John Hargreaves (snooker player)

{{Infobox snooker player

| name = John Hargreaves

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1945|12|2}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age |2024|03|27 |1945|12|2 |df=yes}}

| death_place = Stoke-on-Trent

| Sport country = {{ENG}}

| Professional = 1983–1988

| High ranking = 92 (1986/1987)

| Official maximums =

| Best finish =

| World champ =

}}

John Hargreaves (2 December 1945 – 27 March 2024){{cite book |last=Hale |first=Janice |date=1987 |title=Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987–88 |location=Aylesbury |publisher=Queen Anne Press |pages=82–83 |isbn=0356146901 }} was an English professional snooker player.

Snooker career

As an amateur, he won the 1981 Pontins Spring Open, beating Cliff Wilson 7–2 in the final.{{cite web|title=Brief History of the Pontins Open and Professional|url=http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pontins.html|publisher=Chris Turner's Snooker Archive|accessdate=29 March 2020|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228200841/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pontins.html|archivedate=28 February 2012}}

Hargreaves turned professional in 1983. He was beaten in his first matches in the qualifying rounds of the 1983 Professional Players Tournament (0–5 by Mario Morra), the 1983 UK Championship (4–9 by Ian Williamson and the 1984 World Snooker Championship (5–10 to Eddie McLaughlin. He did however record wins over Warren King (5–3) and Billy Kelly (5–4) in the qualifying rounds of the 1984 Classic before losing 1–5 to Mark Wildman in the third qualifying round.{{cite book |last1=Hayton |first1=Eric |last2=Dee |first2=John |date=2004 |title=The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History |publisher=Rose Villa Publications |pages=501–502 |isbn=978-0954854904 }} Having failed to gain any ranking points, we was unranked in the snooker world rankings 1984/1985.{{cite magazine |author= |title=How they stand: official world rankings 1984 |magazine=Snooker Scene |pages=18–19 |publisher=Everton's News Agency |issue=June 1984 }}

Following the 1984–85 snooker season, during which he did not progress beyond the qualifying rounds of any tournament, Hargreaves was the lowest ranked of 102 players in the Snooker world rankings 1985/1986.{{cite book |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=1985 |title=Guinness Snooker – The Records |publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd |pages=14–15 |isbn=0851124488 }} Despite again failing to get past the qualifying rounds during the 1985–86 snooker season, Hargreaves improved his ranking to 92nd, a career high.{{cite book |last=Kobylecky |first=John |date=2019 |title=The Complete International Directory of Snooker Players – 1927 to 2018 |publisher=Kobyhadrian Books |page=97 |isbn=978-0993143311 }}

He again failed to reach the final stages of any tournament in the 1986–87 snooker season, and in the 1987–88 snooker season played only one match, losing 4–5 to Morra in the first qualifying round of the 1987 International Open. It was to be his last professional tournament appearance.

During the 2023-24 season, having not played competitively for thirty-six years, Hargreaves entered two amateur events; in the first, at the Cueball in Derby in January 2024, he lost 0–3 to Daniel Bagley{{Cite web|url=https://snookerscores.net/player/john-hargreaves/tournament-matches/202324-open-series-cueball-derby-3|title=WPBSA SnookerScores - Player John Hargreaves's matches in the 2023/24 Open Series - Cueball Derby 3|first=World Professional Billiards and Snooker|last=Association|website=snookerscores.net}} and in the second, at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall in late February, he took the first frame against Luke Newman but lost the match 1–3.{{Cite web|url=https://snookerscores.net/player/john-hargreaves/tournament-matches/202324-epsb-open-series-landywood-sc-4|title=WPBSA SnookerScores - Player John Hargreaves's matches in the 2023/24 EPSB Open Series - Landywood SC 4|first=World Professional Billiards and Snooker|last=Association|website=snookerscores.net}}

On 27 March 2024, a month after his final competitive match, Hargreaves died at the age of 78 in Stoke-on-Trent.{{cite web |title=53 death notices in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire this week |first=Rachel |last=Alexander |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/53-death-notices-stoke-trent-9208240 |website=Stoke Sentinel |date=7 April 2024 |access-date=7 April 2024 |archive-date=7 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407081143/https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/53-death-notices-stoke-trent-9208240 |url-status=live }}