Joe Johnson (snooker player)

Joseph Johnson (born Joseph Malik, 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 George Crimes in the final. He turned professional in 1979, having reached the finals of both the English Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship the previous year. He appeared in his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he was runner-up to Tony Knowles, and he progressed to the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic.

With first-round losses in his two previous World Snooker Championship appearances, Johnson started off as a 150‍–‍1 outsider at the 1986 World 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, this the only ranking title of his career. As the defending champion in 1987, he defeated Stephen Hendry 13‍–‍12 in the quarter-finals and Neal Foulds 16‍–‍9 in the semi-finals, before losing 14‍–‍18 to Davis in the final. After reaching two consecutive World Championship finals, Johnson subsequently won only one 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 where he lost 4‍–‍9 to Jimmy White, and another at the 1988 Masters where he lost 3‍–‍6 to Davis. Having reached a career high of fifth place in the 1987–88 snooker world rankings, he dropped out of the world's top 16 after the 1989‍–‍90 season. Johnson made his last Crucible appearance at the 1991 World Championship, 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 in seniors events and won the 2019 Seniors Masters.