Markham Wildman (born 25 January 1936) is an English retired professional snooker 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 ...

player and cue sports commentator. He won the

World Professional Billiards Championship The World Billiards Championship is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards, organised by World Billiards, a subsidiary of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). In its various forms ...

in 1984, and was runner up in 1980 and 1982. He made a televised snooker

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

in 1960.

Biography

Wildman was born on 25 January 1936. He was the British under-16 champion of

in 1951, and the British under-19 winner in 1952 and 1953. He was also the 1952 British Boys Champion in snooker, and British Junior snooker champion in 1954. In 1968, he won the English Amateur Billiards Championship by defeating

Clive Everton Clive Harold Everton (born 7 September 1937) is a sports commentator, journalist, author and former professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded '' Snooker Scene'' magazine, which was first published (as ''World Snooker'') i ...

2,652–2,540 in the final. Following his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, Wildman worked in finance, and was later an area manager for

United Dominions Trust Black Horse Limited is a motor finance company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in July 2001, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, but its origins can be traced back to 1922. The business should not to be confused wit ...

. In 1960, he compiled a televised snooker

. He applied to become a professional player in 1979, and was initially rejected by 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 ...

(WPBSA), before being accepted later that year. In his first match as a professional, he lost 7–9 to

Frank Jonik Francis "Frank" Jonik (2 December 1957 – 31 March 2019) was a Canadians, Canadian professional snooker player. Career Born in 1957, Jonik first played competitive snooker in 1978 at the Canadian Professional Championship, and turned professio ...

in the qualifying competition for the 1980 World Snooker Championship. He reached the final of the 1980

by defeating

Bernard Bennett Bernard Bennett (31 August 1931 – 12 January 2002) was an English former professional player of snooker and English billiards, whose career spanned twenty-six years between 1969 and 1995. Bennett was a stalwart of professional snooker and ...

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

Ray Edmonds Ray Edmonds (born 25 April 1936 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) is a former English professional player of English billiards and snooker. He twice won the World Amateur Snooker title, and won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1985. Pla ...

, and was runner-up to Fred Davis with a scoreline of 2,064–3,037. In the 1982 World Billiards Championship, he was runner-up to Williams. The 1984 UK Open Billiards Championship was his first major title win as a professional, secured when he defeated Davis 1,500–1,032 in the final. During the semi-final, against Williams, he recorded a break of 495, his highest. He won the Professional Billiards title in 1984, narrowly defeating Charlton 1,045–1,012 in the five-hour final. He defeated three top-16 players,

John Virgo John Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English former professional snooker player who has since developed a career as a snooker commentator and TV personality. Snooker career Early professional career (1973–1978) Virgo's first notable appea ...

Silvino Francisco Silvino Francisco (born 3 May 1946) is a South African former professional snooker player, most notable for winning the 1985 British Open. Snooker career Francisco comes from a snooker-playing family. His brother Manuel and nephew Peter both ...

, and Charlton, to reach the semi-finals of the 1984 Lada Classic, where he was eliminated 3–5 by

Tony Meo Anthony Christian Meo (born 4 October 1959) is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles Cham ...

, and lost 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 ...

, 8–10, in the first round of the 1984 World Snooker Championship. He retired from professional snooker in 1991, but continued to play professional billiards for several years. The highest ranking position he attained was 21st, in the 1984–85 snooker world rankings. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Wildman was a snooker commentator for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

until snooker was dropped by the channel in 1993. He was a WPBSA director from 1984 to 1991, and for another term ending in 1997. From September 1999 to 4 December 2001 he served as WPBSA Chairman, then had a further term on the board from 17 December 2001 until September 2002.

Career finals (English billiards)

These World Professional Billiards Championships were held on a knockout basis, organised by the WPBSA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildman, Mark 1936 births Living people English players of English billiards English snooker players Snooker writers and broadcasters Snooker coaches, managers and promoters Pool writers and broadcasters World champions in English billiards