John Spencer was an English professional snooker player. One of the most dominant players of the 1970s, he won the World Snooker Championship three times, in 1969, 1971 and 1977. He worked as a snooker commentator for the BBC from 1978 to 1998, and served for 25 years on the board of the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), including a stint as chairman from 1990 until his retirement from the board in 1996.
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.
Mike Hallett is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1989 Hong Kong Open.
The European Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been staged periodically since 1989 as the European Open. Between 2005 and 2008 it was known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the British Isles, before being discontinued. In 2016, the event was resurrected and rebranded the European Masters.
The Shanghai Masters is a professional snooker tournament. Originally a ranking event, it became a non-ranking invitation event in 2018. Ronnie O'Sullivan is the reigning champion. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the 2018 title, the first time it has been defended.
The Sportingbet.com World Series of Snooker was a series of invitational snooker tournaments set up as a complement to the WPBSA's tour Its first season was played in 2008/2009, consisting of four two-day tournaments in St. Helier, Berlin, Moscow and Warsaw and the three-day Grand Final in Portimão.
The Paul Hunter Classic is a non-ranking snooker tournament. It changed from a ranking event to a 16-man invitational event in 2019. From 2010 to 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. Barry Hawkins is the reigning champion. After losing its ranking event status, independent promoter Snookerstars.de promoted the 2019 event.
Championship League is a professional snooker tournament, devised by Matchroom Sport. The tournament was originally held at the Crondon Park Golf Club in Stock, Essex, from its debut in 2008 until 2016. From 2017 it has been held in Coventry, Barnsley, Milton Keynes and Leicester.
The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, which introduced the World Snooker Tour name, logo, and revised website as part of a 2020 rebranding. The principal stakeholder in World Snooker Ltd is Matchroom Sport, which owns 51 percent of the company; the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), owns 26 percent. To compete on the World Snooker Tour, players must be WPBSA members.
The 1984 Pot Black was the sixteenth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place between 28 and 30 December 1983 but was broadcast in the summer of 1984. The tournament was held at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham. For the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1969, the championship was reverted to a knockout format and players risen from 8 to 16. This change was made at the request of the players, who asked for a competition, in which more of them could take part. All matches until the final were one-frame shoot-outs, the final being contested over the best of three frames.
The Pontins Professional was an invitational professional non-ranking snooker tournament which ran from 1974 until 2000.
The 1980 Irish Masters was the sixth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place from 13 to 16 February 1980. The tournament was played at Goffs in Kill, County Kildare, and featured eight professional players.
The 1980 Pontins Professional was the seventh edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament which took place between 3 and 10 May 1980 in Prestatyn, Wales.
The 1980 Tolly Cobbold Classic was the second edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place in February 1980. The tournament was played at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich, and featured four professional players competing in a round-robin; the two players at the top of the group contested the final, and a play-off was held to determine the third-placed player.
The 1980 Pontins Camber Sands Championship was a professional invitational snooker tournament which took place in May 1980 in Rye, England.
The 1980 Wilson's Classic (January) was the inaugural edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place on 7 and 8 January 1980. The tournament was played at the New Century Hall in Manchester, and featured eight professional players.
The 1980 Canadian Open was the seventh edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, the Canadian Open, which took place in August 1980. This was the last time the tournament was played until 1985, when the tournament was rebranded as the Canadian Masters.
The 1979 Garware Paints Bombay International was a professional invitational snooker tournament held in February 1979 in Bombay, India. This was the first professional snooker tournament to be held in India.
The Bombay International was a professional invitational snooker tournament. The winners of the two editions were John Spencer and John Virgo respectively.
John Virgo 
Cliff Thorburn 
