swamped 5–0 by John Spencer in the third round. One month later Rea defeated Mike Watterson 9–6 in the first round of the UK Open and held Bob Chaperon to 7–6 in the following round, before losing 9–6. His final appearance in the World Championship came in 1990 when he defeated Pascal Burke 10–4 in the first qualifying round. His next match provided a bizarre and sad conclusion to his playing career. He led Canadian Marcel Gauvreau 6–3 at the mid-session, but the match progressed to 9–9. Rea led 71 points to 17 in the deciding frame with only 43 points remaining on the table, but Gauvreau clawed his way back to win the deciding frame. After fifty years, Rea retired from competitive play, being at the time the second-oldest active professional player (behind Fred Davis). In retirement he agreed to coach local youngsters in his local club, Hazel Grove Snooker Club. Performance and rankings timeline Post-war Modern era Career titles Non-ranking titles (30) Irish Professional Championship 1947–52, 1952–71 (26 times) News of the World Tournament Qualifying Event: 1952/53 News of the World Tournament 1954/55 Chester Professional Tournament 1969, 1970 Amateur titles (3) Northern Ireland Amateur Championship: 1947 All-Ireland Amateur Championship: 1947, 1948 References 1921 births 2013 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers People from Dungannon Snooker players from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from County Tyrone