Ian Anderson (born 2 April 1946) is an Australian former professional

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

player. He is the former president of the

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

Career

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

Perrie Mans Pierre "Perrie" Mans (25 October 1940 – 13 September 2023) was a South African professional snooker player. He first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965 and lifted the title 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters ...

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 an English retired professional billiards and snooker player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break in snooker, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams ...

, and in 1976, he lost 5–8 to

Jackie Rea John Joseph Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013), better known as Jackie Rea was a Northern Irish snooker player. He turned professional in 1947 and was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins and held the Iris ...

. 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, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

, 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 Raymond Reardon (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to h ...

70–48 and incumbent World Champion

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...

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 The tournament is the brainchild of schoolteacher David Inglis. The Australian Masters was intended to ...

, 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 – 7 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning e ...

in the

Australian Professional Championship The Australian Professional Snooker 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 bas ...

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

Cliff Wilson Clifford Wilson (10 May 1934 – 21 May 1994) was a Welsh people, Welsh professional snooker player who reached his highest Snooker world rankings, ranking of 16 in Snooker world rankings 1988/1989, 1988–89. He was the 1978 IBSF World Snooke ...

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

External links

Australian snooker players 1946 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Cue sports people from Melbourne {{Australia-sport-bio-stub