James Warren White is an English professional snooker player who has won four seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, swift and attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, a record four-time World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.
Steve Davis is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during 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 was runner-up to Dennis Taylor in one of snooker's most famous matches, the 1985 World Championship final, whose dramatic black-ball conclusion attracted 18.5 million viewers, still the largest British television audience for any broadcast after midnight and any broadcast on BBC Two.
Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1986 World Championship after starting the tournament as a 150–1 outsider, and was runner-up in 1987. In 1987 he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship, where he was defeated 6–13 by Terry Griffiths, and the final of the 1978 World Amateur Championship, which he lost 5–11 to Cliff Wilson. Johnson turned professional in 1979 and later reached the final of the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he lost 8–9 to Tony Knowles. In 1986 he defeated Steve Davis 18–12 to win the 1986 World Championship. Following a string of poor results after winning the title, he reached the final again in 1987, this time losing 14–18 to Davis.
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 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.
Terence Martin Griffiths is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He was the second qualifier to win the title after Alex Higgins achieved the feat in 1972; only Shaun Murphy has done it since, winning the title in 2005. Griffiths defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16 in the final. Nine years later, in 1988, Griffiths reached the final of the competition again. He was tied with Steve Davis at 8–8, but lost the match 11–18.
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.
Desmond Rex Williams is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the World Professional Billiards Championship from Clark McConachy in 1968, the first time that the title had been contested since 1951. Williams retained the title in several challenge matches in the 1970s, and, after losing it to Fred Davis in 1980, regained it from 1982 to 1983.
Neal Foulds is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Black in 1992. He was the runner up at the 1986 UK Championship, the British Open in 1987 and reached the semi-finals of the Masters on three occasions, as well as the World Championship. After his retirement, Foulds became a commentator for the BBC and is currently part of the presenting team for ITV and Eurosport.
Anthony Knowles is an English former professional snooker player. He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.
The 1986 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1985–86 snooker season and the 1986 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927. The total prize fund was £350,000 with £70,000 awarded to the winner and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
The 1984 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place between 21 April and 7 May 1984 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, and was the eighth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible since the 1977 event. The event featured 94 participants, of which 78 players competed in a qualifying event held at the Redwood Lodge in Bristol from 1 to 13 April. Of these, 16 players qualified for the main stage in Sheffield, where they met 16 invited seeds. The total prize fund for the event was £200,000, the highest total pool for any snooker tournament at that time; the winner received £44,000.
The 1981 UK Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England, between 22 November and 5 December 1981. This was the fifth edition of the UK Championship, the fourth staging of the competition in Preston, and the fourth consecutive UK Championship to be sponsored by Coral. The televised stages were shown on the BBC from 28 November through to the end of the championship.
The 1982 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from Tuesday 26th to Sunday 31 January 1982 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. As in 1981 12 players were invited to the tournament.
The 1984 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22 and 29 January 1984 at the Wembley Conference Centre. The Masters, in its 10th year, changed the format into a championship for the game's top 16 ranked players. The BBC extended their television coverage to show all 8 days of the event and the prize money was more than double that of the previous year.
The 1983 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.
Dennis Taylor is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, when he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in one of the most famous matches in snooker history. Despite losing the first eight frames, Taylor recovered to win 18–17 in a dramatic duel on the last black ball. The final's conclusion attracted 18.5 million viewers, setting UK viewership records for any post-midnight broadcast and for any broadcast on BBC Two that still stand.
The 1984 Langs Supreme Scottish Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 20 and 23 September 1984 at the Skean Dhu Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland.
The 1985 Thailand Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held in September 1985 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Malaysian Masters was a non-ranking snooker tournament staged on three occasions in 1984, 1986 and 1996.
Jimmy White 
Terry Griffiths 