Eugene Hughes (born 4 November 1955 in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

) is an Irish 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. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, 1986 and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

he was a member of the successful all-Irish team in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, alongside

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 ...

and

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He turned professional in 1972 and won the 1985 World Snooker Championship, in which he lost the first eight frames of 1985 W ...

Career

Hughes was born on 4 November 1955 in

. He won the national under-19 English billiards and snooker titles in 1975, and later won the senior national titles four times in each discipline. He recorded a new championship record break at the 1980 World Amateur Snooker Championship. He turned professional in 1981. He reached his highest professional world ranking of 20 in the Snooker world rankings 1986/1987. In

, 1986 and

he was a member of the successful all-Irish team in the

, alongside

and

. He reached two ranking semi-finals: the 1984 International Open and the 1986 International Open. He qualified for the World Championship five times, including three successive years from 1985 to 1987, reaching the second round in 1986, beating David Taylor at the Crucible and losing to reigning champion Joe Johnson 9–10 in 1987. He reached (and lost) six Irish Professional Championship semi-finals between 1982 and 1989. Hughes ended the 1996–97 snooker season ranked 169th, which meant he lost his status as a professional, as only the top 64 players qualified. He remained active in

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 ...

, winning the Irish title for the eighth time in 2009.

Personal life

After himself relocating to England, Hughes allowed his compatriot and fellow-snooker player Stephen Murphy live in his house when Murphy first moved to England to pursue his snooker career. The pair practised together at Ilford Snooker Club. A football fan, he is a supporter of Manchester United.

Career finals

Team finals: 3 (3 titles)

Career team final details are shown below.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Eugene Living people 1955 births Irish snooker players Sportspeople from County Carlow