Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current 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. In his second professional tournament, he qualified for the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He reached the final of the event where he defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 to 16. It was the only ranking event victory of his career. This was only the second time a qualifier had won the World Snooker Championship, after Alex Higgins in 1972; only Shaun Murphy in 2005 has since emulated the achievement. In 1988, Griffiths again reached the final of the competition. He was tied with Steve Davis, 8–8, 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 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 have said cost him his natural flair for playing. He announced his retirement from professional snooker in 1996 to become the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's director of coaching, and developed a coaching career which has included working with leading players Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ding Junhui.
Early years
Griffiths was born in Llanelli on 16 October 1947. 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. Griffiths began playing snooker when he was 14. After leaving school, he worked in a coal mine and became the youngest winner of the Llanelli and District snooker championship at age 16. Griffiths subsequently began working as a bus conductor, a job which gave him more time to practise. He later worked as a postman and as an insurance salesman.
At age 17, Griffiths won the West Wales snooker championship. When he was 18 and working as a bus conductor, he met Annette, and the couple married in 1969. They had their first son, Wayne, a year-and-a-half after their wedding, and their other son, Darren, two years later. Griffiths compiled his first century break at age 24, the first year he entered the Welsh Amateur Championship (where he was runner-up). 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. He won the English Amateur Championship in 1977 by defeating Sid Hood 13–3 in the final, and retained the title in 1978 by winning 13–6 against Joe Johnson.
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. 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."