1981 World Snooker Championship

The 1981 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1981 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purpose of sponsorship) was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place between 7 April and 20 April 1981 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), and was the fifth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible since the event was first held there in 1977. The total prize fund for the event was £75,000; the winner received £20,000.

Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates7–20 April 1981
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£75,000
Winner's share£20,000
Highest break Doug Mountjoy (145)
Final
Champion Steve Davis
Runner-up Doug Mountjoy
Score18–12
← 1980
1982 →

The defending champion was Cliff Thorburn, who lost 10–16 in the semi-final to Steve Davis. Davis went on to win his first world title, defeating Doug Mountjoy 18–12 in the final. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy,[1] and received daily coverage on BBC television.

Overview

The World Snooker Championship is an annual cue sport tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker.[2] The first world championship in 1927 was won by Joe Davis, the final being held in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England.[3] Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.[4]

The 1981 tournament featured 32 professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches played over several frames, using a single elimination format. The 32 players were selected for the event through a mix of the snooker world rankings, and a pre-tournament qualification competition.[5] The draw for the event took place on 5 January 1981, in West Bromwich. There were sixteen qualifying groups, with one winner from each group meeting a player seeded into the first round, and the winners of first round matches meeting one of eight players seeded into the second round. Although he had not won a major tournament since the 1978 World Snooker Championship, Ray Reardon was regarded as the bookmaker's favourite to win at that time, priced at 3–1, with Davis the second-favourite at 5–1, followed by Terry Griffiths and Alex Higgins both at 6–1, then Thorburn at 10–1. Mountjoy's odds of winning were assessed as 20–1.[5]

The event was promoted by Mike Watterson with the authority of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.[6] It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC,[7] with over 80 hours of programming scheduled.[6] The event was sponsored by cigarette company Embassy.[1]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[8]

  • Winner: £20,000
  • Runner-up: £10,000
  • Semi-final: £5,000
  • Quarter-final: £2,500
  • Last 16: £1,800
  • Last 32: £875
  • Highest break: £1,200
  • Maximum break: £10,000
  • Total: £75,000

Summary

Qualifying

Qualifying matches took place at Redwood Lodge Country Club, near Bristol, and at Romiley Forum, near Stockport,[9][10] from 23 March to 4 April.[11] All qualifying matches were the best of seventeen frames.[10] Former champion John Pulman lost 2–9 to Dave Martin.[12] Chris Ross, who had experienced a "nervous breakdown" in his first year as a professional, having tuned professional after winning the 1976 English Amateur Championship, found that his bridge hand was unsteady and that he was unable to control his cue properly, and conceded his match against Tony Knowles when trailing 0–7.[13]

First round

The first round matches took place from 7 to 10 April and were the best of nineteen frames.[14] Jimmy White, who turned professional after winning the 1980 World Amateur Championship,[15] Knowles,[16] and Dave Martin, who had been accepted as a professional only a few days before entries closed,[15] all made their World Championship debuts.

Davis made the first century break of the tournament, 119, in the fifth frame of his match against White, on his way to building a 4–2 lead by the end of their first session.[16] He made another century, 102, in their second session, and led 8–4 by the end of that session.[17] In the last session, White closed the gap to one frame, but from 9–8 ahead, Davis won the next, and then defeated White at 10–8.[18]

Knowles compiled a 101 break in his match against Graham Miles. Miles won the match after having earlier been tied at 5–6, 6–6, and 8–8.[16][19] In the eighteenth frame, at one frame behind, Knowles played a forceful shot on the final black, to get a position on the yellow, and missed the black when potting it would have left Miles unable to win the frame without Knowles conceding penalty points. Miles won the frame, and took the next as well to win the match 10–8.[19]

The 1968 World Amateur Champion David Taylor won the first three frames against the 1978 World Amateur Champion Cliff Wilson. Wilson then won four consecutive frames, but Taylor finished their first session 5–4 ahead and went on to defeat Wilson at 10–6.[16] Tony Meo was 4–2 ahead, then later 4–5 behind and 7–5 ahead of John Virgo,[17] before winning 10–6.[20] Meo made a break of 134 during the match.[21] From 5–4, Kirk Stevens won the next five frames to beat John Dunning 10–4.[17] Mountjoy was a frame ahead of Willie Thorne at 5–4, and extended his lead to 9–4 before winning 10–6.[17] Bill Werbeniuk beat Martin 10–4.[20]

