1985 Warld Snooker Championship

The **1985 Warld Snooker Championship** (kent as the **1985 Embassy Warld Snooker Championship** for the purpose of sponsorship forby) wis a ranking professional snooker toornament that teuk place frae 12&nbsp;tae 28 Apryle 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The event wis organised bi the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), and wis the ninth consecutive World Snooker Championship tae be held at the Crucible the first event takkin place in 1977. A five-roond qualifying event for the championship wis held at the Preston Guild Hall frae 27 tae 31 Mairch for 87 players; 16 of whom reached the main stage, whaur thay met the 16 invited seedit players. The toornament wis broadcast in the United Kingdom bi the BBC, and wis sponsored bi the Embassy cigarette company. The tot prize fund for the event wis £250,000, the heichest prize pool for ony snooker toornament tae that date; the winner received £60,000.

The defendin champion wis Englishman Steve Davis, who haed previously won the Warld Championship three times. Davis met Northren Irishman Dennis Taylor in the final which wis a best-of-35- match; Davis teuk an early 8–0 lead, but Taylor battled back intae the match and drew level at 17–17 forcing a deciding frame. The final frame wis contested ower the final , wi the player able tae  the ball winnin the Warld title. Efter baith players missed, Taylor potted the black tae win his sole Warld Championship. The match, eften referred tae as the "black ball final", is commonly considered tae be the best-kent match in the history o the sport and a reason for the surge in popularity in snooker o the 1980s and 1990s.

Canadian Bill Werbeniuk scored the championship's heichest , a 143, in his first-roond match. Thare war 14  compiled during the championship, wi 10 mair in qualifying matches. This wis the first professional snooker championship tae introduce a ban on performance-enhancing substances, wi aw players in the main stage haein tae undertake drug tests. The final atween Davis and Taylor holds the record for the maist-viewed broadcast in the United Kingdom o a programme shawn efter midnight, wi a peak of 18.5 million viewers for the match's final frame, braking the existin records for the maist-viewed sporting event and BBC2 programme.

## Overview
The World Snooker Championship is a professional toornament an the offeecial world championship o the gemme of snooker. Developed in the late 19t century bi Breetish Airmy soldiers stationed in Indie, the sport wis popular in the United Kingdom afore spreading tae Europe an the Commonwealth. The sport is nou played warldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations sic as Cheenae, Hong Kong and Thailand.

The Warld Championship features 32 professional players who compete in ane-on-ane single-elimination matches, played ower several . It is organised bi the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). The players are selected bi a combination o the Warld snooker rankins and a pre-toornament qualification roond. The first Warld Championship, in 1927, wis won bi Joe Davis in a final at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England. Syne 1977, the toornament haes been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The 1984 championship wis won bi England's Steve Davis, who defeatit fellae countryman Jimmy White 18–16 in the final; this wis Davis' third championship haein won in 1981 and 1983 forby. The winner o the 1985 championship received a prize of £60,000 frae a tot of £250,000, the heichest prize pool for ony snooker event tae date.

The toornament wis the first snooker event tae featur drug tests for the participants, as mandated bi the WPBSA on 9 Apryle 1985; the tests war proposed bi WPBSA buird member Barry Hearn. The event wis broadcast bi the BBC in the United Kingdom, wi ower 90 oors of coverage. The estimatit cost for the fortnight's broadcast wis reportedly £3 million. The championship wis sponsored bi the Embassy cigarette company.

### Format
The championship wis held frae 12 tae 28 Apryle 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the ninth consecutive time that the toornament wis held at the venue. It wis the last rankin event o the 1984-85 snooker season on the World Snooker Tour. Thare war a tot of 103 entrants frae the tour, an the competeetion's main draw haed 32 participants. A five-roond knockout qualifying competeetion wi 87 players, which wis held at Preston Guild Hall atween 27 and 31 Mairch, produced the 16 qualifying players who progressed intae the main draw tae play the tap 16 seeds. The draw for the toornament wis made at the Savoy Hotel in Lunnon.

