Ian Anderson (born 2 April 1946) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

former professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player. He is the current president of the

World Pool-Billiard Association The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) is the international governing body for pool (pocket billiards). It was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Australia, Americas ...

Career

Anderson turned professional in 1973, playing his first World Championship match against

Perrie Mans Pierre "Perrie" Mans (born 14 October 1940) is a retired professional snooker player from South Africa, who first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965, and won the event 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters in 1979 ...

of South Africa in 1974; Anderson held Mans to 1–1, but Mans pulled away to win 8–1. The following year, he was eliminated 4–15 in the last 16 by

Rex Williams Desmond Rex Williams (born 20 July 1933) is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the Worl ...

, and in 1976, he lost 5–8 to

Jackie Rea John Joseph "Jackie" Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013) was a Northern Irish snooker player. He was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins. Rea reached the semi-final of the 1952 World Championship losing to ...

. In the 1979 tournament, Anderson was defeated in qualifying by

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

, by 9 frames to 1, but in the 1982 Australian Masters, the group stage being in one-frame shoot-out format, he defeated

Ray Reardon Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gr ...

70–48 and incumbent World Champion

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Wor ...

70–50 before losing 115–119 over two frames to Davis in the semi-final. In 1979 he won the

Australian Masters The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015. History In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament. Though the ...

, his sole professional win as a snooker player. His other professional final came the year before in 1978, when he was defeated 29-13 by

Eddie Charlton Edward Francis Charlton, (31 October 1929 – 8 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winn ...

in the

Australian Professional Championship The Australian Professional Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for Australian or Australian-based players. History From 1963 to 1974 the Australian Professional Championship was held on a challenge basis and d ...

. Anderson reached the last 64 of the 1986 Grand Prix, where he lost 4–5 to

Cliff Wilson Clifford Wilson (10 May 193421 May 1994) was a Welsh professional snooker player who reached the highest ranking of 16, in 1988-89. He was the 1978 World Amateur Champion and won the 1991 World Seniors Championship. He was a successful juni ...

having led Wilson 4–2, but his activities remained largely restricted to the Australian events, and he lost his place on the professional tour in 1992, aged 46 and with a world ranking of 147th.

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

References

Australian snooker players 1946 births Living people {{Australia-sport-bio-stub