The two-times World Amateur Champion Ray Edmonds had never beaten John Spencer in a match, and had lost to him twice in the final of the English Amateur Championship. Edmonds led 5–4 after the first session of their match, but then found himself 5–7 behind as Spencer won three consecutive frames. Edmonds then equalised the score at 7–7, and Spencer drew ahead again to lead 9–7. Edmonds, aided by fluking a pink ball, won the next two frames to force the match to go to a deciding frame. Jack Karnehm later suggested that Spencer was able to win the last frame, in which he made a break of 38, because he had the better ability to handle pressure better than Edmonds did.[19]

Second round

The second round matches took place from 10 to 14 April and were the best of nineteen frames.[22] Davis led 6–2 against Higgins after their first session, but lost five of the eight frames and made only one break over 30 in the second session. Davis won the match 13–9.[18] Mountjoy won the first four frames, then lost the next four, against Eddie Charlton. He then built a lead of 9–6,[18] and won 13–7 to reach his first world championship final since 1977.[23]

Miles only won a single frame in each of the two sessions against defending champion Thorburn. He lost the first session 1–7 and the match 2–13. Eight-times former world snooker champion,[24] and reigning world billiards champion Fred Davis also lost his first session 1–7, and lost his match against David Taylor 3–13.[21] Griffiths and Meo finished their first session all-square at 4–4, but Meo only won two of the next eleven frames, with Griffiths winning at 13–6[18]

Dennis Taylor won four frames in a row from 9–11 to beat Stevens 13–11, and compiled breaks of 135 and 133 during the match.[23] Stevens had been unable to use the practice table at the venue before the match because it was being used to record a programme for television broadcast. According to Karnhem, Stevens was "frustrated and bitterly hot-tempered when he came out for the second session ... his pots missed by fractions, his safety shots would unluckily stay in the open, his judgement was becoming erratic."[19]

Werbeniuk led Perrie Mans 6–2 after their first session, and went on to win 13–5.[23] Former champions Reardon and Spencer were level at 11–11, with Reardon then winning 13–11.[25]

Quarter-finals

The quarter final matches took place from 10 to 12 April and were the best of 25 frames.[26] Davis and Griffiths shared the first eight frames, finishing their first session 4–4.[23] After that, Davis pulled ahead to 9–5,[25] and won 13–9.[27] Thorburn was a frame behind David Taylor as they started their second session, at 3–4,[25] but went on to lead 10–5 and win 13–6.[27] Mountjoy was 5–3 ahead of Dennis Taylor,[25] before falling 5–6 behind, and defeated Taylor 13–8.[27] Reardon beat Werbeniuk 13–8, to reach his first semi-final since 1978.[27]

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches took place from 17 to 18 April and were the best of 31 frames.[28] Mountjoy made the record world snooker championship break of 145 in the twelfth frame against Reardon, pocketing blacks after all reds except the eighth, when he potted the blue.[29] Mountjoy won the match 16–10.[20]

Karnehm described the match between Davis and Thorburn as the best of the championship. Thorburn had lost 0–6 to Davis in a challenge match in Romford, Davis's home area, two weeks before the championship. According to Karnehm, Thorburn "was still seething at this result and the remarks of the gloating Romford fans in their own stronghold"[lower-alpha 1] and the players barely acknowledged each other's presence in the first session of the semi-final.[19] Davis went 4–3 ahead of Thorburn after a long first session,[30] then 6-4 ahead, but was then 6-8 behind as Thorburn won four in succession, scoring 347 points across the four frames to Davis' 35.[19] It was level at 9-9,[29] before Davis won 16–10.[20] In the 22nd frame, Davis was 80–23 ahead with only pink and black remaining, leaving Thorburn no realistic chance of winning the frame. However, when David offered Thorburn a handshake, the acceptance of which would have been an acknowledgement by Thorburn that the frame was lost, Thorburn declined, started to aim for the pink and "in an elaborate mockery of the Steve Davis habit, went over to his chair, [and] took a minute sip of water."[lower-alpha 2] Thorburn later apologised for this behaviour to Davis and, on television, to the public.[19]

