(Reuters) -Six-times world snooker champion Ray Reardon has died at the age of 91 after being diagnosed with cancer, World Snooker Tour reported on Saturday.
Welshman Reardon, who died late on Friday, dominated snooker in the 1970s, winning his first world title in 1970 and five more during the rest of the decade.
Nicknamed ‘Dracula’ due to his widow's peak hairstyle, Reardon was one of the most popular and charismatic figures in the sport. He continued to play snooker in his spare time after retiring in 1991 at the age of 58.
The winner's trophy of the Welsh Open was named the "Ray Reardon Trophy" in his honour in 2016. Reardon was also a mentor to Ronnie O’Sullivan, guiding the seven-times world champion to his second title in 2004.
“Ray is one of the best sports people ever from Wales and the best snooker player," Reardon's compatriot and three-times world champion Mark Williams said in a statement.
"He’s one of the reasons why a lot of us started playing. He put snooker on the map, alongside Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and Steve Davis. Anyone playing now owes them a lot because they brought popularity to the game. He is a real inspiration.”
Reardon beat his contemporary White in the 1983 International Masters to win his last title. "Gutted to hear my very good friend Ray Reardon has passed away," White wrote in a post on X.
"A total class act and very kind to me when I was making my way in the game. A giant of the game. Rest in Peace mate."
Four-times world champion Mark Selby wrote: "Did not manage to be in his presence much but what a legend of our sport. RIP Ray."
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
