Terry Griffiths

Terence Martin Griffiths (16Template:NbspOctober 1947Template:Snd1Template:NbspDecember 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player, coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, including the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975 and back-to-back English Amateur Championships in 1977 and 1978, Griffiths turned professional in June 1978 at the age of 30.

Griffiths's second professional event was the 1979 World Snooker Championship, which he reached as a qualifier. After beating Alex Higgins in the quarter-finals and Eddie Charlton in the semi-finals, he defeated Dennis Taylor in the final by 24 Template:Cuegloss to 16, becoming only the second qualifier to win the World Snooker Championship, after Higgins in 1972; only Shaun Murphy in 2005 and Zhao Xintong in 2025 have since emulated the achievement. In 1988, Griffiths reached a second World Championship final. He was tied at 8–8 with Steve Davis but lost the match 11–18.

Griffiths reached at least the quarter-finals of the World Championship for nine consecutive years, from 1984 to 1992. He also won the Masters in 1980 and the UK Championship in 1982, completing snooker's Triple Crown. Griffiths was runner-up at the Masters three times and reached the final of the 1989 European Open, where he lost the Template:Cuegloss to John Parrott.

Although he also won several other tournaments, Griffiths's determination to match his rival Davis led to changes in technique which commentators said cost him his natural flair for playing. He retired from the professional tour in 1996 to become the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's director of coaching. During his coaching career, he worked with leading players including Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ding Junhui. After a lengthy battle with dementia, Griffiths died in December 2024, aged 77.

Early years

Griffiths was born in Llanelli on 16 October 1947.<ref name="TIMESOBE">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn He was admitted to a grammar school but was expelled for truancy and became a student at a secondary modern school, where he played rugby union with future Welsh national-team members Phil Bennett and Derek Quinnell.Template:Sfn Griffiths began playing snooker when he was 14. After leaving school at 15, he worked as a blacksmith's apprentice and as a coal miner and became the youngest winner of the Llanelli and District snooker championship at age 16.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Griffiths subsequently began working as a bus conductor, a job which gave him more time to practise.Template:Sfn He later worked as a postman<ref name="1979: Griffiths creates miracle">Template:Cite news</ref> and as an insurance salesman.Template:Sfn

At age 17, Griffiths won the West Wales snooker championship.Template:Sfn When he was 18 and working as a bus conductor, he met Annette (née Jones), and the couple married in 1969.<ref name="MWWS">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name=":0" /> They had their first son, Wayne, a year and a half after their wedding, and their other son, Darren, two years later.<ref name="MWWS" /> Griffiths compiled his first century break at age 24, the first year he entered the Welsh Amateur Championship (where he was runner-up).Template:Sfn Griffiths played in the amateur home internationals fourteen times, winning twelve of his matches; after winning the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975, he reached the quarter-finals of the 1976 World Amateur Snooker Championship.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He won the English Amateur Championship in 1977, defeating Sid Hood 13–3 in the final, and retained the title the following year, winning the final 13–6 against Joe Johnson.<ref name="NEWPRO"/>Template:Sfn

