1977 World Snooker Championship

The 1977 Embassy World Snooker Championship took place at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield between the 18 and 30 April 1977.

John Spencer won in the final 25–21 against Cliff Thorburn.^[1] This brought £6,000 out the prize fund of £17,000.^[2]

Notable Moments

• This was the first time that the Embassy World Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre. It was staged there by promoter Mike Watterson, who chose the venue after his wife saw a play there. It has remained there ever since.

• This was also the first world championship to be played since the world rankings were introduced.

• John Spencer won his third World title, beating Cliff Thorburn 25–21 in the final. He was the first player to win the title with a two-piece cue, because the cue that he won his last two titles with had been smashed in a car accident.

• First timers included Patsy Fagan, John Virgo, Doug Mountjoy (who beat Alex Higgins 13–12 in the first round), and Willie Thorne who had failed to qualify for the final stages in 1976.

• There were 6 centuries at the 1977 World Snooker Championship. The highest break of the tournament was 135 made by John Spencer.

• The BBC televised the semi-finals and the final with the latter on the 30 April.

Main draw

^[2][3]

Qualification

^[2]

References