TERRY GRIFFITHS LTD
TOWN HALL SQUARE, LLANELLI, CARMARTHENSHIRE SA15 3AA
Telephone: 01554 746686 Fax: 01554 746686

PRESS RELEASE - IMMEDIATE - 1200 20th May 1998
GRIFFITHS RUBBISHES FRAUD ALLEGATIONS
SMEAR CAMPAIGN - WHOSE GOT EGG ON THEIR FACE NOW!

Terry Griffiths is not and never has been investigated by the Fraud Squad - Official. A spokesman for Somerset and Avon Police said "We have had a meeting with the WPBSA and the result of that meeting is we are not investigating any matters and never have had an investigation."

EGM requsition

Fred Davis O.B.E. 1913-1998

It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Fred Davis on April 16 at his home in North Wales. Fred was the last link with the pre-war world of snooker. He was 12 years younger than his brother, the legendary Joe Davis and remained the only player to beat Joe on level terms, a feat he achieved four times. After Joe retired, Fred won the World title 8 times, saw snooker decline yet was still a goog enough player to compete with the best when the revival happened in the seventies. Indeed he was ranked as high as No.4 when the first world rankings were announced in 1976. Although he never reached another world final (other than the challenge matches of the mid '60s) he did reach the semi-final twice, 1969 and 1974, in pre Crucible days. He later won the hearts of millions of TV viewers when he reached the semis at the Crucible in 1978, losing 18-16 to Perrie Mans, just four months short of his 65th birthday. He continued to appear at the Crucible every year, except 1983 until his last match there, losing 10-4 to Bill Werbeniuk in 1984 at the age of 70. His record as the oldest to appear there is never likely to be beaten. He also returned to the game of billiards and won the world title in 1980 and 1981 the latter when he was 67, and became only the second player (Joe was the first) to capture both world titles. He always said he would never retire and continued for many years to enter the ranking tournaments. Lovers of the game were sad to see him losing match after match and sliding down the rankings. The influx of new professionals and the resulting arduous qualifying season at Blackpool began to prove too much. Finally in 1992 crippling arthritis was making it difficult for him to get round the table and he was forced to retire. He was, at the time, the oldest active professional sportsman in the world.

In 1977 he was honoured with the OBE for services to snooker and billiards.

Apart from anything else, he was such a charming man, loved and admired by all who met him and many millions who only new him from his appearances on television.

We will miss you Fred.

"Entry forms have been circulated for the BUSA (British Universities) Snooker Championhips at the University of Southampton from 20-22 Feb. 1998.

Centenial Billiards, Hamilton, Ontario Canada (Nov 2-9, 1997)
CAN$20,000 purse
First Place: CAN$8,000 + entry & expenses for the 1998/99 Professional Tournaments

Report

The "Americas Tour" is a series of events, sponsored by the WPBSA, to promote the game of snooker in North America. The first event featured a purse of more than CAN$35,000 and attracted 9 former Canadian Amateur Champions (Bear, Chaperon, Clouthier, Galati, Natale, Sobala, Stevens, John White and Wood) and 9 players who have competed on the professional circuit (Bob Chaperon (1990 British Open chapion), Kirk Stevens, Gary Natale, Jeff White, John White, Tony Bolahood, Mario Morra, Jim Bear and Ted Guierrieri).

Spectators at the event witnessed an impressive performance by Kirk Stevens to win the inaugural event over runner-up, Gary Natale. In addition to the prize money, Kirk and Gary have won an all expenses paid trip to the UK to compete in the 98/99 professional tournaments.

The next event will be in May 1998. It will also send the winner and runner-up to compete professionally next year. For more information on this event, or on "The Americas Tour", please contact Thorburn/Wych International, 1149 Treetop Terrace, Oakville, Ontario, L6M 3L3, (905) 469-8303 (phone & Fax).

