Desmond Rex Williams was born on 20 July 1933 and is an English retired professional billiards and snooker player.
32 Facts About Rex Williams
1.
2.
Rex Williams was the second player to make an official maximum break in snooker, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965.
3.
Rex Williams retained the title in several challenge matches in the 1970s and, after losing it to Fred Davis in 1980, regained it from 1982 to 1983.
4.
Rex Williams played a leading role in the re-establishment of the World Snooker Championship on a challenge basis in 1964, and lost twice to John Pulman, once in a single match and once in a series of matches played in South Africa.
5.
Rex Williams chaired the association, barring a few weeks in 1983, until 1987, and again from 1997 to 1999.
6.
Rex Williams was a successful junior player in both snooker and billiards, and became a professional in 1951 at the age of 18.
7.
Rex Williams started playing on a full-size billiard table at the age of 13 on a table installed at his father's printing works, and was coached by Kingsley Kennerley.
8.
Rex Williams won the Midlands Boys Titles in both billiards and snooker.
9.
Rex Williams won the 1951 National Under-19 Championships at both snooker and billiards.
10.
Rex Williams turned professional in 1951 at the age of 18, and entered the 1952 World Professional Match-play Championship.
11.
Rex Williams met Alec Brown in the first round in a match over 61 frames played from 17 to 22 December 1951 at Darlaston, Staffordshire.
12.
Rex Williams made his debut at Leicester Square Hall in early 1952, playing John Pulman in an exhibition match on level terms.
13.
Rex Williams met Kingsley Kennerley in the first qualifying round for the World Championship.
14.
Albert Brown was ill for two of his matches in the News of the World Tournament and Rex Williams played Fred Davis in a three-day exhibition match, in place of the planned second contest.
15.
In March 1953, Rex Williams played Joe Davis in an exhibition match.
16.
Rex Williams was then ill and the match was rearranged for a later date.
17.
Rex Williams was one of the four competitors, along with Fred Davis, John Pulman and Jackie Rea.
18.
Rex Williams was instrumental in the revival of the World Snooker Championship in 1964, obtaining sanction for the competition after taking the Billiards Association and Control Council chairman Harold Phillips out to lunch.
19.
In one of these matches in East London in the Eastern Cape, Rex Williams made a break of 142, breaking the World Championship record of 136 set by Joe Davis in 1946.
20.
In December 1965, during an exhibition match in Cape Town against Mannie Francisco, Rex Williams followed Joe Davis as the second man to make a recognised 147 break.
21.
In 1967, Rex Williams and Fred Davis played a 51 match series that was billed as the World Open Matchplay Snooker Challenge, even though no other entries were solicited.
22.
Rex Williams won the World Professional Billiards Championship seven times from 1968 to 1983, including a reign as champion from 1968 to 1980.
23.
In 1968, Rex Williams was on a trip to Australia, and decided to travel to Auckland in New Zealand to play the reigning champion Clark McConachy for the billiards title, which had not been contested since McConachy's 1951 win.
24.
Rex Williams won the 1979 UK Championship, which was the first time the event had been held since Fred Davis won in 1951.
25.
Rex Williams lost the world title to Fred Davis in May 1980.
26.
The championship then reverted to a knockout format, and was held in November 1980, with Rex Williams losing to Mark Wildman in the semi-final.
27.
Unhappy at not being allowed to use a practice table near another match at the 1983 tournament, Rex Williams had left the venue and returned late for his semi-final against Ray Edmonds, causing the match to start 48 minutes late.
28.
Rex Williams continued as chairman until 1987, and took the role again from 1997 to 1999.
29.
Rex Williams never won a World Championship match at the Crucible Theatre after it became the World Snooker Championship's venue in 1977, despite playing at the venue on eight occasions.
30.
Rex Williams founded a cue-making company, Power Glide Cues, and in 1975 established Rex Williams Leisure, a snooker and pool table manufacturing and hire business.
31.
Rex Williams was a commentator for snooker television broadcasts for the BBC from 1978 to 1984, and after that for ITV.
32.
Rex Williams was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to snooker and billiards.