Mark Wildman
| Born | 25 January 1936 |
|---|---|
| Sport country |
 England |
| Professional | 1979–1997 |
| Highest ranking | 24 (1983/1984) |
| Best ranking finish | Semi-final (1983 Lada Classic) |
Mark Wildman (born 25 January 1936) is an English snooker and pool commentator and a retired professional snooker[1] and English billiards player. He made the first televised century break (107 points) in November 1960 on ATV.
He won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1984 and was runner up in 1980 and 1982.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he was a distinguished snooker commentator for ITV until snooker was dropped by the channel. Between September 1999 and September 2002 he was Chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). In recent years, he resumed commentary for Sky Sports and British Eurosport, but was dropped by Sky Sports when they ceased coverage of WPBSA-backed tournaments in 2004. He was also dropped by Eurosport as a commentator in 2004. In July 2006, Wildman returned to Eurosport as the leading commentator of their coverage of the new International Pool Tour (IPT).
The IPT folded later in 2006, and Wildman has since retired to Spain where he continues to play carom billiards for enjoyment.
Wildman was also a highly respected and successful Coach/mentor to a number of internationally successful Billiards players including former World No7 Roxton Chapman, 5 times English Champion Mathew Sutton & 2 times English Champion Phill Welham.
The Peterborough-based Coach also ran a Junior Academy at Raunds during this period which produced 2 national Junior Billiards Champions in a 5-year period.
He is also the former coach of 2005 World Snooker Champion Shaun Murphy.
References
- ↑ Kumar, Ashok (1 January 1999). Dph Sports Series-Snooker And Billiards. Discovery Publishing House. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-81-7141-475-8. Retrieved 17 May 2011.