Professional career

1978–1982

Griffiths became a professional player on 1 June 1978 after he was accepted as a member by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) at its meeting during the 1978 World Snooker Championship.<ref name="NEWPRO">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Anticipating his acceptance as a professional, Snooker Scene said in May 1978 that "his power screws and long potting are second to no one's ... it will not be in the least surprising, if very soon he becomes a serious challenger for snooker's top professional titles."<ref name="INCHPRO">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In his first professional match, qualifying for the 1978 UK Championship, Griffiths lost 8–9 to Rex Williams after leading 8–2. Williams took a 2–1 lead; Griffiths won the next seven frames, and Williams took the following seven. In the Template:Cuegloss, Griffiths rushed when potting the Template:Cuegloss and went Template:Cuegloss, a Template:Cuegloss shot. Williams later potted the pink for the victory.<ref name="UK1978">Template:Cite magazine</ref> After qualifying for the 1979 World Championship by eliminating Bernard Bennett 9–2 (from 0–2 behind) and Jim Meadowcroft 9–6 (from 6–6),<ref name="1979WCQ">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Griffiths defeated the previous year's runner-up Perrie Mans 13–8 in the first round and Alex Higgins 13–12 in the quarter-finals.Template:Sfn After beating Eddie Charlton 19–17 in a long semi-final which finished at 1:40 am,Template:Sfn Griffiths told interviewer David Vine: "I'm in the final now, you know."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the final, he faced Dennis Taylor, who had been a professional since 1973 and was also playing in his first World Championship final.Template:Sfn The match was close for the first four of the six Template:Cuegloss and level at 15–15 before Griffiths took a 17–16 lead and won 24–16,Template:Sfn becoming World Champion at his first attempt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It was Griffiths's second tournament as a professional.<ref name="WSTTG" /> The result saw him placed eighth in the 1979/1980 world rankings.Template:Sfn He was the second player to win the championship after playing in qualifying (after Higgins in 1972), and the first to win it as a qualifier at the Crucible in Sheffield, the venue for the championship since 1977. As of 2025, only two other players have achieved the feat, Shaun Murphy in 2005,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Zhao Xintong in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Griffiths reached the final of the 1979 Canadian Open the following season, losing 16–17 to Cliff Thorburn,Template:Sfn and was part of the Welsh team that won the inaugural World Cup of snooker; Ray Reardon, Doug Mountjoy and Griffiths defeated England 14–3 in the final.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> At the end of 1979, Griffiths faced John Virgo in the UK Championship final. Virgo had been penalised two frames for arriving late to a session (not realising that the start time had been moved up as requested by the television broadcasters), which reduced his lead to 9–11. When the scores were 11–11, Griffiths offered to split the prize money. Virgo declined and went on to win the match 14–13.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Griffiths was named the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year for 1979,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was the subject for a This Is Your Life episode the following year.Template:Sfn He won the 1980 Masters, defeating Higgins 9–5 in front of 2,323 spectators (a record crowd for a UK snooker event) at the Wembley Conference Centre after compiling a break of 131 to win the deciding frame.<ref name="MAST80">Template:Cite magazine</ref> It was his first Masters appearance and his only Masters title, although he was runner-up at the event three times in the subsequent four years.<ref name="MAST80" />Template:Sfn He also won the 1980 Irish Masters, defeating Mountjoy 10–9 in the final.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Defending champion at the 1980 World Championship, Griffiths lost the first seven frames against Davis in his first-round match and ended the first session trailing 1–7.<ref name="TIMES25APR">Template:Cite news</ref> Davis won the opening frame of the second session to extend his lead to 8–1, and had a seven-frame lead again at 10–3 before Griffiths won three frames to end the session 6–10 behind.<ref name="TIMES26APR">Template:Cite news</ref> In the third session, Griffiths won the first four frames to level at 10–10; Davis won the next three for a 13–10 victory, which included a 116 break in the 22nd frame.<ref name="GRAUN28APR">Template:Cite news</ref> With this first-round defeat, Griffiths became the first victim of the so-called "Crucible curse", a term later adopted to describe the failure of any first-time champion to defend their title at the venue.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He moved up three places to fifth in the annual rankings for 1980/1981.Template:Sfn

Griffiths and his Wales teammates retained the 1980 World Challenge Cup,Template:Sfn and he again won the Irish Masters in 1981 before losing to eventual winner Davis in the quarter-finals of the 1981 World Snooker Championship.Template:Sfn Griffiths lost 3–16 to Davis in the 1981 UK Championship final, the first of five finals in consecutive events contested by the pair.Template:Sfn Griffiths won two of the five, winning 9–8 on the final black in the deciding frame of the 1982 Classic after Davis had recovered from 3–8 to 8–8.Template:Sfn He also won the 1982 Irish Masters, his third consecutive title at the event, defeating Davis 9–5 in the final.Template:Sfn After Tony Knowles's surprise 10–1 win over Davis in the first round of the 1982 World Championship, Griffiths became the bookmakers' favourite for the title. However, Griffiths also exited in the first round, losing 6–10 to Willie Thorne.Template:Sfn Despite this, he advanced again in the rankings, achieving third place, which would be his highest-ever ranking, in 1981/1982.Template:Sfn He won the 1982 UK Championship at the end of the year, defeating Higgins 16–15 in the final.Template:Sfn

