1986 Warld Snooker Championship

The **1986 Warld Snooker Championship** (an aw referred tae as the **1986 Embassy Warld Snooker Championship** for the purposes o sponsorship) wis a professional snooker toornament that teuk place atween 19&nbsp;Apryle and 5&nbsp;May 1986 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It wis the saxt and final rankin event o the 1985–86 snooker season an the 1986 edition o the Warld Snooker Championship first held in 1927. The tot prize fund wis £350,000 wi £70,000 awairdit tae the winner. The toornament wis sponsored bi cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

The defendin champion wis Northren Ireland's Dennis Taylor, who haed defeatit Steve Davis 18–17 in the 1985 Warld Snooker Championship final tae win his first title. Taylor lost in the first roond o the event 4–10 tae Mike Hallett. The warld nummer 16 Joe Johnson defeatit Davis 18–12 in the final tae win his sole rankin event. Prior tae the event, bookmakers' odds for a Johnson veectory war 150–1. A tot o 20 century breaks war made during the event, the heichest o which wis a 134 made bi Davis.

## Overview
The Warld Snooker Championship is a professional toornament an the offeecial warld championship o the gemme o snooker. Foondit in the late 19t century bi British Army soldiers stationed in Indie, the sport wis popular in the British Isles. Houiver, in the modren era it haes acome increasingly popular warldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations sic as Cheenae, Hong Kong and Thailand.

The championship featurt 32 professional players competin in ane-on-ane snooker matches in a single elimination format, each played ower several . The 32 competitors in the main toornament war selected uisin a combination o the tap players in the warld snooker rankins and a pre-toornament qualification stage. Joe Davis won the first Warld Championship in 1927, the final match bein held in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England. Syne 1977, the event haes been held in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

### Prize fund
The toornament featurt a prize fund o £350,000 wi a bonus o £80,000 if a player made a maximum break. The winner o the event won a tot o £70,000. The brakdown o prize money for the event is shawn ablo:

*Winner: £70,000
*Runner-up: £42,000
*Semi-finals: £21,000
*Quarter-finals: £10,500
*Last 16: £5,250
*Last 32: £2,953
*Last 48: £1,203
*Highest brak: £7,000
*Maximum brak: £80,000
*Tot: £350,000

## Tournament summary
### Qualifying
Qualifying matches teuk place at Preston Guild Hall frae 26 Mairch tae 6 Apryle 1986. Aw matches war played as the best-o-19 frames. Joe O'Boye recorded the first century brak o the qualifying roonds, compiling a 118 in his 8–10 defeat bi Bill Oliver. Paul Thornley put thegither 126 in his 10–3 win ower Derek Mienie. John Hargreaves wis 2–9 doun tae Bernie Mikkelsen but won five frames in a row tae recover tae 7–9, afore bein knocked oot 7–10. Dave Gilbert an aw won five consecutive frames, going frae 5–7 behind tae win 10–7 against Roger Bales. Veteran professional Bernard Bennett suffered the anly whitewash o the first roond, failing tae win a frame against Sakchai Sim Ngam. James Giannaros, Jim Rempe and Wayne Sanderson aw withdrew frae the competeetion.

In the seicont qualifying roond, the Scottish Professional Championship winner Stephen Hendry made a brak o 141 during match against Paddy Browne, which wis the heichest brak in qualifying and earnt £1,750. Hendry haed led 8–3 and 9–8 afore winnin 10–9. At 8–8 against Bob Chaperon, Frank Jonik conceded the frame when 22 pynts behind wi the broun tae black balls, totalling 22 pynts, still on the table, which meant he coud draw the frame. He then conceded the 18t frame frae 53 pynts behind wi sax reds still remainin, meanin that up tae 75 pynts war available wioot snookers, an lost 8–10. Jimmy van Rensberg beat Ian Williamson on the final black in the deciding frame o thair contest, clearin green tae born tae win that frame 42–41. On his wey tae his seicont roond match, Steve Newbury wis involved in a traffic collision that injured his wife and wrecked his car. He beat Omprakesh Agrawal 10–5. Thare wis ane whitewash in the seicont roond, bi Ray Edmonds against Billy Kelly.

Hendry made braks o 117 and 91 in his 10–8 third roond defeat o Wayne Jones during which Jones haed recovered frae 3–7 tae 8–8. Les Dodd lost anly ane frame against umwhile warld snooker championship promoter Mike Watterson, and Peter Francisco saw off Fred Davis, a umwhile billiards and snooker warld champion, bi the same margin. Robby Foldvari, who haed won the Warld Billiards Championship in Mairch 1986, beat the 1974 Warld Snooker Championship runner-up Graham Miles 10–7. Newbury became the first player in this year's competeetion tae qualify for the Crucible roonds against a tap 16 player, wi a 10–2 win ower Ian Black. John Spencer qualified tae meet anither umwhile champion, Alex Higgins bi beatin Newbury 10–7. Hendry haed led Dene O'Kane 6–3 and went on tae win 10–9 tae acome the youngest-ever qualifier for the Crucible stages at that time. O'Kane wis ane o three tap-32 seeds tae lose in the fowert roond, the others bein Mark Wildman and Murdo MacLeod. Wilman haed led Edmonds 9–6 but lost 9–10, an MacLeod wis beaten 6–10 bi Danny Fowler.

