{{short description|Welsh snooker and billiards player (1920–2011)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use British English|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox snooker player | name = Agnes Davies | honorific_suffix = | image = Agnes Davies.jpg | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1920|09|30}} | birth_place = Saron, Carmarthenshire, Wales | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2011|02|13|1920|09|30}} | Sport country = {{WAL}} | Professional = | High ranking = 46 (aged 77) | Official maximums = | Best finish = | medals-expand = | medals = }}
'''Agnes Davies''' (née Morris, 30 September 1920 – 13 February 2011)<ref name="OBIT">{{cite news |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=1 March 2011 |title=Agnes Davies obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/mar/01/agnes-davies-obituary |work=The Guardian |access-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726173756/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/mar/01/agnes-davies-obituary |archive-date=26 July 2019 }}</ref> was a Welsh snooker and billiards player. She was known for having a competitive playing career spanning 64 years,<ref name="SWG">{{cite news |date=9 March 2011 |title=Snooker Queen Agnes Dies |url=https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/8897709.snooker-queen-agnes-90-dies/ |work=South Wales Guardian |access-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728024714/https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/8897709.snooker-queen-agnes-90-dies/ |archive-date=28 July 2019}}</ref> during which she won the Women's Professional Snooker Championship in 1949,<ref name="Bath City Signings">{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Bath City Signings|magazine=Snooker Title Won on Last Frame|page=5 |date=20 June 1949|via=The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.}}</ref> and was runner-up in 1940,<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Snooker Championship |magazine=The Times |issue=48578|page=3 |date=1 April 1940 |via=The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.}}</ref> 1948,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Miss Adcock Takes Snooker Title|newspaper=Daily Mirror|page=5 |date=22 May 1948|via=The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.}}</ref> 1950,<ref name="WDP50">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Bath City Signings|newspaper=Western Mail|page=5 |date=25 June 1950|via=The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.}}</ref> and 1980.
==Biography== Davies learned how to play billiards in her father's billiard hall in Saron, which he had set up using his compensation payment for pneumoconiosis caused by working as a coal miner. She first won the Welsh women's amateur championship in 1939, and won the following two years as well.<ref name="OBIT" />
Davies, then still known as Agnes Morris, was runner up in the 1940 Women's Professional Snooker championship<ref name="TIMES">{{cite news|date=1 April 1940 |title=Snooker Championship |work=The Times |issue=48578 |page=3 |via=The Times Digital Archive }}</ref> and the winner in 1949. She was married to Dick Davies (who died in 1996) in 1940, and took a break of some 30 years from competitive snooker. Returning to competition in the late 1970s, she won three tournaments before reaching another world championship final in 1980. In 1985 Davies was Voted Life President of the World Ladies' Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA).<ref name="OBIT" /><ref name="SWG" />
In 1998 she qualified for the Ladies Welsh Open at Newport, Wales at the age of 77 – sixty years after winning as a 17-year-old<ref>{{cite news |last=Malone |first=Emmet |date=3 January 1998 |title=On The Sidelines |work=Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland) |via=NewsBank}}</ref> and was ranked 46 in the Embassy Ladies World Rankings for 1997/98.<ref name="Ammanford" />
Until 1999, Davies played in the home international series for Wales. She also played in the Amman Valley league until 2001.<ref name="SWG" />
Davies died in 2011.<ref name="OBIT" />
==Legacy== In 2012, Women's World Snooker held the Agnes Davies Memorial tournament, which was won by Jaique Ip. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.womenssnooker.com/player/jaique-ip-wan/ |title=Jaique Ip Wan In |website=Women's World Snooker |access-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728024721/https://www.womenssnooker.com/player/jaique-ip-wan/ |archive-date=28 July 2019}}</ref>