1983–1989

Griffiths won several further invitational events, including Pot Black in 1984, and the 1984 Malaysian Masters (where he topped a round-robin group in which Tony Meo was the runner-up).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also gained titles at the 1984 Singapore Masters, where he also topped a round-robin group in which Davis was the runner-up;<ref name="CTONR">Template:Cite web</ref> and the 1985 Hong Kong Masters, where he defeated Davis 4–2.<ref name="CTONR" /> The 1985–86 snooker season saw Griffiths win the Welsh Professional Championship for the first time after defeating Mountjoy 9–4.Template:Sfn He also won the 1986 Belgian Classic, where he saw off Kirk Stevens 9–7 in the final.<ref name="CTONR" />Template:Sfn

Exterior of an older building

The Terry Griffiths Matchroom in Llanelli

His ranking had dropped to fourteenth in 1982/1983 when his 1979 points were no longer counted towards his total, which at the time was calculated purely on the basis of results in the preceding three World Championships.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He improved to ninth in 1983/1984, and was eighth for both 1984/1985 and 1985/1986 before falling to tenth for 1986/1987.Template:Sfn

Two months before the 1986 World Snooker Championship, Griffiths began working with coach Frank Callan.Template:Sfn After eliminating Higgins 13–12 in the last 16, he praised Callan for helping his game: "I tried to do the right things myself for three yearsTemplate:Nbsp... Frank has knitted it all together for me. I didn't think anyone knew that much about snooker."Template:Sfn He led eventual winner Johnson 12–9 in their quarter-final match, but Johnson won four consecutive frames, two with century breaks, for a 13–12 victory.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He ended the season by winning the 1986 Pontins Professional, defeating Thorne in the final.Template:Sfn

Griffiths was the only player to reach the televised stages of each ranking tournament in the 1986–87 season, but did not reach the semi-finals in any of them. At the end of the season, he moved up four places in the rankings to sixth.Template:Sfn He won the Welsh Professional Championship again in 1986, defeating Doug Mountjoy 9–3.<ref name="TGRET" />Template:Sfn In 1987, Griffiths opened a billiard hall: the Terry Griffiths Matchroom in Llanelli.Template:Sfn The next year, he won the 1988 Welsh Professional Championship final 9–3 against Wayne Jones.<ref name="TGRET" />Template:Sfn

At the 1988 World Snooker Championship, Griffiths defeated Steve Longworth, Thorne, Neal Foulds and Jimmy White to reach his second world final, but lost 11–18 to defending champion Davis.<ref name="TGRET" />Template:Sfn The players had been level at 8–8 after the first of two days' play in the final, and Terry Smith of The Daily Telegraph said after the match: "Griffiths knows he produced his best snooker since he became world champion in 1979, and still lost."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The 1989 European Open was his only final the following season.Template:Sfn Although Griffiths won four of the first five frames, John Parrott tied the scores at 4–4 after the first session. Griffiths later led 8–7, but Parrott won the match (and his first major title) 9–8.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

1989–1997

In the 1989–90 snooker season, Griffiths reached the semi-finals of the 1989 Asian Open and the 1989 UK Championship and the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Snooker Championship. His only final was in the 1989 Scottish Masters, where he lost 1–10 to Stephen Hendry. Griffiths dropped one place in the world rankings, to sixth, at the end of the season.Template:Sfn The following season, he was again runner-up to Hendry at the Scottish Masters; he had little success in other ranking events, however, and fell from sixth to eleventh place at the season's end.Template:Sfn

