1979 World Snooker Championship

The 1979 Embassy World Snooker Championship took place at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield between 16 and 28 April 1979.

Terry Griffiths won in the final 24–16 against Dennis Taylor.

Notable moments

• Terry Griffiths won the title. He started off by beating Bernard Bennett and Jim Meadowcroft in the qualifying rounds. At the Crucible, he beat Perrie Mans in the first round, followed by a classic 13–12 victory over Alex Higgins in the quarter-final. In the semi-final, he was losing 16–17 to Eddie Charlton before winning 19–17 at 1.40am, the latest finish of any match at the time, the final session taking 5 hours and 25 minutes. Griffiths then beat future champion Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final to win the world title at the first attempt. He was also the first qualifier to win the title at the Crucible. Other than Griffiths, only Joe Davis, John Spencer and Alex Higgins have won the title at the first attempt.

• Future 6 times champion Steve Davis made his debut, losing 11–13 to Dennis Taylor in the first round, as well as Kirk Stevens who lost 8–13 to Fred Davis.

• Fred Davis meanwhile became the oldest player to win a match at the Crucible at the age of 65 years and 8 months.

• Bill Werbeniuk made the highest break of the championship with a 142 against John Virgo in the quarter-finals, sharing the championship record along with Rex Williams in 1965, when the championship was played in challenge matches.

Prize money

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• Winner: £10,000
• Runner-up: £5,000
• Third place: £3,000
• Fourth place: £2,000
• Quarter-finalists: £1,250
• First round losers: £1,000

• Total: £35,500

Main draw

^[1][2]

Qualification

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References