1977 World Snooker Championship
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18–30 April 1977 |
| Venue | Crucible Theatre |
| City | Sheffield |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £17,000[1] |
| Winner's share | £6,000[1] |
| Highest break |  John Spencer (ENG) (135) |
| Final | |
| Champion | John Spencer (ENG) |
| Runner-up |  Cliff Thorburn (CAN) |
| Score | 25–21 |
← 1976 1978 → | |
The 1977 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1977 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 18 and 30 April 1977 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
John Spencer won in the final 25–21 against Cliff Thorburn.[2] The event was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy. Spencer at the age of 41 was the first man to win the title at the Crucible.
Tournament summary[]
- This was the first time that the World Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre. It was staged there by promoter Mike Watterson, who chose the venue after his wife saw a play there.[2][3]
- This was also the first world championship to be played since the world rankings were introduced.[2]
- Spencer won his third World title by defeating Thorburn 25–21 in the final.[2] He was the first player to win the title with a two-piece cue, after his previous cue was smashed in a car accident.[4][5]
- Patsy Fagan, John Virgo, Doug Mountjoy and Willie Thorne made their World Championship debut.[6][7][8][9]
- The final was refereed by John Smyth.[10]
Prize fund[]
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[11]
- Winner: £6,000
- Runner-up: £2,000
- Semi-final: £1,200
- Quarter-final: £750
- Last 16: £350
- Highest break: £500
- Total: £17,000
Main draw[]
Numbers in (parentheses) indicate seedings.
| Last 16 Best of 25 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 25 frames | Semi-finals Best of 35 frames | Final Best of 49 frames | |||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | ||||||||||||||
 Ray Reardon (1) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 22 & 23 April | ||||||||||||||
 Patsy Fagan | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Ray Reardon (1) | 6 | |||||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Spencer (8) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| John Spencer (8) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 24, 25, 26 & 27 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Virgo | 9 | |||||||||||||
| John Spencer (8) | 18 | |||||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Pulman | 16 | |||||||||||||
| Graham Miles (5) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 22 & 23 April | ||||||||||||||
| Willie Thorne | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Graham Miles (5) | 10 | |||||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Pulman | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Fred Davis (4) | 12 | |||||||||||||
| 28, 29, & 30 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Pulman | 13 | |||||||||||||
| John Spencer (8) | 25 | |||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
| Cliff Thorburn | 21 | |||||||||||||
 Eddie Charlton (3) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 22 & 23 April | ||||||||||||||
| David Taylor | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Eddie Charlton (3) | 12 | |||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
| Cliff Thorburn | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Rex Williams (6) | 6 | |||||||||||||
| 24, 25, 26 & 27 April | ||||||||||||||
| Cliff Thorburn | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Cliff Thorburn | 18 | |||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
 Dennis Taylor | 16 | |||||||||||||
 Perrie Mans (7) | 11 | |||||||||||||
| 22 & 23 April | ||||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
| Doug Mountjoy | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins (2) | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Doug Mountjoy | 13 | |||||||||||||
Qualifying[]
The qualifying rounds took place at Hounslow Civic Centre in Hounslow, London between 28 March and 9 April 1977.
| Round 1 (Best of 21 frames) | ||
| John Virgo |
11–1 | Roy Andrewartha
|
| Round 2 (Best of 21 frames) | ||
| Patsy Fagan |
11–9 | Jim Meadowcroft
|
| John Virgo |
11–6 | John Dunning
|
| Willie Thorne |
11–4 | Bernard Bennett
|
| John Pulman |
w/o–w/d | Maurice Parkin
|
| David Taylor |
11–0 | David Greaves
|
| Cliff Thorburn |
11–0 |  Chris Ross
|
| Dennis Taylor |
11–0 | Jack Karnehm
|
| Doug Mountjoy |
11–9 | Jackie Rea
|
Century breaks[]
There were six century breaks at the championship. The highest break of the tournament was 135 made by John Spencer.[16][17][18]
- 135, 105 – John Spencer
- 111, 100 – Cliff Thorburn
- 105 – Eddie Charlton
- 102 – Doug Mountjoy
References[]
- ^ a b c d "World Championship 1977". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "World Snooker Championship Trivia". Embassy Snooker. Archived from the original on 4 December 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ^ "Then and Now: John Spencer". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ Kastner, Hugo. "Snooker – Spieler, Regeln & Rekorde (May 2011 update): Sammelsurium von World Championship Highlights" (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Patsy Fagan at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ "John Virgo at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ "Doug Mountjoy at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ "Willie Thorne at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
- ^ "1977 World Championships Results Grid". Snooker Database. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 4–5.
- ^ a b Eric, Hayton (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. London: Rose Villa Publications. p. 146. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
- ^ Kastner, Hugo. "Snooker – Spieler, Regeln & Rekorde (May 2011 update): Crucible Records – bis 2011" (PDF) (in German). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 146.
Categories:
- World Snooker Championships
- 1977 in snooker
- 1977 in English sport
- Sports competitions in Sheffield
- April 1977 sports events in the United Kingdom