Griffiths moved back into sixth place after the 1991–92 season, during which he reached three ranking semi-finals, including that of the 1992 World Championship, where he scored victories over Bob Chaperon, Foulds and Peter Ebdon before losing to Hendry.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> His best performance at a ranking tournament the following season was the semi-final of the 1992 Grand Prix, which he lost 6–9 to Ken Doherty; his best showings at ranking tournaments over the next three seasons were a single quarter-final appearance in each.Template:Sfn

At the 1996 World Snooker Championship, Griffiths eliminated Jamie Burnett 10–9 in a first-round final-frame decider after trailing 0–6 and 5–9. In the second round, he lost to old rival Davis (whom he never defeated at the Crucible in six attempts) and announced his retirement from the game to become the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's director of coaching.<ref name="TGRET">Template:Cite magazine</ref> He retired at 23rd in the rankings (the first year since his debut season that he had not been in the top 16).<ref name="TGRET" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Clive Everton wrote that Griffiths was "the only player to retire when his standard was still in touch with the circuit's top players."Template:Sfn

At the 1997 World Championship, Griffiths came out of retirement, and won his qualifying match against Alfie Burden 10–4, to play in the main tournament at the Crucible one last time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He led fellow countryman Mark Williams 9–8 in the first round, but lost the next two frames, each on the final Template:Cuegloss, and was eliminated 9–10.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During his professional career, he played a total of 999 frames at the Crucible.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In their book, Masters of the Baize, Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby wrote that Griffiths may have won more tournaments if he had not adjusted his playing technique to challenge Davis.Template:Sfn Gordon Burn reported in his 1986 book, Pocket Money, that Reardon felt that Griffiths began to decline as a player after he signed a management contract with Barry Hearn (Davis's manager) at the end of the 1981–82 season, claiming changes Griffiths made to his stance and cueing cost him his "natural flair".Template:Sfn Burn wrote that after Hearn became Griffiths's manager, "In the first year, Hearn tripled Griffiths's income and halved his work."Template:Sfn He quotes Griffiths: "I just found it difficult to accept that there was a better player than me in the world", but "I wasn't even getting at Steve Davis, because other players were beating me first."Template:Sfn Everton wrote about Griffiths's change of technique, "While he acquired an encyclopaedic technical knowledge in the process and maintained an admirable consistency, he could never quite recapture the flair and inspiration that had brought him the world title."<ref name="TGRET" /> As winner of the World Championship, UK Championship and Masters during his career, Griffiths achieved the snooker Triple Crown.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later career, retirement and death

Griffiths resigned as the WPBSA director of coaching in 1998, describing the association as "a hopeless set-up with no one giving the staff any direction at all."Template:Sfn He coached a number of top players, including Mark Allen, Ali Carter, Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Barry Hawkins, Stephen Hendry, Stephen Maguire, Joe Perry and Mark Williams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="GURU">Template:Cite web</ref> Griffiths said about his coaching that "it used to be a lot of technical stuff years ago – probably 90% on the technical side. Now it's the other way about, perhaps 80–20% on the mental side."<ref name="GURU" /> He was the director of coaching at the South West Snooker Academy,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a snooker commentator for the BBC.<ref name="WSTTG">Template:Cite web</ref>

