Martin Clark (born 27 October 1968) is an English organiser of snooker tournaments and retired professional snooker player.
Career Born in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, he started playing snooker at 13 years-old. In 1984, he became the youngest winner of the British under-19 championship at the age of 15 years-old. In 1986, at the Home International series in Heysham, he compiled a break of 141 which was later ratified as the highest break made by a non-professional, superseding Joe Johnson's break of 140 in 1978. He turned professional in 1987, and within his first seven matches he recorded wins over Dennis Taylor and Neal Foulds, beating Taylor 5-0 which the former world champion described as "the best television debut any player has ever had".
Clark reached ten ranking tournament quarter-finals in his career, but never progressed any further. He reached the last 16 of the World Championship three times – 1991, 1992 and 1993, and also in 1992 reached the first major semi-final of his career at the World Matchplay by knocking out defending champion Gary Wilkinson. He won two non-ranking events, defeating Ray Reardon in the final of the European Grand Masters in 1990 and Andy Hicks in the Pontins Professional in 1997.
He retired as a pro player at a relatively young age, due to neck problems, and is now a tournament director. He has also helped with equipment maintenance (e.g. checking the replacement cloths) at the World Snooker Championship.
In November 2017, Belgian player Luca Brecel was forced to borrow clothes from Clark and fellow player Michael White after lifting the wrong suitcase at an airport in Shanghai.
Performance and rankings timeline Tournament 1987/88 1988/89 1989/90 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 RankingFrom the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.41171214121218223327283766 Ranking tournaments British Open1RQFQF2R3R2R1R3R2R3R2R1RLQ1R Grand Prix2R1R2R2R1R2RQF2R2R2R1R1RLQLQ UK ChampionshipLQ2R2R1R3R2R3R1R1R2R1R2RLQWD China OpenThe event was also called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999) Tournament Not HeldNRLQLQLQ Welsh Open Tournament Not Held2R2R2R1R1R1R1R1RLQLQ Thailand MastersThe event was also called the Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997). Not Held QF2RQF2R1RLQLQLQ2RLQLQA Scottish OpenThe event was also called the International Open (1987/1988 to 1996/1997).3R1R2R Not Held1R1R1R1R1R3R1R2RA World ChampionshipLQLQLQ2R2R2R1RLQ1RLQLQLQLQWD Non-ranking tournaments The MastersAAA1R1R1R1RLQLQLQLQLQLQA Former ranking tournaments Canadian MastersNH1RTournament Not Held Not Held3RTournament Not Held Classic3RQF3R2RQF Tournament Not Held Strachan Open Tournament Not Held3RMRNR Tournament Not Held German Open Tournament Not Held1R2R2RNR Tournament Not Held Dubai ClassicThe event was also called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997) NH NR3R3RQF1R3RQF LQ1R Tournament Not Held Irish OpenThe event was also called the European Open (1987/1988-1996/1997)NHQF2R2R3R2R2R1RLQ1RNHLQ Not Held Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Former non-ranking tournaments Kent CupF A A A NH A Tournament Not Held English Professional Championship1R1R Tournament Not Held Norwich Union Grand Prix NH AQF A Tournament Not Held Shoot-Out Not Held2R Tournament Not Held European Grand Masters Not HeldW Tournament Not Held London Masters NH A AQF Tournament Not Held Belgian MastersNot Held AQF ANot Held A Tournament Not Held World Matchplay NH A AQF ASFTournament Not Held Pot Black A A A A1R1R1RTournament Not Held King's CupNot Held A NH A AQFTournament Not Held Pontins Professional ASFQFQF A A A A AWF AQF NH
Performance Table LegendLQ lost in the qualifying draw#R lost in the early rounds of the tournament(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)QF lost in the quarter-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
Career finals Non-ranking finals: 4 (2 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1988 Kent Cup 1–5Winner 1. 1990 European Grand Masters 4–2Winner 2. 1997 Pontins Professional 9–7Runner-up 2. 1998 Pontins Professional 6–9
Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1986 Warners Open Gary Keeble5–2
References