1979 World Snooker Championship

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1979 Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates16–28 April 1979 (1979-04-16 – 1979-04-28)
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£35,000
Winner's share£10,000
Highest break Bill Werbeniuk (CAN) (142)
Final
Champion Terry Griffiths (WAL)
Runner-up Dennis Taylor (NIR)
Score24–16
1978
1980

The 1979 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1979 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship reasons) was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 28 April 1979 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), it was the third consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977.

A qualifying event for the championship was held, producing eight qualifiers who joined the eight invited seeded players in the main event. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The winner received £10,000 from the total prize fund of £35,000.

Tournament debutant Terry Griffiths met Dennis Taylor in the final, which was a best-of-47-frames match. Griffiths won the match 24–16, to become the first player to proceed from the qualifying competition and win the title at the Crucible. There were 13 century breaks compiled during the championship, the highest of which was 142 by Bill Werbeniuk.

Overview[]

The World Snooker Championship is an annual professional snooker tournament organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).[1] Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India,[2] the cue sport was popular in the British Isles.[1] However, in the modern era, which started in 1969 when the World Championship reverted to a knockout format,[3] it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.[4][5][6]

Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, hosted by the Billiards Association and Control Council, the final match being held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England.[7]: 23 [8] Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.[9] The 1979 championship featured sixteen professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a single-elimination format, each match played over several frames. These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players in the snooker world rankings and the winners of a pre-tournament qualification stage.[10][11]

Tournament summary[]

  • Griffiths began the tournament by defeating Bernard Bennett and Jim Meadowcroft in the qualifying rounds. At the Crucible, he defeated Perrie Mans in the first round, followed by a 13–12 victory over Alex Higgins in the quarter-final.[12] In the semi-final he trailed Eddie Charlton by 16–17 before winning 19–17 at 1:40 a.m., the latest finish of any match at the time.[13] Griffiths then beat future champion Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, to win the world title at his first attempt.[13][14] He became the first qualifier to win the title at the Crucible.[15]
  • Kirk Stevens and future six-time champion Steve Davis made their Championship debuts, but they lost in the last-16 round: 8–13 to Fred Davis and 11–13 to Dennis Taylor, respectively.[16][17]
  • Aged 65 years and 247 days, Fred Davis became the oldest ever player to win a match at the Crucible. Three days later he also became the oldest player to reach the quarter-finals.[18]
  • John Williams refereed the final.[19]

Prize fund[]

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[12][20]

  • Winner: £10,000
  • Runner-up: £5,000
  • Third place: £3,000
  • Fourth place: £2,000
  • Quarter-final: £1,250
  • Last 16: £1,000
  • Highest break: £500
  • Maximum break: £10,000
  • Total: £35,500

Main draw[]

The results for the tournament are shown below. The numbers in brackets denote players seedings, whilst players in bold are match winners.[12][21][22][23]

 
Last 16
Best of 25 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 37 frames
Final
Best of 47 frames
 
              
 
17, 18 & 19 April
 
 
 Ray Reardon (WAL) (1)13
 
20 & 21 April
 
 Graham Miles (ENG)8
 
Wales Ray Reardon (1)8
 
18 & 19 April
 
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (8)13
 
 Dennis Taylor (NIR) (8)13
 
22, 23, 24 & 25 April
 
 Steve Davis (ENG) 11
 
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (8)19
 
19 & 20 April
 
England John Virgo12
 
 Cliff Thorburn (CAN) (5)10
 
20 & 21 April
 
 John Virgo (ENG)13
 
England John Virgo13
 
17 & 18 April
 
Canada Bill Werbeniuk9
 
 John Spencer (ENG) (4)11
 
26, 27 & 28 April
 
 Bill Werbeniuk (CAN)13
 
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (8)16
 
16 & 17 April
 
Wales Terry Griffiths24
 
 Eddie Charlton (AUS) (3)13
 
19, 20 & 21 April
 
 Doug Mountjoy (WAL)6
 
Australia Eddie Charlton (3)13
 
16, 17 & 18 April
 
England Fred Davis (6)4
 
 Fred Davis (ENG) (6)13
 
22, 23, 24 & 25 April
 
 Kirk Stevens (CAN)8
 
Australia Eddie Charlton (3)17
 
16, 17 & 18 April
 
Wales Terry Griffiths19 Third place
Best of 13 frames
 
 Alex Higgins (NIR) (7)13
 
19, 20 & 21 April 26 & 27 April
 
 David Taylor (ENG)5
 
Northern Ireland Alex Higgins (7)12 England John Virgo3
 
16 & 17 April
 
Wales Terry Griffiths13 Australia Eddie Charlton (3)7
 
 Perrie Mans (RSA) (2)8
 
 
 Terry Griffiths (WAL)13
 

Qualifying[]

The results from the qualifying competition are shown below, with match winners denoted in bold:[12]

Century breaks[]

There were 13 century breaks at the championship, the highest being 142 by Bill Werbeniuk.[24][25] There was also a £5,000 bonus for compiling a higher break than the championship record of 142.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Harris, Luke J. (3 January 2020). "21. Snooker and billiards". In Nauright, John; Zipp, Sarah (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Global Sport. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis. pp. 227–237. ISBN 9781138887237. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  2. ^ Williams, Victoria R. (28 April 2015). Weird Sports and Wacky Games around the World: From Buzkashi to Zorbing. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 286. ISBN 9781610696395. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  3. ^ "John Higgins eyes more crucible titles". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2020. the modern era, which began in 1969 when the World Championship became a knockout event.
  4. ^ "The Rise Of China". wst.tv. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 26 February 2018. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  5. ^ Wilson, Bill (24 April 2015). "Snooker looks to cue up more big breaks in China". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Snooker world champion, Hongkonger Ng On-yee aims to change image of male-dominated game". Hong Kong Free Press. Agence France-Presse. 17 March 2018. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. ^ Everton, Clive (2012). Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 9781780575681.
  8. ^ "History of Snooker – a Timeline". wpbsa. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  9. ^ Clarke, Gary (2008). A Billiards and Snooker Compendium. Rothersthorpe: Paragon Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 9781899820467. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  10. ^ "World championship prospects...". Snooker Scene. Birmingham: Everton's News Agency. April 1979. p. 3.
  11. ^ "Crucible Draw And Format". wst.tv. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d "World Championship 1979". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  13. ^ a b "Then and Now: Terry Griffiths". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  14. ^ Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  15. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 119.
  16. ^ "Steve Davis at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  17. ^ "Kirk Stevens at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  18. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 132–134.
  19. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  20. ^ a b Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  21. ^ "1979 World Championships Results Grid". Snooker Database. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  22. ^ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  23. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 8–9.
  24. ^ "Crucible Centuries". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  25. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 146.
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