Jack Fitzmaurice (25 April 1928 – January 2005) was 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 ...

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.

Career

Born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

, Fitzmaurice was runner-up in the

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 ...

in 1958, defeated 8–11 by

Marcus Owen Marcus Willoughby Owen (4 April 1935 – December 1987) was a Welsh professional snooker player. Career Before turning professional, Owen won the English Under-16 Championship in 1949, and reached the final in 1950. Owen also won the Engli ...

in the final. He turned professional in 1981 at the age of 53. He reached the last 32 of the 1982 World Snooker Championship, defeating

Mario Morra Mario Morra (born 1935) is an Italian film editor, director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, Morra began working as an assistant editor in the early 1960s, and made his debut as film editor in 1964.Roberto Poppi. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano. ...

9–7 before losing his match against

Kirk Stevens Kirk Stevens (born August 17, 1958) is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career Stevens started playing young, achieving his first aged just 12. He turned professional aged 20, and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship ...

4–10. At the time of Fitzmaurice's death, the 548 minutes match duration of his defeat of Morra was still the longest best-of-seventeen frames match on record. Fitzmaurice never again progressed beyond the last 32 of a ranking tournament, recording his final victory at the 1997 European Open, 5–4 over

Ian Glover Ian Glover (born 8 November 1978) is a former professional snooker player from Doncaster. He practises at the Jeff Cundy snooker centre in Scunthorpe and the Sheffield Star Snooker Academy. His practice partners are the club's owner Jeff Cundy, ...

. Without a ranking after the 1998–99 season, he played his final match in 2001 at the World Championship, losing 0–5 to Carl Stringer, and subsequently left the tour, concluding his professional career aged 73.

Personal life

Fitzmaurice died in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in January 2005, aged 76.

References

English snooker players 1928 births 2005 deaths People from Solihull Sportspeople from the West Midlands (county) {{England-snooker-bio-stub