Clark McConachy

Clark McConachy

Born	(1895-04-15)15 April 1895 Glenorchy, New Zealand
Died	12 April 1980(1980-04-12) (aged 84) Auckland, New Zealand
Sport country	New Zealand
Nickname	Mac[1]
Highest break	147 (1952)

Clark McConachy, MBE (15 April 1895 – 12 April 1980) was a New Zealand professional player of English billiards and snooker.^[1][2]

He was the New Zealand professional billiards champion from 1914 until 1980. He also held the title of World Professional Billiards Champion from 1951 until 1968, when he was defeated by Rex Williams.

He was the runner-up in the World Snooker Championships of 1932 and 1952. McConachy scored one of the early Snooker Maximum breaks. He achieved it on Tuesday 19 February 1952 in a practice frame against Pat Kitchen at the Beaufort Club in London on a table reserved for professionals. An official of the Billiards Association and Control Council later examined the table and found it slightly over the standard size and so the break was not accepted as official. At the time Joe Davis held the record for the highest official break of 146.^[3][4] The match between McConachy and Horace Lindrum for the World Championship started the following Monday.

Clark was a keen advocate of physical fitness and regularly ran up to four miles every day. A strict teetotaller and non-smoker; he attributed his continued success well into his senior years to these things. He was also well known for walking around the table on his hands before the match started. He is a member of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.^[2]

References