Final
Steve Davis (pictured in 2014)

The final was played across four sessions on 19 and 20 April, as a best of 35 frames match.[31][32] It was the first world professional snooker championship final for both players.[33] Mountjoy led 40–0 in points in the first frame, but Davis made a break of 59 to win it, and went on to take all of the first six frames, making breaks of 52, 49, 56, and 40.[31] In the eighth frame, Davis was 49–48 ahead with only the last three balls left on the table. The black ball was very close to the pocket, with the blue ball near it, and the players had, between them, 37 visits to the table on the blue, before the frame was abandoned and restarted due to the stalemate. Mountjoy won the restarted frame with a break of 76, which was the highest of the first session. Mountjoy won the last frame of the first session as well, leaving Davis 6–3 ahead.[33]

In the second session, Davis won the first frame, then Mountjoy the next two, and Davis took the following one, leaving Davis 8-5 ahead at the mid-session interval. Mountjoy compiled a break of 129, his fourth century of the event, in frame 14,[31] and a couple of frames later, Davis fluked the blue to win the 17th.[1] Mountjoy won the last frame of the second to finish 8–10 behind.[33]

On the second day of the final, Davis compiled a break of 83 to win the first frame, and took the next frame as well, making it 12–8. Mountjoy then won two consecutive frames to halve Davis' lead, and they then each won two of the session's last four frames to leave Davis 14–12 ahead going into the fourth and final session. Mountjoy had led by 46 points in the 24th frame before Davis made a break of 55 to win it.[33] Davis made a break of 84 in the first frame of the fourth session, followed by a break of 119, in the second, and won the next two as well to defeat Mountjoy 18–12.[32]

Main draw

Numbers in (parentheses) indicate seedings.

Sources:[34][35][36][37]

  Round 1
Best of 19 frames		 Round 2
Best of 25 frames		 Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames		 Semi-finals
Best of 31 frames		 Final
Best of 35 frames
                                               
Graham Miles (16) 10     Cliff Thorburn (1) 13  
Tony Knowles 8     Graham Miles (16) 2  
  Cliff Thorburn (1) 13  
  David Taylor (9) 6  
David Taylor (9) 10 Fred Davis (8) 3
Cliff Wilson 6     David Taylor (9) 13  
  Cliff Thorburn (1) 10  
  Steve Davis (13) 16  
John Virgo (12) 6     Terry Griffiths (5) 13  
Tony Meo 10     Tony Meo 6  
  Terry Griffiths (5) 9
  Steve Davis (13) 13  
Steve Davis (13) 10 Alex Higgins (4) 8
Jimmy White 8     Steve Davis (13) 13  
  Steve Davis (13) 18
  Doug Mountjoy (14) 12
Doug Mountjoy (14) 10     Eddie Charlton (3) 7  
Willie Thorne 6     Doug Mountjoy (14) 13  
  Doug Mountjoy (14) 13
  Dennis Taylor (6) 8  
Kirk Stevens (11) 10 Dennis Taylor (6) 13
John Dunning 4     Kirk Stevens (11) 11  
  Doug Mountjoy (14) 16
  Ray Reardon (2) 10  
Bill Werbeniuk (10) 10     Perrie Mans (7) 5  
Dave Martin 4     Bill Werbeniuk (10) 13  
  Bill Werbeniuk (10) 10
  Ray Reardon (2) 13  
John Spencer (15) 10 Ray Reardon (2) 13
Ray Edmonds 9     John Spencer (15) 11  
Final:[38] Best-of-35 frames.
Referee: John Williams
Crucible Theatre, 19 & 20 April 1981.
Numbers in bold represent winning scores.
Steve Davis
18–12 Doug Mountjoy
First session, 19 April
Frame 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Davis
50+ Breaks		74
(59)		71
(52)		80
-		81
-		92
(56)		93
-		44
-		9
-		2
-
Mountjoy
50+ Breaks		40
-		38
-		7
-		1
-		14
-		0
-		77
-		110
(76)		70
-
Frames won (Davis first) 1–0 2–0 3–0 4–0 5–0 6–0 6–1 6–2 6–3
Second session, 19 April
Frame 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Davis
50+ Breaks		81
-		61
-		47
-		73
-		0
-		89
(81)		39
-		69
-		49
-
Mountjoy
50+ Breaks		28
-		62
-		57
-		24
-		129
(129)		9
-		63
-		43
-		98
-
Frames won (Davis first) 7–3 7–4 7–5 8–5 8–6 9–6 9–7 10–7 10–8
Third session, 20 April
Frame 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Davis
50+ Breaks		112
(83)		81
-		29
-		30
-		102
(54)		15
-		79
(55)		49
-
Mountjoy
50+ Breaks		15
-		34
-		79
-		86
(68)		9
-		75
-		60
-		57
-
Frames won (Davis first) 11–8 12–8 12–9 12–10 13–10 13–11 14–11 14–12
Fourth session, 20 April
Frame 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Davis
50+ Breaks		100
(84)		119
(119)		62
-		73
-
Mountjoy
50+ Breaks		32
-		8
-		30
-		36
-
Frames won (Davis first) 15–12 16–12 17–12 18–12
119 Highest break 129
1 Century breaks 1
8 50+ breaks 2
Steve Davis wins the 1981 World Snooker Championship

