John Norman Bear (8 August 1944 – 17 March 2007) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 Kinistino,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

in 1944, Bear spent much of his childhood was spent in

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within ...

where he learned how to play pool as a child and became a hustler. In 1979, he turned professional, entering his first tournament at the

1979 Canadian Open The 1979 Canadian Open was the sixth edition of the snooker tournament the Canadian Open, which took place in September 1979. Cliff Thorburn won the title for the fourth time, beating Terry Griffiths 17–16 in the final. __TOC__ Summary The ...

, where he beat Bernie Mikkelsen 5–3 before losing in the second round 7–9 to the young Englishman Joe Johnson. He beat Mikkelsen again in the Canadian Professional Championship of that year by 9 frames to 4, having at one stage led 7–0, but lost his semi-final match 3–9 to

Cliff Thorburn Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...

. Bear's first attempt at the

World Championship 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, ...

resulted in a 5–9 loss in the last 48 to fellow countryman

Jim Wych Jim Wych (born 11 January 1955 in Calgary) is a Canadian sports announcer and former professional snooker and pocket billiards player. He turned professional in 1979 and reached the quarter-final of the 1980 World Snooker Championship in his debut ...

. The following season, Bear entered only the Canadian Open, defeating R. Tammett 9–4 before exiting at the last 16 stage, 4–9 to

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champion ...

. He recorded a 118 break, the highest of his career and first of only two competitive centuries, in his win over Tammett. The 1981–82 season was similar, but this time, Bear's only event was the 1982 World Championship. Fellow Canadians

Bill Werbeniuk William Alexander Werbeniuk ( ; 14 January 1947 – 20 January 2003) was a Canadian professional snooker and pool player. Recognisable for his girth, he was nicknamed "Big Bill". Werbeniuk was a four-time World Championship quarter-finalist and ...

and

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 ...

were among the world's top players at this time, and Bear faced two matches in order to play alongside them at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's m ...

. His first was a 9–4 defeat of Frank Jonik, and in the second, he was victorious by the same scoreline over Wych, securing himself a meeting with Werbeniuk in the last 32. Having held Werbeniuk to 2–4 and later recovered from 2–7 to 6–8, Bear eventually lost the match 7–10. Uniquely, each of his three matches in 1982 were between two Canadian players. He did not progress to the main stages of the World Championship again. The only tournament Bear entered the following season was the 1983 World Championship; here, he was unable to repeat his feats of the previous year, losing at the first attempt 7–10 to Paul Medati. In the 1983 Canadian Professional Championship, Bear was defeated 5–9 in the quarter-finals by his brother Jim; the final event he entered as a professional was the 1985 edition, where he beat

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. ...

5–4 before losing 3–6 to Wych. Well-respected in his local community and in the world of pool, Bear died on 17 March 2007 at

Royal Jubilee Hospital Royal Jubilee Hospital is a 500-bed general hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada located about east of the city centre, in the Jubilee neighbourhood (itself named after the hospital). Overview Its name commemorates the Golden Jubilee o ...

, aged 62.

Career finals

Amateur finals: 1

External links

John Bear
at ''CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database''

References

1944 births 2007 deaths Canadian snooker players Sportspeople from Saskatchewan {{snooker-bio-stub