The tap 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seedit players. As defendin champion, Steve Davis wis seedit first for the event; the remainin 15 seeds war allocated based on Warld rankins for the previous season. Matches in the first roond o the main draw war played as best-of-19-frames. The nummer of frames needed tae win a match increased tae 13 in the seicont roond and quarter-finals, an 16 in the semi-finals; the final match wis played as best-of-35-frames.

Sax umwhile world champions participated in the main toornament at the Crucible: Ray Reardon (1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1978), Steve Davis (1981, 1983, an 1984), John Spencer (1969, 1971, and 1977), Alex Higgins (1972 and 1982), Cliff Thorburn (1980) and Terry Griffiths (1979). Four players debuted at the Warld championship, aw throu the qualifying event: Dene O'Kane, Eugene Hughes, Tony Jones, and Wayne Jones.

### Prize fund
The event haed a tot prize fund of £250,000, an increase of £50,000 in the tot prize pool frae the previous year, an the winner received £60,000, an increase of £16,000 frae the previous year. The prize for the winner wis the heichest of ony snooker event until the follaein year's championship. The brakdown of prize money for the toornament wis:

*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 runner-up: £1,500
*Qualifying groups third place: £750
*Highest brak: £6,000
*Maximum break: £60,000

## Tournament summary
Qualifying roonds for the event war played frae 27 tae 31 Mairch at the Preston Guildhall. Thare war five knockout roonds, wi 87 players. The first qualifying roond consisted of seiven matches, bringin the nummer of remainin players tae 80. The seicont tae fift qualifying roonds haed 16 matches each, wi the winners o the earlier roond meetin the 16 higher-ranked players who haed been seedit intae the next roond. The 16 winners frae the fift roond met ane o the tap 16 seeds in the first roond o the competeetion proper.

Aw qualifying matches war played as best-of-19-frames. Efter haein a heart attack at the 1984 Grand Prix, John Dunning played in his first return match in the qualifiers; he lost tae Wayne Jones, 6–10. Danny Fowler made the heichest qualifying brak, scoring a 137 in his 10–0 veectory ower Jim Donnelly afore losin 2–10 tae John Parrott in the follaein roond. Fred Davis, aged 71 and aicht-time champion atween 1948 and 1956, defeatit Robert Chaperon 10–9 in the fowert roond but lost 6–10 tae Rex Williams in the fift (and final) qualifying roond.

### First round
The first roond o the championship, frae 12 tae 17 Apryle, featurt 32 players competin in 16 best-of-19-frames matches in two sessions; each seedit player competit against a qualifier. The first match tae finish wis atween seicont seed Tony Knowles and Tony Jones. Knowles won fower straucht frames afore he wis pegged back tae 4–4. Jones, the qualifier, teuk fower o the next five frames tae lead 8–5 but eventually lost 8–10. As pairt of an initiative tae remove performance-enhancing substances, drug tests war performed for the first time during the event; Knowles wis the first player testit.

Top seed, defendin champion Steve Davis won his match against Neal Foulds 10–8 tae reach the seicont roond. Anly two unseedit players won thair first-roond matches, wi Patsy Fagan defeatin 12t seed Willie Thorne 10–6 and John Parrott defeatin 13t seed John Spencer 10–3. Spencer wis diagnosed wi myasthenia gravis shortly efter the toornament; it affected his vision, an he won anly two matches aw season. Efter bein defeatit twice during the season bi Eugene Hughes, sax-time champion and fift seed Ray Reardon won 10–9 against Hughes on a deciding frame.

A law-scoring match atween ninth seed Alex Higgins and Dean Reynolds did nae see a brak of ower 30 pynts in the first three frames. Reynolds won juist the fift frame o the openin session wi Higgins leadin 8–1, who eventually won 10–4. John Virgo led tenth seed Tony Meo 5–4 efter the first session, but won juist ane frame in the seicont session tae lose 6–10. In a press conference efter the match, Virgo said: "I don't think Tony played well enough to beat me. It was the run of the balls that beat me. That's the way it has been for me for six years. I can't explain it. I practise hard. I play well, but sometimes that is not enough. You need a lot of luck in this game and I didn't get any at all."