Qualifying

The results from the qualifying competition are shown below.[20] Qualifying matches took place at Redwood Lodge Country Club, near Bristol, and at Romiley Forum, Stockport.[39][10]

  First Qualifying Round
Best of 17 frames		 Second Qualifying Round
Best of 17 frames
             
 Willie Thorne (ENG) 9
 Mario Morra (CAN) 5      Willie Thorne (ENG) 9
 David Greaves (ENG) 9      David Greaves (ENG) 3
 Maurice Parkin (ENG) 5
     Jimmy White (ENG) 9
 Jimmy White (ENG) 9      Jim Meadowcroft (ENG) 8
 Bernie Mikkelsen (CAN) 4
 Ray Edmonds (ENG) 9
 Mark Wildman (ENG) 3      Ray Edmonds (ENG) 9
 Rex Williams (ENG) 9      Rex Williams (ENG) 7
 Sid Hood (ENG) 4
 Tony Meo (ENG) 9
 Joe Johnson (ENG) 8      Tony Meo (ENG) 9
 Mike Hallett (ENG) 9      Mike Hallett (ENG) 4
 Frank Jonik (CAN) 1
     Patsy Fagan (IRE) 7
 John Dunning (ENG) 9      John Dunning (ENG) 9
 Bernard Bennett (ENG) 6
     John Pulman (ENG) 2
 Dave Martin (ENG) 9      Dave Martin (ENG) 9
 Ian Anderson (AUS) 3
 Cliff Wilson (WAL) 9
 Roy Andrewartha (WAL) 4      Cliff Wilson (WAL) 9
 Eddie Sinclair (SCO) 9      Eddie Sinclair (SCO) 4
 Paddy Morgan (AUS) 8
     Jim Wych (CAN) 3
 Tony Knowles (ENG) 7      Tony Knowles (ENG) 9
 Chris Ross (SCO)[lower-alpha 3] 0

Century breaks

There were 13 century breaks in the championship, equalling the record from 1979. Mountjoy meanwhile made a record at the World Championship making a 145 break beating the 142 of Rex Williams in 1965 and Bill Werbeniuk in 1979. With this record he earned a £5,000 bonus.[8] His record would last until the 1983 tournament.[40][41]

Notes
  1. Karnehm p.53
  2. Karnehm p.54
  3. retired from the match at 0–7
gollark: Maybe *you're* a Russian spy.
gollark: Maybe I'm not even a Russian spy.
gollark: Maybe not a double agent at all, but bluffing.
gollark: Or possibly a triple double agent.
gollark: I'm actually a double agent.

