It was announced on Sunday, that one of Llanelli’s greatest sons Terry Griffiths OBE had sadly passed away.
A proud Welshman, Griffiths won the World Championship in 1979 and the Masters in 1980 before completing snooker’s ‘Triple Crown’ in 1982 by winning the UK Championship.
He was also crowned BBC Wales Sport’s Personality of the Year in 1979.
After retiring as a professional player in 1997, Griffiths turned his hand to coaching and mentored many icons of the game, including Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan and many more.
He was also a successful snooker commentator and was admired by snooker fans across the world.
Carmarthenshire County Council Leader Cllr Darren Price paid tribute, on behalf of the Council.
“Terry Griffiths will be remembered as a true snooker legend, whose battles with the likes of Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis inspired generations of snooker fans across the world,” he said.
“There was no doubting Terry’s pride in his hometown of Llanelli – his amazing accomplishments put Llanelli, Carmarthenshire and Wales on the map.
“Whilst working as a commentator and pundit, his strong Llanelli accent was an informative, intelligent and warm expert guide to millions of snooker viewers, whilst his love for the town was evident by his establishing the Terry Griffiths Matchroom in Llanelli during the height of his playing career.
“Our deepest condolences are extended to Terry’s family and friends following his passing.”
Dennis Taylor, who was beaten by Griffiths in the 1979 final, said he was "one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet".
"I managed to see Terry on Saturday, his son Darren brought me in to Llanelli hospital and we did a lot of reminiscing because we go back so far,” said Taylor.
“He had been very bad for the last couple of weeks but still very sad. I know he had been poorly for a couple of years with dementia but it’s a sad loss.
“Terry was a very special person and to come through and win the World Championship through the qualifying rounds was an unbelievable achievement and of course, I was looking forward to winning my first world title.
“I had been in a couple of semi-finals, and 1979 was a great year for me. I had beaten the great Ray Reardon and Steve Davis, so I was looking forward to playing in the final. I led Terry 15-13, and he outplayed me on the final day.
“It was so funny because back in the day, he didn’t have a car with him, Terry. So, Terry and his wife, me and my wife were heading off for a meal with the sponsors.
“We used to go for a meal with the sponsors before we went back into the hotel to the families and there’s the four of us in my car with the World Championship trophy was in the boot of my car. All of the families mingled that night into the early hours of the morning.
“We became very good friends because Terry had two children, Darren and Wayne, and we had three children, Doug Mountjoy had two children, and we used to go to Pontins to the big snooker festival and all of the families would be together.
“We even went to America, all 13 of us, over 40 years ago and went to Disney Land. He was a special person and a great coach.
“Not many of the top players were interested in coaching but Terry was always interested and when we travelled to different countries. I remember us going to Thailand and Hong Kong, and Terry was always there to coach the locals. He loved the game.
“He learned a lot from Frank Callan, the coach that was the ‘Fishmonger from Blackpool’ that taught and coached a lot of the world champions. Terry learned a lot from Frank and took it to a different level,” continued Dennis.
“He was a brilliant player. When you talk about slow players, there were three players, Cliff Thornburn, Eddie Charlton and Terry Griffiths. But in exhibitions, Terry was a very fluent player, but he learnt that if he took his time in the top professional game, he got the results, and it worked for him.
“A wonderful all-round player and a little bit along the lines of the great Ray Reardon, very difficult to beat, very knowledgeable and a wonderful break builder.
“To win that world championship in his first attempt from turning amateur was an incredible achievement. He was very well liked in his homeland of Wales, and everybody remembers in 1979 with that lovely Welsh accent to say, ‘I’m in the world final, you know’.
“He was liked wherever he went in the world,” added Dennis.