Awtho fowert seed Kirk Stevens defeatit Ray Edmonds 10–8, snooker pundit Clive Everton said that his standard of play wis nae that o a tap-fower player and Edmonds "made [Stevens] work". In a slow first session, Rex Williams and aicht seed Terry Griffiths played seiven (insteid o the planned nine) frames; Griffiths led 6–1 efter three oors 38 minutes, and eventually won the match 10–3. Bill Werbeniuk (seedit 14t) haed nae won a single match aw season, but defeatit Joe Johnson 10–8 and scored a 143 brak in the tenth frame – the third-heichest brak at the championship tae date.

A *[[Daily Star (United Kingdom)|Daily Star]]* series of articles aboot drug abuse frae within the championship wis based on statements reportedly bi Silvino Francisco. Francisco trailed 1–8 efter his first session against 11t seed Dennis Taylor, and lost the match 2–10. Francisco and Warld Snooker chairman Rex Williams held a press conference. Williams said that thare wis no evidence of drug uise in the sport; Francisco apologised tae Kirk Stevens (the player named in the *Daily Star* articles) and said that the statements in the article war a "total lie".

Third seed Cliff Thorburn defeatit Mike Hallett, 10–8; 15t seed Doug Mountjoy defeatit Murdo MacLeod, 10–5; 16t seed David Taylor defeatit Dene O'Kane 10–4, an saxt seed Eddie Charlton defeatit John Campbell in an aw-Australian tie.

### Second round
The seicont roond, frae 18 tae 22 Apryle, wis played as aicht best-of-25-frames matches. Steve Davis led David Taylor 3–0 and 6–3 afore winnin seiven o the aicht frames in the seicont session tae win 13–4, scoring century braks in the aicht (100) and eleventh (105) frames. Alex Higgins and Welshman Terry Griffiths war tied 5–5 efter ten frames. Griffiths pulled ahead during the seicont session, leadin 10–6, an won three o the first fower frames o the final session tae win 13–7. John Parrott led Kirk Stevens 6–2 efter the first session and eventually won, 13–6.

Ray Reardon and Patsy Fagan war tied efter the first session, 4–4, afore Reardon pulled ahead 7–5. Reardon  the final  of frame 13 tae lead 8–5, and pulled ahead 12–9 afore braking his  in frame 22. Wi anly a few shots left tae play tae win the match, Reardon borrowed Fagan's cue for the veectory. In an aw-Canadian seicont-roond match, Cliff Thorburn defeatit Bill Werbeniuk 13–3 wi a . Two umwhile event finalists, Dennis Taylor and Eddie Charlton, met in the seicont roond; Taylor defeatit Charlton, 13–6. Seivent seed Jimmy White overcame Tony Meo, despite bein tied 10–10, tae win 13–11. In the final match, Tony Knowles defeatit Doug Mountjoy 13–6.

### Quarter-finals
The quarter-finals war played as best-of-25-frames matches in three sessions on 23 and 24 Apryle. Terry Griffiths led Steve Davis efter winnin the first fower frames o the match, but finished the first session at 4–4. Davis won the seicont session tae lead 10–6, but  and lost frame 17. Griffiths committed a , allouin Davis tae win the frame and (eventually) win 13–6 tae reach his fowert Warld Championship semi-final. John Parrott won the first fower frames of his semi-final against Ray Reardon forby, an led 5–3 efter the first session. Parrott extendit his lead tae 9–5 in the seicont session, but missed two  in successive frames tae lead bi anly 9–7 efter the session. Reardon won aw five frames o the third session (seiven in a row) tae lead 12–9, an Parrott won the next three frames tae force a deciding frame. Wi ane reid left on the table, Parrott led bi seiven pynts; Reardon  Parrott, an won a  tae win the match wi a brak of 31.

Due tae slow play, anly sax o the aicht frames o the openin session atween Dennis Taylor and Cliff Thorburn war played. Taylor teuk a lead of 4–0, afore endin the session at 4–2. The session wis cried interestin bi Clive Everton of *[[The Guardian]]*, houiver, due tae the "high quality of the tactical play." The seicont session wis lang-winded an aw, wi the match adjourned at 1:21a.m. (efter nine oors and 45 minutes of play); Taylor led 10–5, wi a frame still tae be played. Resuming the match, Taylor won three straucht frames tae win 13–5 and reach his fift semi-final. Thorburn said efter the match that baith players war at fault for the slow play: "I wasn't the only one playing safe. If I had played well, this would have been the longest match ever." Thare wis anly ane brak of ower 50 in the entire match, made bi Taylor in the final frame.

