Joe Johnson (snooker player)

Joe Johnson (born 29 July 1952) is an English former professional snooker player and a snooker commentator for Eurosport. As an amateur, he became the British under-19 champion in 1971, defeating Tony Knowles in the final. After reaching the finals of both the English Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship in 1978, Johnson turned professional the following year. He reached his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he finished runner-up to Knowles, and he progressed to the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic.

With first-round losses in both of his previous Crucible appearances, Johnson started off as a 150‍–‍1 outsider at the 1986 World Snooker Championship. He defeated Terry Griffiths 13‍–‍12 in the quarter-finals, Knowles 16‍–‍8 in the semi-finals, and Steve Davis 18‍–‍12 in the final to win the world title and the only ranking title of his career. As defending champion in 1987, Johnson defeated Stephen Hendry 13‍–‍12 in the quarter-finals and Neal Foulds 16‍–‍9 in the semi-finals, before losing the final 14‍–‍18 to Davis. After his two consecutive appearances in the World Championship final, Johnson subsequently won only a single match in the main stage of the competition, defeating Cliff Wilson in the first round in 1988.

His best performances in the other two Triple Crown events were a semi-final appearance at the 1987 UK Championship (losing 4‍–‍9 to Jimmy White) and another at the 1988 Masters (losing 3‍–‍6 to Davis). He dropped out of the world's "top 16" after the 1989‍–‍90 season and made his last World Championship Crucible appearance in 1991, losing in the first round to Dennis Taylor. Johnson continued playing on the professional tour until 2005, when he retired at age 53 after breaking his ankle. He later competed on the World Seniors Tour and won the 2019 Seniors Masters.