1979 World Snooker Championship

The 1979 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1979 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship purposes) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 16 and 28 April 1979 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates16–28 April 1979
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£35,000
Winner's share£10,000
Highest break Bill Werbeniuk (142)
Final
Champion Terry Griffiths
Runner-up Dennis Taylor
Score24–16
← 1978
1980 →

Terry Griffiths won in the final 24–16 against Dennis Taylor. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

Tournament summary
  • Griffiths began the tournament by defeating Bernard Bennett and Jim Meadowcroft in the qualifying rounds. At the Crucible, he defeated Perrie Mans in the first round, followed by a 13–12 victory over Alex Higgins in the quarter-final.[1] In the semi-final he trailed Eddie Charlton by 16–17 before winning 19–17 at 1.40am, the latest finish of any match at the time.[2] Griffiths then beat future champion Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, to win the world title at his first attempt.[2][3] He became also the first qualifier to win the title at the Crucible.[4]
  • Kirk Stevens and future six-time champion Steve Davis made their Championship debuts, but they lost in the last-16 round: 8–13 to Fred Davis and 11–13 to Dennis Taylor, respectively.[5][6]
  • Aged 65 years and 247 days, Fred Davis became the oldest ever player to win a match at the Crucible. Three days later he also became the oldest player to reach the quarter-finals.[7]
  • John Williams refereed the final.[8]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[1][9]

  • Winner: £10,000
  • Runner-up: £5,000
  • Third place: £3,000
  • Fourth place: £2,000
  • Quarter-final: £1,250
  • Last 16: £1,000
  • Highest break: £500
  • Maximum break: £10,000
  • Total: £35,500

Main draw

Numbers in (parentheses) indicate seedings.

Sources:[1][10][11][12]

 
Last 16
Best of 25 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 37 frames		Final
Best of 47 frames
 
              
 
17, 18 & 19 April
 
 
 Ray Reardon (1)13
 
20 & 21 April
 
 Graham Miles8
 
 Ray Reardon (1)8
 
18 & 19 April
 
 Dennis Taylor (8)13
 
 Dennis Taylor (8)13
 
22, 23, 24 & 25 April
 
 Steve Davis 11
 
 Dennis Taylor (8)19
 
19 & 20 April
 
 John Virgo12
 
 Cliff Thorburn (5)10
 
20 & 21 April
 
 John Virgo13
 
 John Virgo13
 
17 & 18 April
 
 Bill Werbeniuk9
 
 John Spencer (4)11
 
26, 27 & 28 April
 
 Bill Werbeniuk13
 
 Dennis Taylor (8)16
 
16 & 17 April
 
 Terry Griffiths24
 
 Eddie Charlton (3)13
 
19, 20 & 21 April
 
 Doug Mountjoy6
 
 Eddie Charlton (3)13
 
16, 17 & 18 April
 
 Fred Davis (6)4
 
 Fred Davis (6)13
 
22, 23, 24 & 25 April
 
 Kirk Stevens8
 
 Eddie Charlton (3)17
 
16, 17 & 18 April
 
 Terry Griffiths19 Third place
Best of 13 frames
 
 Alex Higgins (7)13
 
19, 20 & 21 April 26 & 27 April
 
 David Taylor5
 
 Alex Higgins (7)12 John Virgo3
 
16 & 17 April
 
 Terry Griffiths13 Eddie Charlton (3)7
 
 Perrie Mans (2)8
 
 
 Terry Griffiths13
 

Qualifying

Source:[1]

Century breaks

There were 13 century breaks at the championship, the highest being 142 by Bill Werbeniuk.[13][14] There was also a £5,000 bonus for compiling a higher break than the championship record of 142.[9]

References
  1. "World Championship 1979". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  2. "Then and Now: Terry Griffiths". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  3. Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 119.
  5. "Steve Davis at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  6. "Kirk Stevens at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  7. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 132–134.
  8. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  9. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  10. "1979 World Championships Results Grid". Snooker Database. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  11. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  12. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 8–9.
  13. "Crucible Centuries". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  14. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 146.
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