20 Facts About Tom Reece

Tom Reece was an English professional player of English billiards.

Tom Reece was six times runner-up in the professional billiards championship, now regarded as the world championship, losing three times to Melbourne Inman in finals from 1912 to 1914, and three times to Tom Newman in the 1921,1924 and 1925 finals.

Tom Reece made the unofficial world's highest billiards of 499,135 in 1907 using a technique shortly before it was banned from the sport.

Tom Reece authored two books, Dainty Billiards: How to play the close cannon game, and his autobiography Cannons and Big Guns.

Tom Reece used to visit a gymnasium to train for swimming and at the age of 16 started playing billiards on the gymnasium's table.

Tom Reece accompanied Annette Kellermann on a section of her unsuccessful attempt to swim across the English Channel in 1905, being the only one of several supporters who was able to keep pace with her, and had ambitions to swim the channel himself.

Tom Reece compiled an unfinished break of 40,001, with the match being abandoned.

Tom Reece's opponent was Chapman, who received a start of 50,000 and scored 926 before Reece commenced his break.

Tom Reece managed to get the balls in position for cradle cannons after scoring 825 points, and was in play for 85 hours and 49 minutes for his break, averaging 97 points a minute.

In 1912, with Stevenson not participating, Inman and Tom Reece played for the professional billiards title.

Tom Reece next played in a match to decide the professional title in 1921.

In 1922, Tom Reece lost by 711 to Claude Falkiner in the semi-final after having led by 1,441.

Tom Reece scored 568 consecutive cannons which prompted the Billiards Association and Control Club to prohibit the pendulum cannon in the rules.

Tom Reece said that snooker was "a splendid game for navvies in their lunch hour, the sort of game you play in corduroys and clogs".

In conversation with George Nelson of the Yorkshire Evening Post, reported in the paper in 1941, Tom Reece spoke about his record break.

Tom Reece says that the manufacturing firm Burroughes and Watts told him that they would only pay out for a break "the size of which will stop all further attempts at records", to which he replied that he would need an opponent and a venue for a month.

Tom Reece then arranged for the match of 500,000 up between Reece and Chapman at their Burroughes Hall.

Tom Reece said that as the balls were not moved, he was careful about not overusing, as the table could not have been cleaned, and made the last 400,000 points without chalking his.

Tom Reece married Laura Lydia Williams on the morning of 6 June 1908, before continuing a match against John Roberts Jr that afternoon.

Tom Reece died on 16 October 1953, a week after suffering a stroke, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 20 October.