Griffiths received an OBE appointment in 2007 for his "services to snooker".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He launched "SQ", a handicapping system for snooker, in 2021.<ref name="SCMP" /> His son, Wayne Griffiths, is head snooker coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and has coached three-time World Women's Champion Ng On-yee.<ref name="SCMP">Template:Cite news</ref> During his career, Griffiths won over a million pounds in prize money.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2024, his family announced that he had dementia.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He died in his hometown of Llanelli, on 1 December 2024, at the age of 77.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1978/ 79	1979/ 80	1980/ 81	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	Template:Abbr
Ranking	Template:Efn	8	5	3	14	9	8	8	10	6	5	5	6	11	6	8	14	15	23	Template:Sfn
Ranking tournaments
Asian ClassicTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held										NR	A	QF	2R	QF	2R	2R	QF	A	Template:Sfn
Grand PrixTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held				QF	3R	1R	QF	3R	3R	QF	1R	2R	QF	SF	1R	2R	1R	A	Template:Sfn
UK Championship	Non-Ranking Event						1R	QF	3R	QF	SF	SF	2R	3R	1R	QF	3R	2R	A	Template:Sfn
German Open	Tournament Not Held																	1R	A	Template:Sfn
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held													3R	2R	1R	1R	2R	A	Template:Sfn
International OpenTemplate:Efn	Not Held			NR	QF	SF	2R	3R	3R	2R	1R	2R	Not Held		3R	3R	3R	1R	A	Template:Sfn
European Open	Tournament Not Held										F	1R	2R	SF	2R	1R	QF	2R	A	Template:Sfn
Thailand OpenTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held					Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		SF	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	A	Template:Sfn
British OpenTemplate:Efn	NH	Non-Ranking Event					2R	QF	3R	2R	1R	2R	3R	QF	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	Template:Sfn
World Championship	W	2R	QF	1R	2R	QF	QF	QF	QF	F	QF	QF	QF	SF	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	Template:Sfn
Non-ranking tournaments
Scottish Masters	Not Held			A	SF	QF	QF	A	A	F	NH	F	F	A	1R	A	A	A	A	Template:Sfn
Charity Challenge	Tournament Not Held																SF	1R	A	Template:Sfn
The Masters	A	W	F	F	QF	F	SF	QF	1R	QF	QF	1R	SF	1R	1R	1R	QF	WR	A	Template:Sfn
Seniors Pot Black	Tournament Not Held																		F	<ref name="CTSPB">Template:Cite web</ref>
Irish Masters	A	W	W	W	SF	F	1R	1R	SF	SF	QF	SF	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	Template:Sfn
Pontins Professional	A	QF	W	SF	RR	QF	W	W	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Template:Sfn
Matchroom LeagueTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held					A	Not Held		RR	RR	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	<ref> Template:Cite magazine Template:Cite magazine Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian MastersTemplate:Efn	Non-Ranking			Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking			QF	Tournament Not Held								Template:Sfn
Hong Kong Open|Template:Efn	NH	Ranking Event									NH	2R	Tournament Not Held				Ranking		NH	Template:Sfn
Classic	NH	Non-Ranking Event				QF	QF	1R	QF	QF	3R	1R	1R	3R	Tournament Not Held					Template:Sfn
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held													2R	MR	NR	Not Held			Template:Sfn
Former non-ranking tournaments
Champion of Champions	A	NH	RR	Tournament Not Held																<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
International OpenTemplate:Efn	Not Held			QF	Ranking Event								Not Held		Ranking Event					Template:Sfn