In June 2025 a Purple Plaque in Davies' memory was unveiled at Saron's Hall in Saron. The plaque, organised by Purple Plaques, was intended to highlight remarkable women in Wales.<ref>{{cite news |last=D'Alessio |first=Dan|url=https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/25256385.hundreds-attend-purple-plaque-unveiling-agnes-davies/ |date=24 June 2025 |title=Hundreds attend purple plaque unveiling of Agnes Davies |work=South Wales Guardian |access-date=8 July 2025}}</ref>
==Titles and achievements==
{| class="wikitable" ! Outcome !! No. !! Year !! Championship !! Opponent !! Score !! Ref. |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 1 || 1937 || Welsh Ladies' Snooker Champion || || || <ref name="Ammanford">{{cite web | title = Agnes Davies Ammanford's World Snooker Champion | url = http://www.users.ic24.net/~terrynorm/agnes%20davies.htm#2 | website = users.ic24.net/~terrynorm/ | publisher = Welcome to the town of Ammanford | date = 26 August 2020}}</ref> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 2 || 1938 || Welsh Ladies' Snooker Champion || || || <ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 3 || 1939 || Welsh Ladies' Snooker Champion || || || <ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 4 || 1939 || Welsh Ladies' Billiards Champion || || || <ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 5 || 1939 || Women's Amateur Snooker Championship|| || || <ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up || 6 || 1940 || Women's Professional Snooker Championship || Ruth Harrison || 2–11 || <ref name="TIMES" /><ref>{{cite news |date=28 March 1940 |title=Women's Title |work=The Manchester Guardian |page=2 }}</ref> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up || 7 || 1948 || Women's Professional Snooker Championship || Ruth Harrison || 14–16 || <ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Women's Championships |work=The Billiard Player|issue=May 1948) |page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=A really grand finale|work=The Billiard Player|issue=June 1948) |page=8}}</ref> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 8 || 1949 || Women's Professional Snooker Championship || Thelma Carpenter || 16–15 || <ref name="Bath City Signings"/><ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up || 9 || 1950 || Women's Professional Snooker Championship || Thelma Carpenter || 10–20 || <ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=North East West South |work=The Billiard Player|issue=June 1950) |page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Women's Professional Championships (1949–50) |work=The Billiard Player|issue=July 1950) |page=7}}</ref> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 10 || 1977 || Pontins Ladies' Bowl Champion || Sue Foster || 3–1 || <ref name="HAMLYN">{{cite book |last=Morrison |first=Ian |date=1987 |title=The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker |location=Twickenham |publisher=Hamlyn Publishing Group |page=43|isbn=0600556042 }}</ref><ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 11 || 1978 || Women's Amateur Snooker Championship || || || <ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up || 12 || 1979 || Pontins Ladies' Bowl Champion || Maureen Baynton || 0–3 || <ref name="HAMLYN" /><ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up || 13 || 1980 || Guinness World Women's Snooker Championship || Lesley McIlrath || 2–4 || <ref name="Ammanford" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.womenssnooker.com/about/world-champions/|title=World Champions|website=Women's World Snooker|access-date=28 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818024929/https://www.womenssnooker.com/about/world-champions/|archive-date=18 August 2019}}</ref> |- !scope="row" style="background:#98FB98"| Winner || 14 || 1982 || Pontins Ladies' Bowl Champion || Sue Foster || 3–0 || <ref name="HAMLYN" /><ref name="Ammanford" /> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"| Runner-up || 15 || 1999 || Ladies Regal Scottish Masters seniors' (over 40s) final || Mary Hawkes || 0–2 || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://snookerscores.net/tournament-manager/1999-regal-scottish-masters-seniors/results |title=1999 Regal Scottish Masters (Seniors) – Results |publisher=World Women's Snooker |website=snookerscores.net |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref> |- !scope="row" style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up || 16 || 2003 || Ladies Regal Welsh Championship seniors' (over 40s) final || Maureen Twomey || 1–2 || <ref name="Ammanford" /> |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{World Women's Snooker champions|state=expanded}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Agnes}} Category:Welsh snooker players Category:Female snooker players Category:1920 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Carmarthenshire Category:20th-century Welsh sportswomen