The World Snooker Championship is professional snooker's longest-running, most prestigious, and wealthiest tournament, with total prize money in 2021 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 Mark Selby.
Raymond Reardon, is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 before going on to dominate the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship on six occasions, and more than a dozen other tournaments. He was world champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in the 1982 event. He won the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
Pierre "Perrie" Mans is a retired professional snooker player from South Africa, who first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965, and won the event 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters in 1979 and reached the final of the World Championship in 1978.
John Spencer was an English professional snooker player who won the World Professional title at his first attempt, was the first winner at the Crucible Theatre, was the inaugural winner of the Masters and Irish Masters, and was the first player to make a 147 break in competition. This is regarded as an unofficial maximum break as the event used non-templated tables. He was born in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester.
Clifford Charles DevlinThorburn 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 to become the first world champion in the sport's modern era from outside the United Kingdom.
Doug Mountjoy was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for 11 consecutive years. He began his professional snooker career by taking the 1977 Masters, which he entered as a reserve player. He won both the 1978 UK Championship and the 1979 Irish Masters. Mountjoy reached the final of the 1981 World Snooker Championship where he was defeated by Steve Davis. He was also runner-up at the 1985 Masters losing to Cliff Thorburn, but by 1988 he had dropped out of the top 16.
The Irish Masters was a professional snooker tournament. It was founded in 1978, following on from the successful Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament. The final champion of the tournament was Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Patsy Fagan is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 UK Championship and the 1977 Dry Blackthorn Cup but following a car accident, developed a psychological block when using the rest which affected his playing and he did not win another title. He lost his professional status in 1989 following a 2–9 playoff defeat by Brady Gollan and now works as a snooker coach. His highest career ranking was 11, in 1978/79.
The 1985 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the event was the ninth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977. A five-round qualifying event for the championship was held at the Preston Guild Hall from 27 to 31 March for 87 players, 16 of whom reached the main stage, where they met the 16 invited seeded players. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The total prize fund for the event was £250,000, the highest prize pool for any snooker tournament to that date. The winner received £60,000, which was the highest amount ever received by the winner of a snooker event at that time.
The 1983 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 16 April and 2 May 1983 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. This was the third and final world ranking event of the 1982–83 snooker season following the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. Sixteen seeded players qualified directly for the event, with an additional sixteen players progressing through a two-round qualification round held at the Romiley Forum in Stockport, and Redwood Lodge in Bristol. The winner of the event received £30,000, and the tournament was sponsored by cigarette company Embassy.
The 1980 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 April to 5 May 1980 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), it was the fourth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977.
John Joseph 'Jackie' Rea was a Northern Irish snooker player. He was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins.
The 1998 Benson & Hedges Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 1 and 8 February 1998 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.
The 1987 Benson & Hedges Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 25 January and 1 February 1987 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.
The 1983 Benson & Hedges Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between from Sunday 23 January to Sunday 30 January 1983 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The event was increased to 16 players and extended from 6 to 8 days. Although there were 16 players they were not the top 16 ranked players that would compete in the following years. BBC Television coverage did not start until 26 January and so only two of the eight first round matches were televised.
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.
The 1982 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 30 April and 16 May 1982 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 19th event of the 1981–82 snooker season, and the only one that carried world ranking points. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette company Embassy and organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The event featured a prize fund of £110,000 and the winner received £25,000.
The 1987 Snooker World Cup was a professional snooker tournament played at the Bournemouth International Centre, England, between 18 and 21 March 1987 for teams of three players. The event was the eighth iteration of the World Cup snooker tournament, first played in 1979 as the World Challenge Cup. A total prize fund of £100,000 was awarded for the event, with the winning team receiving a share of £32,000. The event featured eight participating teams, including two from Ireland, the champions of the previous year's event. Danish brewery company Tuborg were the sponsors for the tournament.
The 1973 Men of the Midlands was a professional invitational snooker tournament, that took place in January and February 1973 The tournament was won by Alex Higgins, who defeated Ray Reardon 5–3 in the final.
The 1976 Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament was the second edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament and took place on 21 February 1976. While the previous edition was a challenge match between John Spencer and Alex Higgins, this year the tournament was expanded to four professional players, with Graham Miles and Dennis Taylor also participating. The prize fund was £1,300, with £600 going to the winner and £300 to the runner-up.
Alex Higgins (126)
Ray Reardon 