Alexander Gordon Higgins was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was World Champion in 1972 and 1982, and runner-up in 1976 and 1980. He became the first qualifier to win the world title in 1972, a feat only two players have achieved since – Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005. He won the UK Championship in 1983 and the Masters in 1978 and 1981, making him one of eleven players to have completed snooker's Triple Crown. He was also World Doubles champion with Jimmy White in 1984, and won the World Cup three times with the All-Ireland team.
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.
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 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 snooker's modern era from outside the United Kingdom. He remains the sport's 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. Ranked world number one during the 1981–82 season, he was the first non-British player to top the world rankings.
William Joseph Thorne was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8. He was noted for his break-building, and was among the first players to compile 100 century breaks. He earned the nickname "Mr Maximum". After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for the BBC.
The Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament. The final champion was John Higgins in 2015.
David Roe is a former English professional snooker player, and a four-time ranking tournament quarter-finalist.
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 professional world rankings for the 1988–89 season are listed below.
Dene O'Kane is a former professional snooker player from New Zealand.
John Campbell is a former Australian professional snooker player. During a career which lasted from 1982 to 1993, he was a quarter-finalist in the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and won the Australian Professional Championship in 1985 and 1988.
Danny Fowler is an English former professional snooker player.
George Scott was an English professional snooker player.
Roy Andrewartha was a Welsh professional snooker player.
Omprakesh Bankelal Agrawal also known as either Omprakash Agarwal or Omprakash Agrawal, was an Indian professional snooker player.
John Hargreaves is an English former professional snooker player.
The 1988 Hong Kong Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held in August 1988 at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong. Eight professional players and eight local amateur players participated. Jimmy White won the title, defeating Neal Foulds 6–3 in the final.
Terry Whitthread is an English former professional snooker player. After winning the 1985 English Amateur Championship, he played professionally from 1986 to 1992.
Bernie Mikkelsen is a Canadian former professional snooker player.
Willie Thorne 
Dennis Taylor 