Northern Ireland Classic	Not Held			SF	Tournament Not Held															Template:Sfn
Classic	NH	SF	QF	W	1R	Ranking Event									Tournament Not Held					Template:Sfn
Tolly Cobbold Classic	A	SF	A	A	F	A	Ranking Event													Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
UK Championship	1R	F	SF	F	W	SF	Ranking Event													Template:Sfn
British OpenTemplate:Efn	NH	RR	RR	F	2R	2R	Ranking Event													Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Singapore Masters	Tournament Not Held						W	F	Tournament Not Held											<ref name="CTONR" />
KitKat Break for World Champions	Tournament Not Held							SF	Tournament Not Held											Template:Sfn
Belgian Classic	Tournament Not Held							W	Tournament Not Held											<ref name="CTONR" />
Australian MastersTemplate:Efn	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	A	NH	R	Tournament Not Held				A	A	NH	Template:Sfn
Malaysian Masters	Tournament Not Held						W	NH	QF	Tournament Not Held									A	<ref name="CTONR" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
China Masters	Tournament Not Held							A	F	Tournament Not Held									A	<ref name="CTONR" />
Tokyo Masters	Tournament Not Held									F	Tournament Not Held									<ref name="CTONR" />
Canadian MastersTemplate:Efn	A	F	F	Tournament Not Held				QF	A	QF	R	Tournament Not Held								Template:Sfn
Asian ClassicTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held										QF	Ranking Event								Template:Sfn
Template:Nowrap	Tournament Not Held								SF	1R	QF	Tournament Not Held								Template:Sfn
London Masters	Tournament Not Held										QF	A	A	Tournament Not Held						<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
International League	Tournament Not Held											RR	Tournament Not Held							<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Norwich Union Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held										SF	A	QF	Tournament Not Held						Template:Sfn
European Grand Masters	Tournament Not Held												QFTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held						<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="CWMC">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
World Masters	Tournament Not Held												QF	Tournament Not Held						Template:Sfn
Template:Nowrap	NH	SF	SF	F	SF	SF	W	W	SF	W	F	QF	QF	Tournament Not Held						Template:Sfn
Thailand Masters	Tournament Not Held					SF	F	F	F	Not Held		Ranking		2R	Ranking Event					<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Hong Kong ChallengeTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held					F	QF	W	SF	QF	QF	NH	1R	1R	Tournament Not Held					Template:Sfn<ref name="CTONR" />
Indian Challenge	Tournament Not Held													1R	Tournament Not Held					<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Nowrap	Tournament Not Held													SF	Tournament Not Held					<ref name="SEN91">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Belgian Challenge	Tournament Not Held													QF	Tournament Not Held					<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kent ClassicTemplate:Efn	Tournament Not Held								QF	A	A	A	A	NH	SF	Tournament Not Held				<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Belgian Masters	Tournament Not Held												QF	A	1R	Not Held		A	NH	Template:Sfn
World Matchplay	Tournament Not Held											QF	QF	SF	QF	1R	Not Held			Template:Sfn
Pot Black	A	RR	A	A	A	W	QF	1R	Tournament Not Held					1R	??	QF	Not Held			Template:Sfn<ref>* Template:Cite web Template:Cite web Template:Cite web Template:Cite news Template:Cite web Template:Cite web Template:Cite news Template:Cite news</ref>

