1979 World Snooker Championship
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| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16–28 April 1979 |
| Venue | Crucible Theatre |
| City | Sheffield |
| Country | England |
| Organisation(s) | WPBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £35,000 |
| Winner's share | £10,000 |
| Highest break |  Bill Werbeniuk (142) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Terry Griffiths |
| Runner-up |  Dennis Taylor |
| Score | 24–16 |
← 1978 1980 → | |
The 1979 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1979 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship purposes) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 16 and 28 April 1979 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
Terry Griffiths won in the final 24–16 against Dennis Taylor. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
Tournament summary[edit]
- 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.[1] In the semi-final he trailed Eddie Charlton by 16–17 before winning 19–17 at 1.40am, the latest finish of any match at the time.[2] Griffiths then beat future champion Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, to win the world title at his first attempt.[2][3] He became the first qualifier to win the title at the Crucible.[4]
- 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.[5][6]
- 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.[7]
- John Williams refereed the final.[8]
Prize fund[edit]
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[1][9]
- 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[edit]
Numbers in (parentheses) indicate seedings.
| 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 (1) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
 Graham Miles | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Ray Reardon (1) | 8 | |||||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | ||||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor (8) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor (8) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 22, 23, 24 & 25 April | ||||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor (8) | 19 | |||||||||||||
| 19 & 20 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Virgo | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Cliff Thorburn (5) | 10 | |||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
| John Virgo | 13 | |||||||||||||
| John Virgo | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 17 & 18 April | ||||||||||||||
| Bill Werbeniuk | 9 | |||||||||||||
| John Spencer (4) | 11 | |||||||||||||
| 26, 27 & 28 April | ||||||||||||||
| Bill Werbeniuk | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor (8) | 16 | |||||||||||||
| 16 & 17 April | ||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 24 | |||||||||||||
 Eddie Charlton (3) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 19, 20 & 21 April | ||||||||||||||
| Doug Mountjoy | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Eddie Charlton (3) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 16, 17 & 18 April | ||||||||||||||
| Fred Davis (6) | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Fred Davis (6) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 22, 23, 24 & 25 April | ||||||||||||||
| Kirk Stevens | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Eddie Charlton (3) | 17 | |||||||||||||
| 16, 17 & 18 April | ||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 19 | Third place Best of 13 frames | ||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins (7) | 13 | |||||||||||||
| 19, 20 & 21 April | 26 & 27 April | |||||||||||||
| David Taylor | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins (7) | 12 | John Virgo | 3 | |||||||||||
| 16 & 17 April | ||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 13 | Eddie Charlton (3) | 7 | |||||||||||
 Perrie Mans (2) | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 13 | |||||||||||||
Qualifying[edit]
Source:[1]
|
|
Century breaks[edit]
There were 13 century breaks at the championship, the highest being 142 by Bill Werbeniuk.[13][14] There was also a £5,000 bonus for compiling a higher break than the championship record of 142.[9]
- 142 Bill Werbeniuk
- 125 Cliff Thorburn
- 121, 120, 107, 101 Terry Griffiths
- 112, 105 Alex Higgins
- 112 John Spencer
- 110, 109 Fred Davis
- 106 Eddie Charlton
- 106 Dennis Taylor
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "World Championship 1979". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ a b "Then and Now: Terry Griffiths". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 119.
- ^ "Steve Davis at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Kirk Stevens at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 132–134.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
- ^ a b Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
- ^ "1979 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. 8–9.
- ^ "Crucible Centuries". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 146.