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Pot Black

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Pot Black
Tournament information
VenueSheffield City Hall
LocationSheffield
CountryEngland
Established1969
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatNon-ranking event
Final year2007
Final championRepublic of Ireland Ken Doherty

Pot Black was a BBC television series of annual snooker tournaments held in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1986, which carried no ranking points, but played a large part in the popularisation of the modern game. The event was revived in the form of several one-off tournaments throughout the 1990s and up to 2007. Pot Black helped transform snooker from a minority sport with just a handful of professionals into one of the most popular sports in the United Kingdom.[1] Mark Williams holds the event's highest break record of 119.

History

The BBC began broadcasting in colour in 1967 and was looking for programmes that could exploit this new technology.[1][2] Broadcasting snooker, then still a minor sport, was the brainchild of the then controller of BBC Two, David Attenborough.[3] The first Pot Black was held in 1969 at the BBC Studios in Birmingham. The programme first aired on 23 July 1969, on BBC2.[2] The event featured eight players, namely Gary Owen, Jackie Rea, John Pulman, Ray Reardon, Fred Davis, Rex Williams, Kingsley Kennerley and John Spencer.[4] The event continued until 1986, by which time more and more snooker events were being televised and the Pot Black format was becoming outdated. It returned in 1990, but was discontinued after the 1993 event.[1]

A one-day Pot Black tournament was held on 29 October 2005, and broadcast on the BBC's Grandstand. The event featured eight players, namely Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Stephen Maguire, Matthew Stevens, Paul Hunter, John Higgins, Jimmy White and Shaun Murphy, with Stevens beating Murphy in the final.[2][5] The 2006 edition of Pot Black took place at the Royal Automobile Club in London on 2 September 2006. Mark Williams beat John Higgins and achieved the highest break in the history of the tournament with a 119 clearance in the final.[6] The 2007 edition, the final Pot Black to date, was aired on Saturday 6 October 2007 on BBC One.[2][7] It was won by Ken Doherty, who beat Shaun Murphy 71–36, making him the first Irishman to win the competition.[8]

There have only been six century breaks in the history of Pot Black.[6] Eddie Charlton notched the first-ever century in 1973, and his 110 break stood as the event record for many years until eclipsed by Shaun Murphy's 111 against Jimmy White in 2005. The Pot Black highest break record is currently held by Mark Williams, with his 119 in 2006.[6][9]

Format

In the history of Pot Black the tournament used many formats. In the first year eight players participated, but overall the number of players varied between six and sixteen. It was originally played as a knockout tournament, but later employed a round robin format.[1] A player's total number of points scored could often become crucial, so matches always ended with the potting of the black ball.[2]

All matches were played over one frame, except the final, which used many different formats. Initially it was played just over one frame, but in 1974 an aggregate score of two frames was tried. This was however abandoned and the single frame final returned in 1975. From 1978 to 1986 and in 1991 the final was decided over three frames.[1] In 1991 a "time-frame" format was added, which limited the time each player could spend at the table.[1]

Other versions

A junior version, called Junior Pot Black, ran from 1981 to 1983 and that was also revived in 1991, for a single year. It was won by Dean Reynolds, John Parrott (twice) and Ronnie O'Sullivan. The event was revived as a side event to the World Snooker Championship, with the final played on the main match table.[1] The event remained there until 2009. A senior version, called Seniors Pot Black was held in 1997, featuring players who were over 40 at the time. Joe Johnson won the series.[2]

A Celebrity Pot Black was held on 15 July 2006 in aid of Sport Relief. It was contested between the team of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Bradley Walsh and the team of Steve Davis and Vernon Kay. Davis and Kay were the winners.[2] It was presented by Dermot O'Leary, commentated by John Parrott and refereed by Michaela Tabb.[10]

In 1980, the games company Waddingtons published a game designed by David Parlett based on the show. It was a dice game using custom dice to represent the reds, colours and miscued shots. The game represented Snooker rather well, but like all sports dice games there was little if any skill involved in the game as the game relied on the randomness of dice rolls, although there are some parts in which skill could be involved (for example the use of Snookers.) The Welsh Snooker Player Ray Reardon lent his name to the game.

Production

The events were recorded in a single day at the BBC Studios in Birmingham, but the matches were shown in half-hour programmes over the winter. The press co-operated and revealed the scores only after a match had been transmitted. Between 2005 and 2006 the whole tournament was broadcast over one day.[1] Pot Black's theme tune was the ragtime classic "Black and White Rag", composed by George Botsford and performed by Winifred Atwell. Atwell had made the recording in 1952, on a specially de-tuned grand piano, not the upright piano she acquired later and made famous.[2]

The first series of Pot Black in 1969 was hosted by Keith Macklin and it was then hosted by Alan Weeks until 1984. David Icke took over in 1985 and 1986. Eamonn Holmes hosted the event in 1991 and 1992, but was replaced by David Vine in 1993. Vine also hosted Senior Pot Black in 1997. The latest revival of the event was hosted by Hazel Irvine.[2] Pot Black is credited with producing one of the most memorable British sports quotes. Legendary commentator Ted Lowe, aware that not all viewers had colour televisions, said "and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green."[11]

Winners

[1][12]

