1969 Pot Black

1969 Pot Black

Tournament information
Dates	23 July – 10 September 1969 (1969-07-23 – 1969-09-10) (broadcast)
Venue	BBC Studios
City	Birmingham
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Non-ranking event
Highest break	Ray Reardon (99)
Final
Champion	Ray Reardon
Runner-up	John Spencer
Score	88–29
← First 1970 →

The 1969 Pot Black event was the first edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which was broadcast in July, August and September 1969. This first recording of Pot Black took place at the BBC TV Studios in Gosta Green, Birmingham, a converted turn-of-the-century cinema. Later it was recorded at the new Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham which replaced the Gosta Green Studios. The event featured eight professional players. All matches were one-frame shoot-outs.

Broadcasts were on BBC2, starting with an introductory programme at 8:50 pm on Wednesday 23 July 1969. ^[1] The first match, between John Spencer and Jackie Rea, was broadcast on 30 July, ^[2] followed by weekly broadcasts until the final on 10 September. ^[3] The programmes were presented by Keith Macklin with Ted Lowe as the commentator.

Ray Reardon won the event, beating John Spencer 88–29 in the one-frame final, and received the BBC2 Pot Black Trophy. ^[4]

Main draw

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	John Spencer		1
	Jackie Rea		0			John Spencer		1
	Rex Williams		0			Kingsley Kennerley		0
	Kingsley Kennerley		1								John Spencer		29
	John Pulman		1								Ray Reardon		88
	Gary Owen		0			John Pulman		0
	Fred Davis		0			Ray Reardon		1
	Ray Reardon		1

References

1. "BBC Television – 23 July 1969 – Pot Black". BBC Genome Project . BBC . Retrieved 22 January 2016.
2. "BBC Television – 30 July 1969 – Pot Black". BBC Genome Project . BBC . Retrieved 22 January 2016.
3. "BBC Television – 10 September 1969 – Pot Black: BBC2 Knockout Snooker Competition". BBC Genome Project . BBC . Retrieved 22 January 2016.
4. "CueTracker - 1969 Pot Black - Snooker Results & Statistics Database".