1985 World Snooker Championship

Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates 12–28 April 1985
Venue Crucible Theatre
City Sheffield
Country England
Organisation(s) WPBSA
Format Ranking event
Total prize fund £250,000
Winner's share £60,000
Highest break 143
Final
Champion Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor
Runner-up England Steve Davis
Score 18–17
← 1984
1986 →

The 1985 Embassy World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 12 and 28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.[1]

Defending champion Steve Davis was unable to make it three world titles in a row, as he lost 17–18 against Dennis Taylor in the final.

Tournament summary

The semi-final matches both finished with a session to spare, with Steve Davis winning 16–5 against Ray Reardon and Dennis Taylor defeating Tony Knowles by the same scoreline.[1] Davis' compiled the 100th century break at Crucible, a 106 break in the thirteenth frame.[2]

The final between Davis and Taylor attracted 18.5 million viewers on BBC2, and the last session finished at 12:25 a.m. after Taylor potted the last black to win the title.[3]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[1][4]

  • Winner: £60,000
  • Runner-up: £35,000
  • Semi-finals: £20,000
  • Quarter-finals: £10,000
  • Last 16: £5,250
  • Last 32: £2,500
  • Qualifying groups finalist: £1,500
  • Qualifying groups third place: £750
  • Total: £250,000

Main draw

Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers).[1][5][6][7]

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals
Best of 19 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 31 frames
                           
12 April            
 England Steve Davis (1)  10
17 & 18 April
 England Neal Foulds  8  
 England Steve Davis (1)  13
12 & 13 April
   England David Taylor (16)  4  
 England David Taylor (16)  10
22 & 23 April
 New Zealand Dene O'Kane  4  
 England Steve Davis (1)  13
13 & 14 April
   Wales Terry Griffiths (8)  6  
 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins (9)  10
18 & 19 April
 England Dean Reynolds  4  
 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins (9)  7
13 & 14 April
   Wales Terry Griffiths (8)  13  
 Wales Terry Griffiths (8)  10
24 & 25 April
 England Rex Williams  3  
 England Steve Davis (1)  16
14 & 15 April
   Wales Ray Reardon (5)  5
 Wales Ray Reardon (5)  10
19 & 20 April
 Republic of Ireland Eugene Hughes  9  
 Wales Ray Reardon (5)  13
15 & 16 April
   Republic of Ireland Patsy Fagan  9  
 England Willie Thorne (12)  6
22 & 23 April
 Republic of Ireland Patsy Fagan  10  
 Wales Ray Reardon (5)  13
15 & 16 April
   England John Parrott  12  
 England John Spencer (13)  3
20 & 21 April
 England John Parrott  10  
 England John Parrott  13
15 & 16 April
   Canada Kirk Stevens (4)  6  
 Canada Kirk Stevens (4)  10
 England Ray Edmonds  8  
16 & 17 April            
 Canada Cliff Thorburn (3)  10
20 & 21 April
 England Mike Hallett  8  
 Canada Cliff Thorburn (3)  13
16 April
   Canada Bill Werbeniuk (14)  3  
 Canada Bill Werbeniuk (14)  10
22 & 23 April
 England Joe Johnson  8  
 Canada Cliff Thorburn (3)  5
15 April
   Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (11)  13  
 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (11)  10
19 & 20 April
 South Africa Silvino Francisco  2  
 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (11)  13
   Australia Eddie Charlton (6)  6  
 Australia Eddie Charlton (6)  10
24, 25 & 26 April
 Australia John Campbell  3  
 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (11)  16
14 & 15 April
   England Tony Knowles (2)  5
 England Jimmy White (7)  10
18 & 19 April
 Wales Wayne Jones  4  
 England Jimmy White (7)  13
13 & 14 April
   England Tony Meo (10)  11  
 England Tony Meo (10)  10
22 & 23 April
 England John Virgo  6  
 England Jimmy White (7)  10
12 & 13 April
   England Tony Knowles (2)  13  
 Wales Doug Mountjoy (15)  10
17, 18 & 19 April
 Scotland Murdo Macleod  5  
 Wales Doug Mountjoy (15)  6
12 April
   England Tony Knowles (2)  13  
 England Tony Knowles (2)  10
 England Tony Jones  8  
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 27 & 28 April. Referee: John Williams[8]
Steve Davis (1)
 England 		17–18 Dennis Taylor (11)
 Northern Ireland
88–50, 93–0, 49–2, 65–38, 95–1, 85–6, 83–20, 121–0, 49–59, 76–27, 49–63, 27–75, 19–99, 1–71, 0–100, 48–77, 25–68, 72–43, 66–58, 48–80, 2–73, 1–80, 64–56, 58–46, 86–13, 43–82, 78–17, 29–84, 4–72, 29–83, 66–6, 81–0, 45–75, 24–71, 62–66 Century breaks: 0

Highest break by Davis: 87
Highest break by Taylor: 98

 88–50, 93–0, 49–2, 65–38, 95–1, 85–6, 83–20, 121–0, 49–59, 76–27, 49–63, 27–75, 19–99, 1–71, 0–100, 48–77, 25–68, 72–43, 66–58, 48–80, 2–73, 1–80, 64–56, 58–46, 86–13, 43–82, 78–17, 29–84, 4–72, 29–83, 66–6, 81–0, 45–75, 24–71, 62–66
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor wins the 1985 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Century breaks

There were 14 century breaks in the championship. Bill Werbeniuk's 143 against Joe Johnson in the first round was at the time the joint third-highest break in the Championship's history, tied with Willie Thorne in 1982.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "World Championship 1985". Global Snooker. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 161.
  3. ↑ "1985: The black ball final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  5. ↑ "1985 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 20–21.
  8. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  9. ↑ "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  10. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 146.