1982 World Snooker Championship

Embassy World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	30 April–16 May 1982
Venue	Crucible Theatre
City	Sheffield
Country	England
Organisation(s)	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£110,000
Winner's share	£25,000
Highest break	Willie Thorne (143)
Final
Champion	Alex Higgins
Runner-up	Ray Reardon
Score	18–15
← 1981 1983 →

The 1982 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1982 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship purposes) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 30 April and 16 May 1982 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

Alex Higgins won in the final 18–15 against Ray Reardon. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

Tournament summary

• The previous three world champions, who were also the top three seeds, were all defeated in the first round: defending champion Steve Davis lost 1–10 to Tony Knowles, 1979 champion Terry Griffiths lost 6–10 to Willie Thorne and world number 1 and 1980 champion Cliff Thorburn lost 4–10 to Jimmy White.^[1]
• Higgins reached the final after an epic 16–15 semi-final victory over Jimmy White. Trailing 15–14 and 59–0, Higgins saved himself with a memorable clearance of 69 and then won the decider for a place in the final.^[2] The final between Higgins and Reardon was a repeat of the 1976 final, which Reardon won 27–16. From 15–15, Higgins won the next three frames and clinched the title with a break of 135 in the final frame. A tearful Higgins summoned his wife and baby daughter from the audience to celebrate with him.^[3]
• Jim Donnelly became the first Scottish player to play at the Crucible.^[4]
• This was the first tournament in which the top 8 seeds had to play in the first round, taking the tournament from 24 to 32 players. This format still remains today.^[5]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[6]

• Winner: £25,000
• Runner-up: £12,500
• Semi-final: £7,000
• Quarter-final: £3,500
• Last 16: £2,250
• Last 32: £1,250
• Highest break: £2,500
• Maximum break: £10,000
• Total: £110,000

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][7][8]

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Best of 19 frames

Best of 25 frames

Best of 25 frames

Best of 31 frames

30 April & 1 May

Steve Davis (1)

1

5 & 6 May

Tony Knowles

10

Tony Knowles

13

30 April & 1 May

Graham Miles (16)

7

Graham Miles (16)

10

9, 10 & 11 May

Dave Martin

5

Tony Knowles

11

1 & 2 May

Eddie Charlton (8)

13

Bill Werbeniuk (9)

10

5, 6 & 7 May

John Bear

7

Bill Werbeniuk (9)

5

1 & 2 May

Eddie Charlton (8)

13

Eddie Charlton (8)

10

12, 13 & 14 May

Cliff Wilson

5

Eddie Charlton (8)

11

1 & 2 May

Ray Reardon (4)

16

Dennis Taylor (5)

7

7 & 8 May

Silvino Francisco

10

Silvino Francisco

13

1 & 2 May

Dean Reynolds

8

Fred Davis (12)

7

10 & 11 May

Dean Reynolds

10

Silvino Francisco

8

2 & 3 May

Ray Reardon (4)

13

John Virgo (13)

10

6, 7 & 8 May

Mike Hallett

4

John Virgo (13)

8

2 & 3 May

Ray Reardon (4)

13

Ray Reardon (4)

10

Jim Donnelly

5

3 & 4 May

Terry Griffiths (3)

6

7 & 8 May

Willie Thorne

10

Willie Thorne

13

3 & 4 May

John Spencer (14)

5

John Spencer (14)

10

10 & 11 May

John Dunning

4

Willie Thorne

10

3 & 4 May

Alex Higgins (11)

13

Alex Higgins (11)

10

7, 8 & 9 May

Jim Meadowcroft

5

Alex Higgins (11)

13

3 & 4 May

Doug Mountjoy (6)

12

Doug Mountjoy (6)

10

12, 13 & 14 May

Rex Williams

3

Alex Higgins (11)

16

4 & 5 May

Jimmy White

15

David Taylor (7)

9

9 & 10 May

Patsy Fagan

10

Patsy Fagan

7

4 & 5 May

Kirk Stevens (10)

13

Kirk Stevens (10)

10

10 & 11 May

Jack Fitzmaurice

4

Kirk Stevens (10)

9

5 & 6 May

Jimmy White

13

Perrie Mans (15)

10

8 & 9 May

Tony Meo

8

Perrie Mans (15)

6

5 & 6 May

Jimmy White

13

Cliff Thorburn (2)

4

Jimmy White

10

Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 15 May & 16 May 1982. Referee: John Smyth.[9]
Ray Reardon (4)  Wales	15–18	Alex Higgins (11)  Northern Ireland
41–61, 64–31, 84–47, 0–121, 64–53, 77–30, 65–55, 28–87, 8–89, 76–8, 47–56, 22–91, 69–29, 4–96, 36–71, 14–94, 13–73, 122–12, 81–13, 38–77, 31–78, 69–40, 79–36, 31–71, 52–37, 14–115, 61–70, 84–49, 69–36, 60–58, 0–79, 9–112, 0–139	Century breaks: 2 (Higgins 2) Highest break by Reardon: 95 Highest break by Higgins: 135	41–61, 64–31, 84–47, 0–121, 64–53, 77–30, 65–55, 28–87, 8–89, 76–8, 47–56, 22–91, 69–29, 4–96, 36–71, 14–94, 13–73, 122–12, 81–13, 38–77, 31–78, 69–40, 79–36, 31–71, 52–37, 14–115, 61–70, 84–49, 69–36, 60–58, 0–79, 9–112, 0–139
Alex Higgins wins the 1982 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Century breaks

There were 10 century breaks at the championship, the highest being 143 by Willie Thorne.^[10][11][12] There was also a £5,000 bonus for compiling a higher break than the championship record of 145.^[6]

• 143, 122, 112, 106 Willie Thorne
• 135, 118 Alex Higgins
• 126, 102 Jimmy White
• 111 Kirk Stevens
• 100 John Virgo

References