Ken Owers (born 30 March 1953) is an English former professional snooker player. He played professionally from 1986 to 1997, and won the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's Non-ranking Event 2 in 1989.
Ken Owers was born on 30 March 1953. He started playing snooker when he was 11 and applied to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to be a professional player in 1985, but was rejected. The following year, he won the Working Men's Club and Institute Union Snooker Championship, regarded as the second-most prestigious amateur snooker event in the UK, behind the English Amateur Championship. Ower and his playing partner Steve Meakin reached the final of the 1986 National Pairs Championship but they were defeated by P. Fryat and A. Durham. The same year, Owers finished third in the professional ticket series, which meant he was eligible to turn professional in the 1986âÂÂ87 snooker season.
His first tournament as a professional was the 1986 International Open. There, he defeated John Hargreaves 5âÂÂ3, George Scott 5âÂÂ1, Jimmy White 5âÂÂ2 and Dene O'Kane 5âÂÂ0, before losing 1âÂÂ5 to Neal Foulds in the last-16 round. Later in the same season he reached the last 16 at the 1987 English Professional Championship, exiting 2âÂÂ6 to Mike Hallett, and twice beat the veteran Fred Davis â 5âÂÂ3 in the British Open, and 10âÂÂ5 in the 1987 World Championship, where he eventually lost in the last 64 to Warren King. In the 1987âÂÂ88 snooker world rankings he was 52nd, and the highest-ranked of the players who had been on the professional circuit for only a year.
The following season, Owers beat Mick Fisher 5âÂÂ0 and Rex Williams 5âÂÂ3 before losing 0âÂÂ5 to Peter Francisco in the last 32 at the 1988 Classic, and again progressed to the last 16 of the English Professional Championship, this time losing 4âÂÂ6 to Tony Knowles. Owers won the 1989 WPBSA Invitational Event Two beating Dave Gilbert 9âÂÂ6 in the final.
In the 1989âÂÂ90 snooker season he reached the last 64 at the 1990 European Open; there, he lost 2âÂÂ5 to Alex Higgins. At the 1990 World Championship, Owers beat Mike Darrington 10âÂÂ1, but was eliminated in the last 96, losing 8âÂÂ10 to John Spencer.
Owers reached the last 16 at a ranking event for the first time in four years at the 1990 Grand Prix. There, he was victorious over Gary Natale, Brian Rowswell, John Virgo and Knowles, before losing once more to Peter Francisco â this time taking the third frame in a 1âÂÂ5 defeat.
This proved to be Owers' last showing in the latter stages of a tournament; at the 1993 World Championship, he lost his second-round qualifying match 0âÂÂ10 to Drew Henry, having beaten Sefton Payne 5âÂÂ1 in the first round. In the 1997 World Championship, Owers lost 5âÂÂ10 to Leigh Robinson in his first qualifying match; this was his final match on the professional circuit. He was ranked 256th in the world at the end of the 1996âÂÂ97 snooker season, when only the top 64 players qualified for the main circuit for the following season.
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