Results

Kirk Stevens           7 - 4  Gary Natale

Semi-finals

Kirk Stevens           6 - 1  Eddie Galati
Gary Natale            6 - 4  Jeff White

Quarter-finals

Kirk Stevens           5 - 0  Kirk Clouthier
Eddie Galati           5 - 1  Jim Bear (BC)
Jeff White             5 - 4  Gary May
Gary Natale            5 - 0  Rodney Cuillerier (PQ)

Fourth round

Kirk Stevens           5 - 0  Chris Wood
Kirk Clouthier         5 - 0  Danny Glumicic
Jim Bear (BC)          5 - 2  Mario Morra
Eddie Galati           5 - 1  Vince Chambers
Jeff White             5 - 3  Bob Chaperon
Gary May               5 - 3  Ken Shea (NS)
Gary Natale            5 - 2  Kristal McLeod (NS)
Rodney Cuillerier (PQ) 5 - 4  Charlie Brown (BC)

Third round

Kirk Stevens           5 - 3  Vito Puopolo
Chris Wood             5 - 1  Allen Smart
Kirk Clouthier         5 - 0  Joe McDonald
Danny Glumicic         5 - 1  Mike Sobala
Jim Bear (BC)          5 - 1  Ted Guierrieri
Mario Morra            5 - 1  Jason Williams
Vince Chambers         5 - 3  John Pennington
Eddie Galati           5 - 3  Floyd Ziegler
Bob Chaperon           5 - 0  Richard Laflamme
Jeff White             5 - 1  Andre Roy (PQ)
Gary May               5 - 3  Tom Lee (BC)
Ken Shea (NS)          5 - 1  Andy Ashford
Gary Natale            5 - 1  Robert Checaloski
Kristal McLeod (NS)    5 - 2  Feroz Ali Khan (BC)
Rodney Cuillerier (PQ) 5 - 3  Jim Whittaker
Charlie Brown (BC)     5 - 2  Phil Snache

Second round

Kirk Stevens           5 - 2  Tom Weber
Vito Puopolo           5 - 1  Robert Spicer
Allen Smart            5 - 2  Stewart Eagles
Chris Wood             5 - 3  Bob Orend
Joe McDonald           5 - 1  Vincent Lieberman
Kirk Clouthier         5 - 1  Andrew Carpenter
Danny Glumicic         5 - 4  Paul Flemming
Mike Sobala            5 - 3  Darin Agner
Jim Bear (BC)          5 - 2  Charles Savage (BC)
Ted Guierrieri         5 - 1  Gord Jennings
Mario Morra            5 - 0  Robin Bass (w/o)
Jason Williams         5 - 3  Eriks Malderis
Vince Chambers         5 - 3  Ray Saunders
John Pennington        5 - 1  Bryan Gallagher
Floyd Ziegler          5 - 3  Derrick Claus
Eddie Galati           5 - 1  Joe Puliz
Richard Laflamme       5 - 4  Dave Gibson
Bob Chaperon           5 - 1  Jeff Martin
Jeff White             5 - 3  Jeff Kennedy (NB)
Andre Roy (PQ)         5 - 4  George Lemaich
Tom Lee (BC)           5 - 0  Kevin McDonald
Gary May               5 - 3  Peter Leone
Andy Ashford           5 - 0  Luke Roussy
Ken Shea (NS)          5 - 0  Tibor Sule (CA, USA)
Gary Natale            5 - 1  Bill Cooper
Robert Checaloski      5 - 4  Ray Jansen
Feroz Ali Khan (BC)    5 - 3  Marc Pilotte
Kristal McLeod (NS)    5 - 3  John White
Rodney Cuillerier (PQ) 5 - 0  Gerard Morrison
Jim Whittaker          5 - 0  George Radu
Charlie Brown (BC)     5 - 0  Neil Hunt
Phil Snache            5 - 0  Zoli Szucs 

First round

Kirk Stevens           5 - 0  Brian Lee (PQ)
Allen Smart            5 - 1  Danny Brodrick
Chris Wood             5 - 4  Dale Sweet
Andrew Carpenter       5 - 4  Andy Wong
Paul Flemming          5 - 4  Frederic Hebert (PQ)
Ted Guierrieri         5 - 4  Jay Heckbert
Jason Williams         5 - 4  Neil Hendry
Vince Chambers         5 - 2  Bruce Bordeleau (AB)
Floyd Ziegler          5 - 3  Greg Griffith
Eddie Galati           5 - 1  Don Chomiski
Dave Gibson            5 - 2  Brian Moulton (NS)
Jeff Kennedy (NB)      5 - 1  Doug Lappin
Peter Leone            5 - 4  Alex Araujo
Andy Ashford           5 - 1  Michael Bulbrook
Gary Natale            5 - 1  Joe Silva
Robert Checaloski      5 - 3  Chas Rowden
John White             5 - 0  Doug Swan
Gerard Morrison        5 - 3  Tony Bolahood
Charlie Brown (BC)     5 - 2  James Tupper

Here are the provisional rankings after the conclusion of the Grand Prix:

The tournament comprises the team championship and plate, and individual championship and plate.

