death_date professional birth_date article_title name
12 january 2002 1969 -- 1995 31 august 1931 bernard bennett
 bernard bennett
bernard bennett

bernard bennett -lrb- 31 august 1931 -- 12 january 2002 -rrb- was an english professional player of snooker and english billiards , whose career spanned twenty-six years between 1969 and 1995 .
aside from his playing career , bennett played an important but largely-overlooked role in the development of snooker and billiards during the 1970s and early 1980s .
he was known more as an organiser , supporter and promoter of both games than as a player .
bennett turned professional in 1969 , without any significant amateur record .
by entering the 1969 world snooker championship , and paying the almost prohibitive # 100 entrance fee , bennett enabled a straight knockout tournament to be held , although he was heavily defeated in the first round 4 -- 25 by rex williams .
he competed in the 1970 event but was defeated in the first round 8 -- 11 by david taylor .
bennett 's efforts led to the resurrection of the world professional billiards championship in 1971 , after a hiatus of three years .
bennett provided both the financial guarantee , the venue for the event , and the opposition , but was heavily defeated by defending champion rex williams 9,250-4 ,058 .
bennett was a founding member of the professional billiards players ' association when it was reformed in 1969 , and , in addition to being a player , was a well-respected administrator and coach for many years .
bennett was the owner of the castle club in southampton , which was one of the first modern snooker centres .
from here , he organised many pro-am events in both snooker and billiards , also hosting mini ` triangular ' events featuring three professionals .
the castle pro-am event -lrb- which bennett financially supported -rrb- was a popular addition to the snooker scene , and was usually held in december of every year .
bennett , who had accrued his money from the building trade , went on to own other snooker clubs in the southampton area .
the castle pro-am event proved beneficial to a number of professional players ; at the end of the 1975/76 season , alex higgins , who was placed second on that season 's order of merit , had earned only # 2,250 from the three main events of the season , but won # 500 as the victor of the 1975 edition alone .
bennett played better snooker when closer to his home in southampton , and in the 1977/78 season , he defeated both john pulman 3 -- 0 and doug mountjoy 5 -- 2 in that season 's castle pro-am tournament .
bennett held eventual winner john spencer to 3 -- 3 in the semi-final of this tournament , before spencer won 5 -- 3 .
bennett played both snooker and billiards into the 1990s , retiring from professional play in 1995 .
his final professional match was a 5-0 loss to alfie burden in qualifying for the 1995 world championship .
bennett died , a figure of unanimous affection throughout the sport of snooker , in january 2002 , at the age of 70 .