References
  1. Friskin, Sydney (21 April 1981). "Davis pockets the honour and counts the money as a bonus". The Times. London. p. 9.
  2. "Why Sheffield truly is the 'home of snooker' as World Championship gets underway". thestar.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. pp. 163–165. ISBN 978-0-60055604-6.
  4. Historic England. "The Crucible Theatre (1392311)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  5. Everton, Clive (6 January 1981). "Scope for surprises". The Guardian. London. p. 21.
  6. Bateman, Cynthia (3 April 1981). "Chess with balls". The Guardian. London. p. 16.
  7. "Television/Radio". The Guardian. London. 4 April 1981. p. 16. Coverage of course will be many times daily.
  8. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  9. "Snooker". The Guardian. London. 31 March 1981. p. 24.
  10. Karnehm, Jack (1982). World snooker No. 2. Pelham. p. 12. ISBN 0-7207-1398-6.
  11. "Higgins faces repeat". Liverpool Echo. 6 January 1981. p. 13.
  12. "Snooker". The Guardian. London. 31 March 1981. p. 24.
  13. "Snooker". The Guardian. London. 4 April 1981. p. 24.
  14. References
    • For "From 7 April", Friskin, Sydney (7 April 1981). "Davis can beat the system". The Times. London. p. 10.
    • For "best of nineteen frames", Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0851124488.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 8 April 1981. p. 18.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 9 April 1981. p. 20.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 10 April 1981. p. 20.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 11 April 1981. p. 26.
  15. Everton, Clive (7 April 1981). "Thorburn on cue to retain title". The Guardian. London. p. 23.
  16. Everton, Clive (8 April 1981). "Fine start by Davis". The Guardian. London. p. 18.
  17. Everton, Clive (9 April 1981). "Davis in command". The Guardian. London. p. 20.
  18. Everton, Clive (13 April 1981). "Calm Davis clears the Higgins hurdle". The Guardian. London. p. 9.
  19. Karnehm, Jack (1982). World snooker No. 2. Pelham. pp. 50–54. ISBN 0-7207-1398-6.
  20. Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0851124488.
  21. Everton, Clive (11 April 1981). "Determined Davis cruises on". The Guardian. London. p. 6.
  22. References
    • For "best of nineteen frames", Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0851124488.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 10 April 1981. p. 20.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 11 April 1981. p. 26.
    • Everton, Clive (13 April 1981). "Calm Davis clears the Higgins hurdle". The Guardian. London. p. 9.
    • Everton, Clive (14 April 1981). "Taylor stages fighting finish". The Guardian. London. p. 22.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 15 April 1981. p. 20.
  23. Everton, Clive (14 April 1981). "Taylor stages fighting finish". The Guardian. London. p. 22.
  24. "Tributes to cue king Fred Davis". BBC. 16 April 1998. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  25. Everton, Clive (15 April 1981). "Reardon survives the test". The Guardian. London. p. 20.
  26. References
    • For "best of 25 frames", Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0851124488.
    • Everton, Clive (14 April 1981). "Taylor stages fighting finish". The Guardian. London. p. 22.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 15 April 1981. p. 20.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 16 April 1981. p. 20.
  27. Everton, Clive (16 April 1981). "Davis keeps his nerve". The Guardian. London. p. 20.
  28. References
    • For "best of 31 frames", Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0851124488.
    • "Results". The Guardian. London. 18 April 1981. p. 22.
    • Welch, Julie (18 April 1981). "Davis in the pink". The Observer. London. p. 22.
  29. Everton, Clive (18 April 1981). "Mountjoy breaks into the money". The Guardian. London. p. 22.
  30. Everton, Clive (1981). The Guinness Book of Snooker. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN 0851122302.
  31. Everton, Clive (20 April 1981). "Mountjoy recovers from demoralising start". The Guardian. London. p. 15.
  32. Everton, Clive (21 April 1981). "A Davis in the great tradition". The Guardian. London. p. 25.
  33. Morrison, Ian (1989). Snooker: records, facts and champions. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 0851123643.
  34. "World Championship 1981". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  35. "1981 World Championships Results Grid". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  36. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  37. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 12–13.
  38. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  39. "Snooker". The Guardian. London. 31 March 1981. p. 24.
  40. "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  41. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 146.

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