Bernard Bennett was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional player of snooker

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

 and English billiards

English billiards

English billiards, called simply billiards in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, is a hybrid form of carom and pocket billiards played on a billiard table. Billiards is less well known as "the English game", "the all-in game" and "the common game".The game is for...

, who competed in the late 1960s and 1970s, and was a professional player for nearly 30 years, although he spent most of his latter playing years in relative obscurity well down the rankings.

He entered the 1969 World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship 1969

The 1969 World Snooker Championship was the first championship in a knockout format since 1951, following years of single matches and challenge matches. The event was held at the Victoria Hall, London...

, but was defeated in the first round 4–25 by Rex Williams

Rex Williams

Rex Williams , son of Minnie Roberts and William Williams, is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player.Williams was an excellent junior player in both snooker and billiards. His professional career began in 1951, during a period of decline in snooker...

, and competed in the 1970 event

World Snooker Championship 1970

The 1970 World Snooker Championship took place in April 1970 and like the previous year the final was at London's Victoria Hall.Ray Reardon won in the final 38–22 against John Pulman, and picked up £1,225.- Notable happening :...

 but was defeated 8–11 in the first round by David Taylor

David Taylor (snooker player)

David Taylor is a semi-retired English professional snooker player. He won the World and English Amateur Championships in 1968, before the success of those wins encouraged him to turn professional. Although an excellent player, Taylor never quite reached the very top of the game...

. His final shot at an international title was somewhat more successful, but still a disappointment, when he came in 2nd place in one of the two 1971 World Professional Billiards Championship

World Professional Billiards Championship

The World Billiards Championship is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards. It has been played annually since 1980, is one of the oldest sporting World Championships in the world, dating in earnest to the mid-19th century...

s, the only event of this type that he entered.

Bennett was a founding member of the Professional Billiards Players' Association, and, as well as being a player, was a well-respected administrator and coach for many years, and ran a snooker club in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

.

He died in 2002.