Performance Table Legend
#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals	SF	lost in the semi-finals
F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament
??	no reliable source available

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.

Career finals

Sources for the ranking and non-ranking final results can be found in the Performance timeline section above.

Ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

Legend
World Championship (1–1)
Other (0–1)

Ranking tournament finals contested by Terry Griffiths

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1979	World Championship	Template:Flagathlete	24–16
Runner-up	1.	1988	World Championship	Template:Flagathlete	11–18
Runner-up	2.	1989	European Open	Template:Flagathlete	8–9

Non-ranking finals: 40 (17 titles)

Legend
UK Championship (1–2)Template:Efn
The Masters (1–3)
Other (15–19)

Non-ranking tournament finals contested by Terry Griffiths

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1979	Canadian Open	Template:Flagathlete	16–17
Runner-up	2.	1979	UK Championship	Template:Flagathlete	13–14
Winner	1.	1980	The Masters	Template:Flagathlete	9–5
Winner	2.	1980	Irish Masters	Template:Flagathlete	10–9
Runner-up	3.	1980	Canadian Open (2)	Template:Flagathlete	10–17
Runner-up	4.	1981	The Masters	Template:Flagathlete	6–9
Winner	3.	1981	Irish Masters (2)	Template:Flagathlete	9–7
Winner	4.	1981	Pontins Professional	Template:Flagathlete	9–8
Runner-up	5.	1981	UK Championship (2)	Template:Flagathlete	3–16
Winner	5.	1982	The Classic	Template:Flagathlete	9–8
Runner-up	6.	1982	The Masters (2)	Template:Flagathlete	5–9
Runner-up	7.	1982	Welsh Professional Championship	Template:Flagathlete	8–9
Runner-up	8.	1982	International Masters	Template:Flagathlete	7–9
Winner	6.	1982	Irish Masters (3)	Template:Flagathlete	9–5
Winner	7.	1982	UK Championship	Template:Flagathlete	16–15
Runner-up	9.	1983	Tolly Cobbold Classic	Template:Flagathlete	5–7
Runner-up	10.	1983	Hong Kong Masters	Template:Flagathlete	3–4
Winner	8.	1984	Pot Black	Template:Flagathlete	2–1
Runner-up	11.	1984	The Masters (3)	Template:Flagathlete	5–9
Runner-up	12.	1984	Irish Masters	Template:Flagathlete	1–9
Runner-up	13.	1984	Thailand Masters	Template:Flagathlete	3–4
Winner	9.	1984	Malaysian Masters	Template:Flagathlete	Template:NowrapTemplate:Efn
Winner	10.	1984	Singapore Masters	Template:Flagathlete	Template:NowrapTemplate:Efn
Winner	11.	1985	Welsh Professional Championship	Template:Flagathlete	9–4
Winner	12.	1985	Pontins Professional (2)	Template:Flagathlete	9–7
Winner	13.	1985	Hong Kong Masters	Template:Flagathlete	4–2
Runner-up	14.	1985	Thailand Masters (2)	Template:Flagathlete	0–4
Runner-up	15.	1985	Singapore Masters	Template:Flagathlete	2–4
Winner	14.	1986	Belgian Classic	Template:Flagathlete	9–7
Winner	15.	1986	Template:Nowrap	Template:Flagathlete	9–3
Winner	16.	1986	Pontins Professional (3)	Template:Flagathlete	9–6
Runner-up	16.	1986	Thailand Masters (3)	Template:Flagathlete	1–2
Runner-up	17.	1986	China Masters	Template:Flagathlete	0–3
Runner-up	18.	1987	Tokyo Masters	Template:Flagathlete	3–6
Runner-up	19.	1987	Scottish Masters	Template:Flagathlete	7–9
Winner	17.	1988	Welsh Professional Championship (3)	Template:Flagathlete	9–3
Runner-up	20.	1989	Welsh Professional Championship (2)	Template:Flagathlete	6–9
Runner-up	21.	1989	Scottish Masters (2)	Template:Flagathlete	1–10
Runner-up	22.	1990	Scottish Masters (3)	Template:Flagathlete	6–10
Runner-up	23.	1997	Seniors Pot Black	Template:Flagathlete	0–2

Team finals: 5 (2 titles)

Team finals contested by Terry Griffiths

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score	Template:Abbr
Winner	1.	1979	World Challenge Cup	Template:Flagcountry	Template:Flagcountry	14–3	Template:Sfn
Winner	2.	1980	World Challenge Cup (2)	Template:Flagcountry	Template:Flagcountry	8–5	Template:Sfn
Runner-up	1.	1981	World Team Classic	Template:Flagcountry	Template:Flagcountry	3–4	Template:Sfn
Runner-up	2.	1982	World Doubles Championship	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Flagathlete and Template:Flagathlete	2–13	Template:Sfn
Runner-up	3.	1983	World Team Classic (2)	Template:Flagcountry	Template:Flagcountry	2–4	Template:Sfn

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)

Pro-am finals contested by Terry Griffiths

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Template:Abbr
Runner-up	1.	1977	Pontins Spring Open	Template:Flagathlete	4–7	Template:Sfn
Winner	1.	1983	Pontins Spring Open	Template:Flagathlete	7–3	Template:Sfn

Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles)

Amateur finals contested by Terry Griffiths

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Template:Abbr
Runner-up	1.	1972	Welsh Amateur Championship	Template:Flagathlete	2–6	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Winner	1.	1975	Welsh Amateur Championship	Template:Flagathlete	8–7	Template:Sfn
Winner	2.	1977	English Amateur Championship	Template:Flagathlete	13–3	Template:Sfn
Winner	3.	1978	English Amateur Championship (2)	Template:Flagathlete	13–6	Template:Sfn

Publications

Year	Title	Authors	Publisher	ISBN
1981	Championship Snooker	Terry Griffiths with Clive Everton	Queen Anne Press, London	Template:Isbn
1984	Complete Snooker	Terry Griffiths with Julian Worthington	Pelham, London	Template:Isbn
1989	Griff : the Autobiography of Terry Griffiths	Terry Griffiths with Julian Worthington	Pelham, London	Template:Isbn

References

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Webarchive
• Template:IMDb name
• Template:Snooker.org player
• Template:WST player