{"id":20156,"date":"2024-12-02T07:08:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T07:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=20156"},"modified":"2024-12-02T07:08:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T07:08:00","slug":"former-world-snooker-champion-terry-griffiths-dies-aged-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=20156","title":{"rendered":"Former world snooker champion Terry Griffiths dies aged 77"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Griffiths became an accomplished coach after the end of his professional playing career in 1997, inspiring stars such as Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Mark Allen – and also regularly commentated on snooker for BBC Sport.<\/p>\n

Three-time world champion and fellow Welshman Williams was among the first to pay tribute on social media, describing him as a “mentor, coach, friend, legend”.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland’s Allen added: “What a legend of a man, who helped shape my career and life both on and off the table. Absolutely heartbroken. He wasn’t just a coach, he was family.”<\/p>\n

Journalist Peter Jackson posted: “Wales has lost one of its finest ambassadors. A postman in his native Llanelli, Terry Griffiths emulated Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins as only the second qualifier to become world snooker champion in 1979. <\/p>\n

“Heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends.”<\/p>\n

Speaking after beating Barry Hawkins 10-8<\/a> in the final of the UK Championship in York on Sunday, current world number one Judd Trump also paid tribute to Griffiths.<\/p>\n

“It is very, very sad news,” said the 2019 world champion. “It is tough for the family and they have such a history in snooker.<\/p>\n

“Terry was a witty guy. He was always very funny and quick, and a legend of the game. He was someone that, when I went to the Welsh Open he’d always come over and make a joke.<\/p>\n

“I think because of the people that went to him you could tell he was a great coach. I had a good connection. It is incredibly sad news and a sad day for Welsh sport in general.”<\/p>\n

BBC snooker presenter Jason Mohammad also added on social media: “So sad to hear this news tonight.<\/p>\n

“Thank you Terry for putting Wales on the sporting map – for your elegant commentary, chats and warmth in studio. <\/p>\n

“Will never forget how you welcomed me to the snooker family when joining the BBC TV team. Prayers with all family and friends.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Griffiths became an accomplished coach after the end of his professional playing career in 1997, inspiring stars such as Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Mark Allen – and also regularly commentated on snooker for BBC Sport. Three-time world champion and fellow Welshman Williams was among the first to pay tribute on social media, describing him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}