1965 Television Tournament (snooker)

BA&CC Television Tournament

Tournament information
Venue	National Liberal Club
Country	United Kingdom
Organisation	Billiards Association & Control Council
Format	Single elimination
Final
Champion	Pat Houlihan  (ENG)
Runner-up	Eric Stickler (ENG)
Score	4–1
← 1964

The 1965 Television Tournament was an invitational amateur snooker tournament. ^[1] Apart from one of the semi-finals, it was held at the National Liberal Club in London, UK, as a series of matches starting on 5 December 1963 and with the final held on 3 April 1965. The competition was organised by the Billiards Association & Control Council and shown on ITV in the United Kingdom. ^[2]

Jonathan Barron had won the invitational pro-am 1962–63 Television Tournament by defeating 4–3 Ron Gross 4–3 in the final, ^[3] and also its successor, the 1964 Television Tournament, that time with a 4–3 defeat of Mario Berni in the final. ^[4] Barron was not among the eight participants in 1965.

The 1965 final was played on 3 April at the National Liberal Club, between Pat Houlihan and Eric Stickler. Houlihan won 4–1 to take the title.

Summary

The first round and semi-finals were played as best-of-five frame s matches. The first match, on 5 December 1964, saw Houlihan eliminate John Spencer 4–2; it was the first time that either player had been in a televised match. The highest break of the encounter was Spencer's 60 in the fifth frame. ^{[5] [6]} Berni defeated Dennis Robertson 4–1, and made the match's highest break on 66 in frame three; television commentary was provided by Ted Lowe. ^[7] In the first frame of his contest against Mark Wildman, Marcus Chapman made the match's highest break, 35, but he lost 4–1 overall. ^[8] Eric Stickler eliminated Ron Gross. ^[9]

Rusholme Conservative Club, Manchester was the venue for the semi-final between Houlihan and Berni on 13 February; it was the only match in the tournament not played at the National Liberal Club. Houlihan won 4–0. ^{[7] [10]} The match referee, Fred Mayall, commented that he thought Berni was "under his usual form". ^[10] Billiards Association & Control Council Chairman Harold Philips agreed, but felt that Houlihan was "playing better than ever before". ^[10] In the other semi-final, Stickler defeated Wildman 4–1. ^[9]

Just over two weeks before the Television Tournament final, Houlihan had won the English Amateur Championship, after an 11–3 victory against Spencer in the final. ^[11] In many British newspapers, this received more coverage than the professional World Snooker Championship title match between John Pulman and Fred Davis held at the same time. ^[12] Houlihan won the Television title by defeating Stickler 4–1 in the final. ^{[13] [2]} It was his 17th consecutive competitive match win, in a sequence dating back to 1964. ^[13]

Draw

	Quarter-finals Best of 7 frames					Semi-finals Best of 7 frames					Final Best of 7 frames
	John Spencer  (ENG)		2
	Pat Houlihan  (ENG)		4
						Pat Houlihan  (ENG)		4
						Mario Berni (WAL)		0
	Mario Berni (WAL)		4
	Dennis Robertson (ENG)		1
											Pat Houlihan  (ENG)		4
											Eric Stickler (ENG)		1
	Mark Wildman  (ENG)		4
	Marcus Chapman (ENG)		1
						Mark Wildman  (ENG)		1
						Eric Stickler (ENG)		4
	Eric Stickler (ENG)		4
	Ron Gross  (ENG)		[a]

Notes

1. Score unknown

References

1. "Telesport". Daily Mirror. 20 March 1965. p. 13.
2. "The 1964–65 season". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. May 1965. pp. 3–5.
3. "Snooker: Barron has revenge in ITV final". Cornish Guardian. 28 February 1963. p. 11.
4. "Snooker: ITV title retained by Barron". Cornish Guardian. 28 May 1964. p. 11.
5. Williams 2023, 1142.
6. "Pat Houlihan's TV victory". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. February 1965. p. 10.
7. "On going to press". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. February 1965. p. 11.
8. "BA&CC Television (ITV)". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. February 1965. p. 9.
9. "Televised knock-out amateur invitation comp. ITV". The Billiard Player. Billiards Association and Control Council. April 1965. p. 8.
10. "BA&CC Television (ITV): Pat Houlihan's comfortable win over Mario Berni". Billiards and Snooker. Billiards Association and Control Council. March 1965. p. 12.
11. Williams 2023, 1352, 1403.
12. Williams 2023, 1366.
13. Williams 2023, 1403.

Book

• Williams, Luke G. (2023). The Natural: The Story of Patsy Houlihan, the best snooker player you never saw (Kindle ed.). Chichester: Pitch. ISBN   9781801505680.