1984 Pot Black

Pot Black 84

Tournament information
Dates	28–30 December 1983 (1983-12-28 – 1983-12-30) (broadcast 4 January – 11 April 1984 (1984-01-04 – 1984-04-11))
Venue	Pebble Mill Studios
City	Birmingham
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Non-Ranking event
Total prize fund	£41,250 [1]
Winner's share	£5,000 [1]
Highest break	Dennis Taylor (81)
Final
Champion	Terry Griffiths
Runner-up	John Spencer
Score	2–1
← 1983 1985 →

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. ^[1] 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. ^[2] All matches until the final were one-frame shoot-outs, the final being contested over the best of three frames.

Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Wednesday 4 January 1984 ^[3] Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and John Williams as referee.

With the tournament now risen to 16 players, there were Pot Black debuts for Tony Meo, Silvino Francisco and Mark Wildman and original player John Spencer played for the first time since 1980. Terry Griffiths who also last played in 1980 won the event, his ninth professional title, beating Spencer 2–1 in the final. ^{[4] [5]}

Main draw

	Last 16				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals Aggregate score of 2 frames				Final Best of 3 frames
	John Spencer	110
	Alex Higgins	9
					John Spencer	70
					Eddie Charlton	26
	Eddie Charlton	1
	Tony Meo	0
									John Spencer	142
									Jimmy White	80
	Jimmy White	94
	David Taylor	12
					Jimmy White	71
					Steve Davis	9
	Steve Davis	1
	Mark Wildman	0
													John Spencer	1
													Terry Griffiths	2
	Willie Thorne	55
	Tony Knowles	42
					Willie Thorne	65
					Dennis Taylor	34
	Dennis Taylor	1
	Kirk Stevens	0
									Willie Thorne	0
									Terry Griffiths	1
	Silvino Francisco	1
	Ray Reardon	0
					Silvino Francisco	16
					Terry Griffiths	106
	Terry Griffiths	81
	Doug Mountjoy	40

Final

Final: Best of 3 frames. Pebble Mill Studios, Birmingham, England, 30 December 1983 (Broadcast 11 April 1984).
Terry Griffiths   Wales	2–1	John Spencer   England

References

1. Everton, Clive (9 November 1983). "Davis aims for hat-trick". The Guardian. London. p. 25.
2. "Pot Black changes format on cue" . Birmingham Mail. 18 November 1983. p. 53.
3. "BBC Television – 4 January 1984 – Pot Black". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
4. "BBC Television – 11 April 1984 – Pot Black: BBC2 Knockout Snooker Competition". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
5. "Pot Black, Junior Pot Black". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2023.