Seicont seed Tony Knowles played Jimmy White, an led 5–3 efter the first session. Knowles made a brak of 137 during the session, but missed the black; it wad hae been the toornament's heichest brak. He retained his lead throu the seicont session, despite twice bein a pot away frae bein tied; the session finished 9–7. Returning tae the match, Knowles won the next two frames but White won a re-spotted black in frame 19. Knowles handled the pressure better nor White, an won 13–10.

### Semi-finals

The semi-finals, baith played as best-of-31-frames matches, war played in fower sessions on 25 and 26 Apryle. Reigning champion Steve Davis defeatit Ray Reardon, playin juist three sessions for a 16–5 veectory. Awtho Reardon haed won previous matches wi strong  play, Davis'  creatit opportunities throughout the match. Janice Hale of *Snooker Scene* magazine wrote that the match haed "an air of inevitability", wi Davis in full control. Reardon wis the auldest Warld Championship semi-finalist, but failed tae play at the level he haed played against Parrott. In winnin, Davis reached his third straucht Warld-championship final. He compiled his 100th century brak at the Crucible, a 106 brak in frame 13.

Tony Knowles played Dennis Taylor in the seicont semi-final. As the higher-seedit player, Knowles expected tae win; he failed tae exhibit the form he haed earlier in the toornament, houiver, an fell bi the same score as Reardon. Awtho Knowles won the first two frames, he won juist three mair frames during the match. Taylor led 10–5 efter the seicont session, an won sax frames in a row tae win the match in three sessions. Efter the match, Knowles wis unable tae understand how he haed lost tae a lawer-seedit player. Taylor said that he saw Knowles get "angry" during the match, houiver, an the player haed "thrown his cue" at a few shots. Knowles lost the follaein year's event in the semi-finals tae eventual champion Joe Johnson an aw.

### Final

The final wis played atween Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor on 27 and 28 Apryle 1985 as a best-of-35-frames match ower fower sessions. This wis Davis' fowert Warld final, haein won the title in 1981, 1983 and 1984; and Taylor's seicont, haein lost 16–24 tae Terry Griffiths in the 1979 final. Davis and Taylor haed met at the Warld Championship on two previous occasions, wi Taylor winnin thair first roond encounter in 1979 and Davis winnin the semi-final in 1984.

Awtho Taylor scored a brak of 50 in the first frame o the match, Davis won aw seiven frames o the openin session tae lead 7–0. Restarting the match, Davis teuk the aicht frame and wis leadin in frame nine but missed a  on the  which wis later considered the turning pynt o the match. This error allowed Taylor tae win his first frame, followed bi sax mair o the nine frames played in the seicont session, tae trail 7–9 overnight. On the seicont day, Taylor tied the match at 11–11 and 15–15, but wis never ahead at ony pynt; Davis won the next two frames tae lead 17–15, needing ane mair frame tae win the championship. Taylor clinched frame 33 and then made a brak of ower 50 tae tie the match, forcing a deciding frame.

The deciding frame lasted ower an oor, finishing efter midnight Greenwich Mean Time. Davis led 62–44, wi juist the last fower balls tae play; Taylor required aw fower tae win the match. He potted difficult shots, leaving the black ball tae determine the winner. Wi the black , baith players attempted tae  the ball. The first real opportunity fell tae Taylor, wi a lang pot tae the  corner. He missed the shot, an the ball left Davis wi a ; accordin tae commentator Jim Meadowcroft, "That was the biggest shot of his life". Davis stepped up tae the table and again missed the shot, leaving Taylor a mid-range shot. Ted Lowe said, "This is really unbelievable" afore Taylor potted the shot and won the match. The final atween Davis and Taylor attracted 18.5&nbsp;million viewers on BBC2, finishing at 12:23&nbsp;a.m. efter Taylor  the last black tae win the title. The viewership wis the heichest for ony broadcast efter midnight in the United Kingdom, an the maist-viewed show on BBC2.

