Doug Mountjoy burst onto the professional snooker scene winning his very first event a pro - and not just any event, no less than the prestigious Benson & Hedges Masters. What a way to start!

Doug was born into a mining community in Glamorgan and began life as a miner himself. He became well known locally as a good all round player and he was runner up in the Welsh Amateur championship of 1966, winning the title itself two years later. He won that event again in 1976 which qualified him to enter the world amateur event in Johannesburg. He was in devastating form, romping through all seven of his group matches and comfortably reaching the final which he won by a record margin, 11-1, over Paul Mifsud.

After winning the world amateur title he immediately turned professional and received an invitation to the Benson & Hedges Masters which, to everyone’s surprise, he won, beating world champion and fellow Welshman, Ray Reardon in the final. He went on to reach the quarter-final of that season’s world championship. A few months later, he started the next season by reaching the UK final, losing out to Patsy Fagan.

He won the UK title the following season and also the Irish Masters and was a member of the winning Welsh team in the World Cup. 1980 saw him take the Welsh Professional Title and help Wales to another World Cup and he finished the 1980/81 season by reaching the Embassy world final where Steve Davis beat him 18-12. In the semi-final he set up a, then, new record high break for the championship of 145.

Although he won the Welsh Professional title in 1982, 1984 and 1987 as well as Pot Black, and the Pontins Professional title twice each, he was now beginning to slide down the rankings. He ended the 1987/88 season ranked 24th, the lowest of his career thus far, and decided he needed the help of the ace snooker coach, Frank Callan. This must have had the desired effect as he came back in 1988/89 with back-to-back ranking victories in the UK Championship and Mercantile Credit Classic as well as a fifth Welsh Professional Title and by the end of the next season had shot back up to number five.