Steve Davis is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight World Snooker Championship finals in nine years, won six world titles, and held the world number one ranking for seven consecutive seasons. He won 28 ranking titles during his career, placing him fifth on the all-time list, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36), John Higgins (31) and Judd Trump (30). The first player to make an officially recognised maximum break in professional competition, at the 1982 Classic, he was also the first to earn £1 million in career prize money. He is the only snooker player to have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, which he received in 1988.
Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and snooker commentator for Eurosport. He became the British under-19 champion in 1971 as an amateur, defeating Tony Knowles in the final. After reaching the finals of the 1978 English Amateur Championship and the 1978 World Amateur Championship, Johnson turned professional in 1979. He reached his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, which he lost to Tony Knowles, and reached the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic.
Graham Miles was an English snooker player.
Anthony Christian Meo is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles Championship titles, partnering Davis, and the 1983 World Team Classic representing England alongside Davis and Tony Knowles.
Raymond Reardon was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to his dark widow's peak and prominent eye teeth, he was nicknamed "Dracula".
Terence Martin Griffiths was a Welsh professional snooker player, coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, including the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975 and back-to-back English Amateur Championships in 1977 and 1978, Griffiths turned professional in June 1978 at the age of 30.
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.
Douglas Mountjoy was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, 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 Classic was a professional snooker tournament, which began in 1980 and ended in 1992. It was originally a non-ranking event, but became ranking in 1984. Steve Davis won the event six times and was the last champion.
David Taylor is an English former professional snooker player. He won the English Amateur Championship in 1968 and the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship later that year. Those wins encouraged him to turn professional. He was nicknamed "The Silver Fox" because of his prematurely grey hair.
The 1988 World Snooker Championship, also known as the 1988 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 1988 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), it was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1987–88 snooker season and the twelfth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament there having taken place in 1977.
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 Tolly Cobbold Classic was a non-ranking snooker tournament staged between 1979 and 1984. It was held at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich and sponsored by local brewers Tolly Cobbold. It is not to be confused with the Classic ranking event.
The 1983 Tolly Cobbold Classic was the fifth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which was scheduled from 21 to 23 February 1983. The tournament was played at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich, and featured eight professional players.
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 1979 Tolly Cobbold Classic was a professional invitational snooker tournament which took place between 20 and 21 February 1979 at the Corn Exchange, Ipswich, England.
The 1981 Tolly Cobbold Classic was the third edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place between 24th and 25 February 1981 at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich, England.
The 1984 Tolly Cobbold Classic was the sixth and final edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place in February 1984 at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich, England.
The 1985 Tolly Cobbold English Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 5 and 10 February 1985 in Ipswich, England.
The 1986 Tolly Cobbold English Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place in February 1986 in Ipswich, England.
Steve Davis (ENG), 105
Dennis Taylor (NIR)