The WPBSA are introducing a number of changes for the 1997/98 snooker season. First of all they are reducing the number of ranking tournaments from ten to eight. This means that the Thailand Classic and the European Open are out.

The tournament comprises the team championship and plate, and individual championship and plate.

To be played in Quality Hotel, New Plymouth, New Zealand, Nov 15-30, 1996.

Delegates to IBSF AGM not listed as suggested by previous title.

As at 18/10/96:

Paul Jelly, Scotland, SBSA, withdrawn

Opportunity provided to Scotland's SSA to enter a 2nd player.

If no entry NZ's Colin Cameron (reserve) will be included.

Draw will be completed and advised by 21/10/96.

Information provided by:

Participating Players

Countries         Players							
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria	          Bill Meddah
Australia	  Stan Gorski	         Andrew Hicks			
Austria	          Robert Burda	
Belgium	          Bjorn Haneveer	 Steve Lemmens			
Brunei Darussalam Zaini HJ Abdul Rahman	 Kamarulzaman Pungut			
Canada	          Ben Reicker		 Ray Saunders
China	          Guo Hua		 Zhou Jun			
Denmark	          Allan Norvark	         Rune Kampe			
Egypt	          Wael A Talaat		 Hirham S Bakhaty			
England	          Stuart Bingham	 Paul Morgan			
Fiji		  John Lum		 Suman Lal			
Finland		  Risto Vayrynen	 Kimmo Lang			
		& Markku Hamalainen			
France		  Eric Lepaul	 	 Yannick Poulain			
Germany		  Mario Burot		 Thomas Schweser			
Hong Kong	  Jeff Hon Kee Ho	 Wai Tat Chan			
		& Kwok Ming Chan			
Hungary	          Ede Dunai		 Zoltan Kojsza			
Iceland		  Kristjan Helgason	 Johannes Johannesson			
India	          Siddharth Rao		 Sarang Shroff			
Indonesia	  Sayumin Teng           William Ipainen			
Isle of Man	  William Kennish	
Kuwait		  Adil A Ebul		 Walid A Al Hatem			
Latvia		  Vladimir Sinitsin	
Malaysia	  Tin Sam Chong		 
Malta		  Paul Mifsud		
Netherlands	  Raymon Fabrie		 Barry de Haas			
New Zealand	  Chris McBreen		 Harry Haenga			
		  Steve Robertson	 Daniel Haenga			
		  Richard Muhlauer	 Geoff Andrews			
		  Henry Killian		 Barry Moore			
		  Gary Gillard		 Ben Farnworth			
		  Dave Witehira		 
Northern Ireland  Joe Meara		 Brian Fufco			
Pakistan	  Saleh Mohammad	 Mohammad Yusuf			
Papua New Guinea  Chris Schulz		 Peter Fong			
Philippines	  Marlon Manalo		 Joven Alba			
Rep of Ireland	  Joseph Canny		 Billy O'Neill			
Scotland SBSA	  Paul Jelly (withdrawn)	
Scotland SSA	  Stephen Maguire
Singapore	  Ricky Chew Kok Hwa	 Clive Cheong Kwok Seng			
South Africa	  Hitesh Naran           Warren Horsley			
Sri Lanka	  Susantha Boteju	 MSM Naufer			
Sweden		  Kevin Zarakani	 Mattias Wiberg			
Switzerland	  Piotr Kruz		 Falk Hollenwaeger			
Thailand	  Sakchai Sim-ngam	 Amnuayporn Chotipong			
		  Anan Terananon			
U. Arab Emirates  Obaid Khamis		 M Sultan Al Joker			
Wales	          David Bell		 Elfed Evans			
Zimbabwe	  Charles Irwin		 Bruce Mawa			

Total Players             	88	
Total # Countries               41				

1996-97 BUSA (British Universities) Snooker Championships

Preliminary information on the Championships will be circulated to college Athletic Unions within the next fortnight. Snooker or pool players in those institutions which do not possess snooker or pool clubs should contact their AU President about entering a team in the Championship.

The British University Games Snooker Championship (formerly Home Nations Championship) will be staged at Glasgow University Union, on 21st and 22nd March 1997.

1996-97 BUSA Snooker Championships

(Players are English unless stated)