Ian Williamson (born 1 December 1958) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

and

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team us ...

player.

Biography

Ian Williamson was born on 1 December 1958. His father was Jim Williamson, founding proprietor of the Northern Snooker Centre in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Williamson was runner up in the English Under 19

Championships in 1975 and 1976. He lost the 1975 final to Eugene Hughes and the 1976 final to

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 ...

. In 1976, he beat Davis in the semi-final of the Under-19 Snooker championship before losing to him later the same day in the billiards final. Williamson won the Under-19 billiards title in 1977 and 1978, beating John Barnes in the final both years. He was also a semi-finalist in the 1978

English Amateur Championship The English Amateur Championship, an annual snooker competition, is the highest-ranking and most prestigious amateur event in England. It is also the oldest and longest-running snooker tournament in the world, having been established in 1916, a ...

, beaten 8-4 by Joe Johnson His application to become a professional snooker player in 1980 was refused, along with that of Eugene Hughes, whilst Tony Knowles was the only one of three applicants at the time to be accepted. The following year, Williamson lost 7–5 to

Bill Oliver Bill Oliver may refer to: *Bill Oliver (American football) (born 1939), American football player and coach * Bill Oliver (politician), Canadian politician *Bill Oliver (snooker player) Bill Oliver (born 3 December 1948) is an English former pro ...

in the final of the 1981 Pontins Autumn Open. Williamson became a professional player in 1982 but never reached the quarter-finals of a major tournament. He reached the last 16 of the 1984 Grand Prix where he was beaten 5-2 by Tony Knowles. He was more successful as a billiards player, winning the 1988 UK Championship. The final was played as best-of-13 150-up, and it took Williamson nine hours to beat

Robby Foldvari Robby Foldvari (born 2 June 1960) is an Australian player of snooker, English billiards and pool. He is a multi-year World Billiards Champion (1986, 1997, 1998), and a national-level champion in both snooker (2006, 2008) and nine-ball pool (20 ...

7–3 in a match where both players were warned by the referee for slow play. and was runner up 7–5 to

Norman Dagley Norman Dagley (1930 – 15 January 1999) was an English world champion player of English billiards. He won both the world amateur and world professional titles twice. Early Career and English Amateur Championship Titles Dagley learned to play ...

at the 1991 British Open. In a 2005 article, former billiards

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Geet Sethi Geet Siriram Sethi (born 17 April 1961) of India is a professional player of English billiards who dominated the sport throughout much of the 1990s. He is also a notable amateur (ex-pro) snooker player. He is a five-time winner of the professio ...

described Williamson as "justifiably accused as one of the slowest players on the circuit." Williamson and

set a record for the longest best-of-nine frame snooker match when they took seven hours and fourteen minutes to finish their match in the seventh qualifying round of the

1994 British Open The 1994 British Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that was held from 30 March to 7 April 1994 at the Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, England. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the tournament by defeating James Wattana 9–4 in the final. T ...

in August 1993. The match included two consecutive 80-minute-long frames. Williamson's first inclusion on the professional snooker ranking list saw him listed at 47th, in the

Snooker world rankings 1985/1986 The professional world rankings for snooker players in the 1985–86 season are listed below. The tournaments that counted towards these rankings were those which were open to all professional players over three seasons. These tournaments were t ...

. He then dropped in the rankings each year and last competed on the professional snooker circuit in the 1995-96 season, when he was ranked 283rd, before going on to focus on coaching. He qualified as a coach with the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...

in 2015. In the

Billiards world rankings The billiards world rankings are the official system of ranking English billiards players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments The ranking are maintained by the sport's governing body, World Billiards, a subsidiary of ...

, Williamson was ranked third in both 1989/90 and 1990/91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Ian 1958 births Living people English snooker players English players of English billiards