Joe Grech (; 9 July 1954 – 21 August 2021) was a Maltese

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 ...

and

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

player. A professional snooker player for various years from 1988 to 2000, he won the

IBSF World Billiards Championship The IBSF World Billiards Championship (previously known as the World Amateur Billiards Championship) is the premier, international, non-professional tournament for the game of English billiards. Dating to some form to 1951, the event has been san ...

in 1997. First competing as an amateur in the 1979s, he competed in amateur and professional snooker and billiards championships in a career spanning nearly 40 years. He won the Maltese English Billiards Championship on 21 occasions including 13 successive titles from 2003 to 2015. Grech was born in

Ħamrun Hamrun ( ) is a town in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014. The people The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who ca ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. As an amateur, he also won the Maltese Snooker Championship six times and the men's EBSA European Team Championship twice. He represented the St. Joseph Band Club in local competitions. The Maltese Olympic Committee inducted Grech in its Hall of Fame in 2017.

Career

Grech competed at the 1978 World Amateur Snooker Championship, which was his first-ever appearance in an international snooker competition, subsequently losing 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 ...

in the quarter-finals. The event was played in Malta, the match being particularly notable for a large crowd of Maltese fans that were in attendance. Trailing 0–4, Wilson won four frames but lost the deciding frame in a match that Wilson said he would "always remember". Grech won his first Maltese Billiards Championship in 1978 by defeating Paul Mifsud in the final by 2307 to 1856, points despite Mifsud having a healthy lead in the first session. He won his first in 1980 when he defeated Paul Mifsud in a tight match 7–6. He defended his national title the following year, defeating Albert Mangion 7–1 in the final. However, he lost the next two Malta Snooker Championship finals in 1982 and 1983 to Mifsud. He reached the semi-finals at the World Amateur Snooker Championship in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and 1985. A third national title was won at the 1987 Malta Snooker Championship by defeating Alex Borg in the final. At the World Amateur Snooker Championship in 1987, Grech reached his first final, losing to

Darren Morgan Darren Morgan (born 3 May 1966) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who now competes as an amateur and is considered amongst the best in the world. Morgan won the World Amateur Championship in 1987 and played on the professional m ...

. Reaching the final of the World Amateur Billiards Championship in 1987, Grech lost to India's

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 professi ...

. Grech registered forty-two during the course of the tournament. His first professional tournament was the 1989 World Snooker Championship. He received generous support from the Zmerc Pub and English snooker player Carm Zerafa who financially assisted him to compete in professional tournaments. Grech reached the round of 16 of the

1989 Dubai Classic The 1989 Dubai Duty Free Classic was a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament that took place from 27 October to 3 November 1989 at the Al Nasr Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Stephen Hendry won the tournament, de ...

but was defeated by

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 ...

. Grech was given a place at the Malta Grand Prix, where he lost to fellow countryman

Tony Drago Tony Drago ( ; born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 ...

in the quarter-finals of the 1996 event. With the World Snooker Tour allowing only the top 64 players to retain a spot on the professional tour for 1997, Grech lost his place playing in the qualification events and UK Tour. At the 1997

, Grech defeated India's Ashok Shandilya by 2895 to 2836 to win his only World Championship. In the same year, he reached quarter-finals at the

EBSA European Snooker Championship The EBSA European Snooker Championship is the premier amateur snooker tournament in Europe. The event series is sanctioned by the European Billiards and Snooker Association. It first took place in 1988 and has been held annually since 1993. In most ...

, losing 2-5 to Graham Horne. At the 1997 Malta Grand Prix, he lost to

Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...

in the quarter-finals. He teamed up with Alex Borg to win the 1997 European Continental Team Cup, Malta's first victory. Grech reached the semi-final of the World Amateur Snooker Championship in 1998, losing 7-8 to Ryan Day. He returned to the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of about 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. It is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, ...

the same year, losing to

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, ag ...

in the quarter-final of the 1998 Malta Grand Prix. He again became national champion for two successive years in 1999 and 2000 at the Malta Snooker Championship. He collaborated with Alex Borg again to win the in 1999 and 2000. Alongside Alex Borg and Somin Zammitt, Grech won the EBSA European Team Championship for a third time in 2005. Grech also reached quarter-finals at the 2005 World Billiards Championship after defeating his compatriot Paul Mifsud in the last 16. At the 2005 Malta Cup, he lost to

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...

in the wildcard round and was eliminated from the competition. He lost to

Mark Allen Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

in the wildcard round at the 2006 Malta Cup. He also emerged as the winner of the Snooker Open ranking tournament in 2006 organised by the Malta Billiards and Snooker Association. After leaving the professional Tour, Grech competed as a senior. He received a wild card entry to participate at the

2007 Malta Cup The 2007 Malta Cup was the 2007 edition of the Malta Cup snooker tournament, held from 28 January to 4 February 2007 at the Hilton Conference Center in Portomaso, Malta. The tournament was the fourth of seven World Professional Billiards and ...

but was knocked out by

David Roe David Roe (born 11 September 1965) is a former English professional snooker player, and a four-time ranking tournament quarter-finalist. Career Roe was born on 11 September 1965 in Derby. He began his professional career for the 1986–87 sno ...

of England. He was a part of the team which won the EBSA European Team Championship seniors tournament in 2011. Grech died on 21 August 2021, aged 66.

Honours

Grech was awarded the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika in 1997 after becoming the world champion. He won the Maltese English Billiards Championship on 13 consecutive occasions from 2003 to 2015. In 2017, Grech was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Malta Olympic Committee, the second billiards player after Paul Mifsud.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grech, Joe 1954 births 2021 deaths Maltese players of English billiards Maltese snooker players People from Ħamrun Recipients of Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika