Ray Edmonds
{{short description|English billiards & snooker player (born 1936)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox snooker player
|name = Ray Edmonds
|image =
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|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|4|25|df=y}}
|birth_place = Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
|death_date =
|death_place =
|Sport country = {{ENG}}
|Professional = 1978–1995
|High ranking = 28 (1980–1982)
|Official maximums =
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}}
Earnest Raymond Edmonds (born 25 April 1936 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire), better known as Ray Edmonds, is a former English professional player of English billiards and snooker.{{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 |location=Lowestoft |isbn=9780954854904 |pages=395–396}} He twice won the World Amateur Snooker title, and won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1985.
Playing career
Edmonds first played snooker as an amateur, winning the World Amateur crown in 1972 and 1974.{{Cite web |url=http://www.resc.co.uk/about%20us.html |title=About Us – Ray Edmonds Snooker Centre |access-date=2 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211037/http://www.resc.co.uk/about%20us.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} After turning professional he reached the main stages World Snooker Championship on four occasions, in 1980, 1981, 1985 and 1986, on each occasion losing in the first round.For 1980 performance: {{cite web|url=http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1980.asp|title=World Championship 1980|publisher=Global Snooker|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309055856/http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1980.asp|archivedate=9 March 2011}} For 1981 performance: {{cite web|url=http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1981.asp|title=World Championship 1981|publisher=Global Snooker|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228165845/http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1981.asp|archivedate=28 December 2010}} For 1985 performance: {{cite web|url=http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1985.asp|title=World Championship 1985|publisher=Global Snooker|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306014440/http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1985.asp|archivedate=6 March 2012}} For 1986 performance: {{cite web|url=http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1985.asp|title=World Championship 1986|publisher=Global Snooker|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306014440/http://www.global-snooker.com/professional-snooker-tournaments-archive-world-championship-1985.asp|archivedate=6 March 2012}} He was as a semi-finalist at the 1981 English Professional Championship, and runner-up in the invitational 1982 Bass and Golden Leisure Classic.{{cite magazine |magazine=Cue World |title=£750 Golden Leisure for Rex |page=17 |date=July 1982}}
Edmonds became World Professional Billiards Champion in 1985.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jack-karnehm-650000.html |title=Jack Karnehm – Obituaries {{!}} Independent |website=Independent.co.uk |access-date=10 September 2017 |archive-date=12 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312010437/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jack-karnehm-650000.html |url-status=dead }} At the 1988 Grand Prix (snooker), he reached the last-16 round.{{cite web|title=Grand Prix|url=http://www.snookerscene.co.uk/page.php?id=21|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124071643/http://www.snookerscene.co.uk/page.php?id=21|archivedate=24 January 2013|publisher=Snooker Scene|accessdate=29 November 2017}}
In the qualifying competition for the 1994 World Snooker Championship, he lost 3–5 to Surinder Gill, and the following year he lost 4–5 to Darren Limburg.{{cite book |last=Kobylecky |first=John |date=2019 |title=The Complete International Directory of Snooker Players – 1927 to 2018 |publisher=Kobyhadrian Books |isbn=9780993143311 |page=69 }} In 1995, he resigned from the board of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association after serving on it for 14 years.{{cite magazine |title=Edmonds resigns from WPBSA board |magazine=Snooker Scene |date=May 1995 |page=4}}
Post-retirement
Edmonds set up the Ray Edmonds Snooker Centre in Grimsby in December 1983. He also worked as a snooker commentator with both ITV and the BBC until retiring in 2004.
References
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Category:Sportspeople from Grimsby
Category:English players of English billiards
Category:English snooker players
Category:World champions in English billiards
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