Jon Wright (born 10 August 1962) is an English 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.

Career

Jon Wright was born on 10 August 1962 in London. In 1984 he entered two

WPBSA The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...

Pro Ticket events; he reached the final at Event One, losing 4–5 to David Roe, but won Event Two, defeating Roe 5–1. Wright twice represented England in the World Amateur Snooker Championship (

198 __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 fo ...

4 & 1985), reaching the semi-final in 1984. During this period he was a regular winner on the lucrative Pro-Am circuit and was known as a prolific break builder. He did not turn professional until 1986, but in his first season on the main tour, performed well, making a break of 123 - the highest of his career - in a 9–7 win over Martin Smith en route to the last-64 of the 1986 UK Championship. There, he lost 1–9 to the incumbent World Champion, Joe Johnson. In the 1987

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

, Wright recovered from 2–4 behind to beat Eugene Hughes 5–4 but, having reached the last 32, lost 1–5 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 ...

. At the 1987 World Championship, he overcame Pat Houlihan, Paddy Browne,

Mark Wildman Markham Wildman (25 January 1936 – 18 November 2024) was a billiards and snooker player and cue sports commentator from Peterborough, England. He won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1984 and was runner up in 1980 and 1982 ...

and

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 ...

- whitewashing Wildman 10–0 - to qualify for the first round proper at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

. Drawn against

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 ...

, Wright led 4–2 but eventually succumbed 6–10. His results were sufficient for him to finish the season ranked 53rd. The 1987/1988 season brought no real progress for Wright, as he lost in the last-64 in the International Open, the Grand Prix and the Classic, beaten 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 C ...

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...

and Tony Knowles respectively, although he came within one round of a second successive Crucible appearance, losing 4–10 to Hendry in qualifying for the World Championship. The following season heralded a quarter-final appearance in a WPBSA non-ranking event, where Wright lost 3–5 to David Taylor, and progress to the last 32 in the 1988 Classic, where he followed victories over veterans Geoff Foulds and

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 ...

with a 2–5 defeat to young

John Parrott John Stephen Parrott (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player who won the 1991 World Snooker Championship. He came to prominence in the mid to late 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for 14 ...

. Following his first-round loss to Duncan Campbell in the 1989 World Snooker Championship, he slipped out of the top 64 in the rankings, finishing the season 67th. However, better form was to come in the 1990 Grand Prix, where he beat Eric Lawlor and Craig Edwards before losing 2–5, again to Hendry. He experienced defeats at the same stage of the Grand Prix and the Classic the following year - 5–0 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 ...

and by the same scoreline to Danny Fowler. He again came close to a Crucible return in the 1992 World Championship. There, he beat Lawlor 10–7, Williams 10–2 and Jason Whittaker 10–6 to reach the final qualifying round, but lost 3–10 to Bob Chaperon. 1992/1993 would be Wright's final season as a professional; he lost to Darren Morgan in the last 64 at the 1993 European Open, but thereafter did not play another match. In September 1992, he was found guilty of "conduct unbecoming a professional sportsman" during a 3–5 qualifying defeat to Allison Fisher in the Dubai Classic, and suspended for the rest of the season. He was relegated from the tour in 1993.

After professional snooker

After his professional career ended, Wright played amateur snooker in local leagues around the

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

area. His

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

bio and number plate reference his nickname "Giro Jon". A keen sports fan Jon enjoys watching

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

Darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

as well as

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Jon English snooker players 1962 births Living people