page_title: 1986 World Snooker Championship
section_title: First round
hierarchical_section_title: 1986 World Snooker Championship / Tournament summary / First round
caption_attribution_description: Dennis Taylor, retired Northern Irish snooker player. Taken in Belfast in 2004.
context_page_description: The 1986 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1985–86 snooker season and the 1986 edition of the World Snooker Championship, which was first held in 1927. The total prize fund was £350,000 with £70,000 awarded to the winner. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
  The defending champion was Northern Ireland's Dennis Taylor, who had defeated Steve Davis 18–17 in the 1985 World Snooker Championship final to win his first title. Taylor lost in the first round of the event 10–6 to Mike Hallett. The world number 16 Joe Johnson defeated Davis 18–12 in the final to win his sole ranking event. Prior to the competition, bookmakers' odds for a Johnson victory were 150–1. A total of 20 century breaks were made during the tournament, the highest of which was a 134 made by Davis.
context_section_description: The first round took place between 19 and 24 April, each match played over two sessions as the best of 19 frames. Defending champion Dennis Taylor, looking jaded according to Clive Everton, lost the first seven frames of his match against Mike Hallett, and ended the first session 1–8 behind. He won five more frames, but lost the match 6–10. Like John Spencer in 1978, Terry Griffiths in 1980, Cliff Thorburn in 1981, and Steve Davis in 1982, Taylor was unable to retain his first world championship; this inability of a first-time champion to defend their title has become known as the "Crucible curse". Second seed Steve Davis beat Ray Edmonds 10–4. Third seed Thorburn beat Bill Werbeniuk 10–5, whilst fourth seed Tony Knowles won a close match against Neal Foulds 10–9.
  The 16th seed Joe Johnson defeated Dave Martin 10–3 in the first round, his first win in three appearances at the World Championship. Jimmy White compiled a 121 break in the final frame of his 10–7 victory over John Virgo. Three-time world champion Spencer made his final appearance at the tournament, losing 7–10 to Alex Higgins in the first round. Future seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry made his Crucible debut, losing 8–10 to Willie Thorne in the first round. Aged 17 years and 3 months, Hendry was the youngest player ever to compete at the World Snooker Championship. Another debutant in 1986 was Danny Fowler, who lost 2–10 to Terry Griffiths. Six-time world champion Ray Reardon was knocked out 8–10 by John Campbell.
  In the other first-round matches, Doug Mountjoy beat Perrie Mans 10–3, qualifier John Parrott beat Tony Meo 10–4, Kirk Stevens beat Dean Reynolds 10–6, Silvino Francisco beat Rex Williams 10–4, Eugene Hughes beat David Taylor 10–7, and Eddie Charlton beat Cliff Wilson 10–6.
caption: Defending champion Dennis Taylor lost in the opening round of the event.
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