Efter potting the final ball, Taylor raised his ; awtho he haed nae been ahead at ony pynt during the gemme, he "waggled" his finger and kissed the winner's trophy. Taylor said in a 2009 interview that it wis aimed at "his good friend" Trevor East, whom he haed told he wad win. At a press conference afterwards, he said that the match wis the "best he had ever been involved in [his] life". Taylor dedicated the Warld championship tae his late mither who haed died the previous year. Unwilling tae play snooker, he haed withdrawn frae the 1984 International Open. His faimily and friends persuaded him tae play again in the Grand Prix event, whaur he won his first professional title bi defeatin Cliff Thorburn in the final.

## Main draw
The results for each roond o the main stage o the championship are shawn ablo. The nummers in parentheses beside some o the players are thair seeding ranks (each championship haes 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers).

## Century breaks
Thare war 14 century braks in the championship. Bill Werbeniuk's 143 against Joe Johnson in the first roond wis the jynt third-heichest brak in the championship's history, tied wi his brak in 1979 and Willie Thorne's in 1982. Anly Cliff Thorburn's maximum break in 1983 and Doug Mountjoy's 145 in 1981 war higher. Tony Knowles missed the black on a brak of 137 that wad hae scored a 144 in his seicont-roond match wi Jimmy White.

* 143 Bill Werbeniuk
* 137, 117 Tony Knowles
* 128, 117 Dennis Taylor
* 123 Tony Meo
* 114, 108 Jimmy White
* 114 John Parrott
* 106, 105, 100 Steve Davis
* 103 Cliff Thorburn
* 101 Neal Foulds

### Qualifying stages
Thare war ten century braks in the qualifying stages; the heichest wis made bi Danny Fowler in his roond-of-64 10–0 whitewash of Jim Donnelly.

* 137 Danny Fowler
* 134 Steve Newbury
* 132 Bernie Mikkelsen
* 119 John Virgo
* 110, 101 Bob Chaperon
* 109 Neal Foulds
* 107 Dave Chalmers
* 104 Tony Jones
* 100 Steve Longworth

## Legacy
Returning tae Northren Ireland, Taylor received a veectory parade afore 10,000 fowk in a Land Rover across his home toun of Coalisland. He wis loaned mayoral robes on the day of his veectory parade, an wis accompanied bi his wife and three childer. Taylor later signed a five-year contract wi promoter Barry Hearn as his manager. Media covering the toornament cried Steve Davis a "bad loser" for his silence and ane-wird responses tae questions frae David Vine at a press conference efter the event. Taylor's veectory remains the maist-viewed BBC2 program of aw time, an wis the maist-viewed sporting event in the United Kingdom tae date. The press conference wis later the basis for a *[[Spitting Image]]* skit on Davis.

The toornament final wis recreated and redistributed bi the BBC in various forms. At the 2010 World Snooker Championship, tae celebrate 25 years efter the event, the final frame wis replayed atween Taylor and Davis wi commentary bi John Virgo. The frame wis played as an exhibition, wi baith players attemptin tae re-creaut the shots on the final black ball. The final (an the championship) war examined in the BBC documentary, *[[When Snooker Ruled the World]]*. Anither ane-oor BBC documentary on the final, *Davis v Taylor: The '85 Black Ball Final* (featurin interviews wi Taylor's friends and faimily in Northren Ireland), wis presented bi Colin Murray.

During the 2015 World Snooker Championship, Davis presented *Celebrity Black Ball Final* on the BBC in which celebrities played the final two shots o the match; guests included Rebecca Adlington, Joey Essex, Russell Watson, Richard Osman and Josh Widdicombe. A 2017 BBC poll foond the final the Crucible's "most memorable" moment. The match received ower hauf  the vote, wi Ronnie O'Sullivan's 1997 maximum brak finishing seicont.

Davis again lost the next year's final, this time tae qualifier Joe Johnson. He won three mair titles, in 1987, 1988 and 1989. Taylor never reached the final again, losin in the first roond tae Mike Hallett o the follaein year's event, fawin tae the "Crucible curse".

## Qualifying
Five roonds of qualifying war played for the event atween 27 tae 31 Mairch at the Preston Guildhall.

**1st Qualifying Roond**

## Notes

## References