reardon1–9
Winner10.1983Pontins Professional Ray Reardon9–7
Winner11.1983Hong Kong Masters Terry Griffiths4–3
Winner12.1984Welsh Professional Championship Cliff Wilson9–3
Runner-up8.1984Hong Kong Masters Steve Davis2–4
Runner-up9.1985The Masters Cliff Thorburn6–9
Runner-up10.1985Welsh Professional Championship Terry Griffiths4–9
Winner13.1985Pot Black Jimmy White2–0
Runner-up11.1986Welsh Professional Championship Terry Griffiths3–9
Winner14.1987Welsh Professional Championship Steve Newbury9–7
Winner15.1989Welsh Professional Championship Terry Griffiths9–6
Runner-up12.1990Welsh Professional Championship Darren Morgan7–9

Pro-am finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Team finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)