David Greaves

Career

Greaves turned professional in 1972, at the age of 25, playing his first match against Bernard Bennett in the 1973 World Championship. Having trailed 1–5 and 2–7, Greaves recovered to defeat Bennett 9–8; however, he faced Fred Davis in the last 16 and lost the first ten frames, eventually succumbing 1–16 to the three-time World Champion.

Greaves' attempts to qualify for the next seven World Championships were unsuccessful, the most notable defeat being an 11–0 whitewash by David Taylor in 1977, but in 1981 he was able to overcome Maurice Parkin 9–5 in a preliminary match. He was then drawn against Willie Thorne for a place at the Crucible Theatre but lost 3–9.

In subsequent years, Greaves was whitewashed twice more - in 1984, 10–0 by Ray Edmonds, and by the same scoreline in 1989 to Ian Graham.

Greaves' performances in the few other ranking tournaments he entered were often without any reward; of the 61 opening matches he played in any event, he won only ten. A run to the last 32 of the English Professional Championship, a non-ranking tournament, in 1988 earned him £563, the largest prize of his career.

Having fallen to 157th in the world rankings, Greaves was relegated from the tour in 1993.