Pot Black

Year Winner Runner-up Final score (frames) Final score (points) Highest break[13]
1969 Wales Ray Reardon England John Spencer 1–0 88–29 Wales Ray Reardon (99)
1970 England John Spencer Wales Ray Reardon 1–0 88–27 England Fred Davis (54)
1971 England John Spencer England Fred Davis 1–0 61–40 England Fred Davis (73)
1972 Australia Eddie Charlton Wales Ray Reardon 1–0 75–43 England John Spencer (66)
1973 Australia Eddie Charlton England Rex Williams 1–0 93–33 Australia Eddie Charlton (110)
1974 England Graham Miles England John Spencer [n 1] 147–86[n 1] England Graham Miles (68)
1975 England Graham Miles Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 1–0 81–27 England Fred Davis (87)
1976 England John Spencer Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 1–0 69–42 Australia Eddie Charlton (64)
1977 South Africa Perrie Mans Wales Doug Mountjoy 1–0 90–21 South Africa Perrie Mans (59)
1978 Wales Doug Mountjoy England Graham Miles 2–1 43–55, 97–23, 111–16 Wales Doug Mountjoy (101)
1979 Wales Ray Reardon Wales Doug Mountjoy 2–1 79–51, 25–82, 84–41 Wales Doug Mountjoy (82)
1980 Australia Eddie Charlton Wales Ray Reardon 2–1 16–74, 85–30, 68–54 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (87)
1981 Canada Cliff Thorburn Canada Jim Wych 2–0 68–39, 85–50 Canada Kirk Stevens (79)
1982[13] England Steve Davis Australia Eddie Charlton 2–0 82–40, 85–38 Australia Eddie Charlton (98)
1983[13] England Steve Davis Wales Ray Reardon 2–0 61–60, 82–47 Wales Ray Reardon (91)
1984[13] Wales Terry Griffiths England John Spencer 2–1 57–65, 77–8, 70–35 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (81)
1985 Wales Doug Mountjoy England Jimmy White 2–0 64-5, 66-30 England Jimmy White (80)
1986 England Jimmy White Canada Kirk Stevens 2–0 60-46, 106-21 England Jimmy White (106)[6]
1991 England Steve Davis Scotland Stephen Hendry 2–1
1992 England Neal Foulds Thailand James Wattana 1–0
1993[14] England Steve Davis England Mike Hallett 2–0 England David Roe (104)
2005 Wales Matthew Stevens England Shaun Murphy 1–0 53–27 England Shaun Murphy (111)[5]
2006 Wales Mark Williams Scotland John Higgins 1–0 119–13 Wales Mark Williams (119)[6]
2007 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty England Shaun Murphy 1–0 71–36 Scotland Graeme Dott (67)[7]

Junior Pot Black

Year Winner Runner-up Final score (frames) Final score (points)
1981 England Dean Reynolds New Zealand Dene O'Kane 151–79[n 2]
1982 England John Parrott England John Keers 169–70[n 2]
1983 England John Parrott England Steve Ventham 1–1 Pink ball game
1991 England Ronnie O'Sullivan Republic of Ireland Declan Murphy 2–0 126-0, 98-30
2006 England Stuart Carrington Scotland Anthony McGill 1–0 58–46
2007 England Mitchell Mann England Jack Lisowski 1–0 76–23
2008 Republic of Ireland Jason Devaney Wales Duane Jones 1–0 61–28
2009 [15][16] Scotland Ross Muir Wales Jak Jones 1–0 24–13[n 3]
2010 [17][18] Wales Jamie Clarke Wales Tom Rees 1–0 43–30

Seniors Pot Black

Year Winner Runner-up Final score (frames) Final score (points)
1997 England Joe Johnson Wales Terry Griffiths 2–0 85–32, 70–17

Celebrity Pot Black

Year Winner Runner-up Final score (frames) Final score (points)
2006 England Steve Davis
England Vernon Kay 		England Ronnie O'Sullivan
England Bradley Walsh 		1–0 74–45

Notes

  1. ^ a b Final decided on aggregate score over two frames. The individual frame scores were 77–37 and 70–49.
  2. ^ a b Final decided on aggregate score over two frames
  3. ^ Events were played with the six-red snooker variant.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Pot Black, Junior Pot Black". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Pot Black". UKGameshows.com. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  3. ^ John Nauright (2012). Sports around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 191. ISBN 159884301X.
  4. ^ "July anniversaries". BBC. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b "2005 Pot Black Cup". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e "2006 Pot Black Cup". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 27 June 2007.
  7. ^ a b "2007 Pot Black". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009.
  8. ^ "Doherty secures Pot Black title". BBC Sport. 6 October 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  9. ^ "1991 Pot Black". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Celebrity Pot Black". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  11. ^ Oakes, Keily (19 April 2004). "Forty landmarks from BBC Two". BBC News. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  12. ^ "Pot Black History". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
  13. ^ a b c d Perrin, Reg (1984). Pot Black 1985 (New rev. ed.). London: British Broadcasting Corporation. ISBN 9780563202936.
  14. ^ "1993 Pot Black". CueTracker - Snooker Database. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  15. ^ "Knowles Takes Super 6s Crown". World Snooker. Retrieved 20 December 2009.[dead link]
  16. ^ "Knowles is crowned Super 6 king". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Clarke Wins Junior Title". World Snooker. Retrieved 28 January 2010.[dead link]
  18. ^ Penman, Andrew (29 January 2010). "Breezy and easy for Ronnie and Williams". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
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