The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it is now one of the three tournaments that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series. The reigning world champion is Luca Brecel.
Raymond Reardon is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 aged 35 and dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and more than a dozen other tournaments. Reardon was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in 1982. He won the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
John Spencer was an English professional snooker player who won the World Snooker Championship three times. He won the title on his first attempt in 1969, becoming the first world champion of the modern era. In 1971, in Sydney, Australia, he became the first player to win the world title at a knockout event staged outside the United Kingdom. After being runner-up to Alex Higgins in 1972, he won his third and final World Championship in 1977, becoming the first player to claim the title at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, where the tournament has been staged ever since. Additionally, Spencer was the inaugural winner of both the Masters in 1975 and the Irish Masters in 1978. In 1979, he became the first player to make a maximum break in professional tournament play, although the break is not recognised as an official maximum since officials did not establish whether the pockets on the table met the required specifications.
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final. He is generally recognised as the sport's first world champion from outside the United Kingdom—since Australian Horace Lindrum's 1952 title is usually disregarded—and he remains the only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. At the 1983 tournament, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship match, achieving the feat in his second-round encounter with Terry Griffiths.
The 1976 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at two venues, Middlesbrough Town Hall, and Wythenshawe Forum, Manchester, from 7 to 23 April 1976. Qualifying matches were played at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Southport, and at the Park House Hotel, Blackpool from 29 March to 2 April. The tournament was promoted by Maurice Hayes's company Q Promotions on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The winner received £6,000 from a total prize fund of £15,300.
The 1975 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 9 April and 1 May 1975 at various venues in Australia. The event was the 1975 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927. The tournament featured 27 participants, eight of whom were seeded and received byes to the second round. The event featured a prize fund of A$30,000 with the winner receiving A$7,500. This was the second World Snooker Championship to be held outside of the United Kingdom after 1969, when the World Championship reverted to a knockout format. The tournament was promoted by Eddie Charlton Promotions on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
The 1972 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between March 1971 and 26 February 1972, as an edition of the World Snooker Championship. The final was played at Selly Park British Legion from 21 to 26 February. Alex Higgins won his first world title, defeating defending champion John Spencer 37–31 in the final. Higgins also made the highest known break of the tournament, 133. In all, he won six matches to secure the title, including a 31–30 deciding frame victory over Rex Williams in the semi-final after Williams had missed an attempt to pot a blue ball. Higgins became the first qualifier to win the World Championship, and, aged 22, the youngest champion until Stephen Hendry in 1990. Higgins's win led to increased interest in snooker from the media and sponsors.
The 1971 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 28 September and 7 November 1970 in Australia. The tournament was the 1971 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927 but was held in 1970. It was the first time the event had been held outside England outside of two challenge matches in 1965, with matches held at various locations in New South Wales and Brisbane. The event featured nine participants, with a round-robin round producing four qualifiers, who then competed in a single-elimination tournament.
Since 1927 the World Snooker Championship had been played as a single-elimination tournament, but between 1964 and 1968, it was defended over seven challenge matches. Following a hiatus after the 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship, the event was revived by Rex Williams on a challenge basis, with the champion being opposed by prominent players. This began in 1964, organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council. The 1957 champion John Pulman contested and won all seven challenge matches against various opponents in the next five years, until the tournament reverted to a knock-out format in 1969.
The 1976 World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional invitational snooker tournament held from 28 November to 11 December 1976 at the Nunawading Basketball Centre in Burwood East, Melbourne, Australia. Eddie Charlton, the event's promoter, won the title by defeating Ray Reardon by 31 frames to 24 in the final. The Championship was sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, with the event's title causing confusion with the World Snooker Championship in some media reports. The tournament was not repeated.
Paddy Morgan is an Australian former professional snooker and English billiards player. He was born in Belfast, and moved to Coventry in 1960. Following an amateur career in which he won junior and national titles in both sports, and reached the semi-finals of the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship, he emigrated to Australia in 1969. He became a professional player in 1970 and competed in the World Snooker Championship for the first time in the 1971 tournament.
The World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament established in 1952 as an alternative to the professional World Snooker Championship by some of the professional players, following a dispute with the Billiards Association and Control Council, the sport's governing body. Fred Davis won the first five editions of the tournament, but didn't participate in 1957, when John Pulman won. After this, the event was discontinued due to a decline in the popularity of snooker.
The Australian Professional Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for Australian or Australian-based players.
The 1979 Limosin International was a non-ranking invitational snooker tournament which took place from 9 to 20 July 1979. The tournament was played at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town, and featured six professional players alongside two South African amateurs, Mannie Francisco and his brother Silvino.
The 1975 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in August 1975.
The 1977 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in September 1977.
The 1978 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 4 and 15 December 1978 at the Grafton Services Club in Grafton, Australia.
The 1984 Toohey's Brewery Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in August 1984.
The 1985 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 2 and 11 August 1985 at the Orange RSL Club in Sydney, Australia.
The 1987 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 13 and 19 July 1987 at the Lakemba Club in Sydney, Australia.
Eddie Charlton