Known throughout his professional career as ‘Danny The Dustman’ on account of his previous occupation, Danny Fowler had no idea of his unwanted place in snooker’s record books.
Fowler’s defeat to Stephen Hendry in the World Championship first round in 1993 represented the worst Crucible performance, in terms of total points scored, until Luo Honghao’s capitulation against Shaun Murphy on Monday.
Fowler amassed 191 points in his 10-1 defeat to reigning champion Stephen Hendry, including 60 in the penultimate frame to avoid a whitewash, while Honghao ended up with the dreaded ‘bagel’ in a 10-0 loss that yielded just 89 points.
Contacted at his home in Worksop, Fowler, who retired from the game in 1997 to work on a friend’s maggot farm, said he was completely unaware of his 26-year-old record – but happy it had been eclipsed.
“If I’d known I’d have been watching a bit more closely and counting the points,” Fowler told Press Association Sport. “I still like following the game but I didn’t expect to be back in the news.”
The first Crucible whitewash since 1992! ?#ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/OFNcLBCK17
— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker) April 22, 2019
Fowler peaked at world number 28 and reached two ranking semi-finals in his career, but said it was his misfortune to run into Hendry when the Scot was starting to establish his dominance of the sport.
“You had to be good to get through to the tournament in the first place,” added Fowler, who dealt a 10-0 whitewash of his own to his opponent Karl Broughton in the final round of qualifying.
“I bet my mate a tenner that I’d draw Hendry and of course it happened. He completely out-played me for nine frames and I spent the night telling myself I just had to avoid a whitewash, which fortunately I did.”
Another of Fowler’s places in the snooker record books still remains. He was on the receiving end of the fastest winning frame in ranking event history, a three-minute triumph by Tony Drago at the International Open in 1988.