### First round

The first roond war played as the best-o-19-frames matches ower two sessions, an aw teuk place atween 19 and 24 Apryle. Defendin champion Dennis Taylor, leukin jaded accordin tae Clive Everton, lost the first seiven frames against Mike Hallett, and ended thair first session 1–8 behind. He won five mair frames, but lost 6–10. Lik Spencer in 1978, Terry Griffiths in 1980, Cliff Thorburn in 1981 and Steve Davis in 1982, Taylor wis unable tae retain his first warld championship, kent as the Crucible Curse. Seicont seed Davis beat Ray Edmonds 10–4. Third seed Thorburn beat Bill Werbeniuk 10–5, whilst fowert seed Tony Knowles won a close match against Neal Foulds 10–9.

The 16t seed Joe Johnson defeatit Dave Martin 10–3 in the first roond, his first win in three appearances at the Championship. Jimmy White compiled a 121 brak in the final frame o his 10–7 veectory ower John Virgo. The three-time warld champion Spencer made his final appearance at the toornament, losin 7–10 tae Alex Higgins in the first roond. Future seiven-time champion Stephen Hendry made his debut, losin 8–10 tae Willie Thorne in the first roond. Aged 17 years and 3 month, Hendry wis the youngest player ever tae compete at the Warld Snooker Championship. Anither debutant in 1986 wis Danny Fowler, who lost 2–10 tae Terry Griffiths. Sax-times warld championship winner Ray Reardon wis knocked oot 8–10 bi John Campbell.

In the ither matches o the roond, 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, an Eddie Charlton beat Cliff Wilson 10–6.

### Second round
The seicont roond matches war played as the best-o-25 frames matches ower three sessions, an aw teuk place atween 24 and 28 Apryle. Davis and Mountjoy, who haed contested the 1981 final, ended thair first session tied at 4–4, an the seicont wi Davis leadin 11–5. Mounjoy did nae pot a ball in the final session as Davis completit a 13–5 veectory.

Higgins missed a  frae its spot that wad hae put him 6–2 ahead o Griffiths at the end o thair first session, but Griffiths won the frame tae leave Higgins 5–3 ahead insteid. Griffiths haed the better o thair seicont session, an made a brak o 110 tae level at 6–6. Whilst the next two frames war shared, Griffiths  a  tae win frame 15 and a frame later wis 9–7 ahead at the end o thair seicont session. The match went tae a , wi Griffiths prevailing 13–12. The Stevens and Charlton match an aw went tae a deciding frame, wi Stevens winnin the last three frames frae 10–12 behind tae win 13–12.

Johnson led Hallett 5–3 efter thair first session, afore completing a 13–6 win, makin a brak o 110 in frame 13. Parrott and White war level at 4–4 and 6–6 afore White won a run o fower frames tae lead 10–6 efter the seicont session. White won three o the next five frames tae win 13–8. Thorne beat the Australian Professional Championship winner Campbell 13–9. In the ither seicont roond matches, Knowles beat Fransciso 13–10 and Thorburn beat Hughes 13–6.

### Quarter-finals
The quarter-finals war played as the best-o-25 frames matches ower three sessions on 29 and 30 Apryle. Joe Johnson led Terry Griffiths 9–7 at the end o the first day o thair match. On resumption, Griffiths won five frames in-a-row tae come within ane frame o winnin the match at 12–9. Johnson teuk the next fower tae win 13–12, makin two century braks in thae fower frames. Steve Davis played Jimmy White, a replay o the 1984 Warld Snooker Championship final. Davis made a brak o 134 in the openin frame and played consistently well in beatin Jimmy White 13–5, whilst White missed a nummer o relatively semple pots.

Cliff Thorburn played Willie Thorne and won 13–6.  *The Times* report o the match said that Thorne "was never allowed to play his usual fluent game." Thorburn teuk a 9–3 lead, an finished the seicont session 11–5 ahead. His wife Barbara Thorburn, in Canadae, gae birth tae thair seicont bairn during the match. Tony Knowles played Kirk Stevens. Efter the first session, the pair war level at 4–4, an then again 8–8 efter the seicont session. At the beginnin o the final session, Knowles won five o the next sax frames tae win 13–9.

### Semi-finals

The semi-finals war played atween 1–3 May as best-o-31-frames matches played ower fower sessions. The first semi-final featurt Tony Knowles and Joe Johnson. Johnson trailed at 0–1 and 1–2 but ended thair first session ahead 4–3, wi Knowles haein missed middle pocket pots tae let him intae baith the saxt and seivent frames. Accordin tae Sydney Friskin's match report in *The Times*, Johnson gae the appearance o bein relaxed and wis potting well as be biggit a 10–5 lead ower Knowles bi the end o thair seicont session, afore finishing thair third session at 14–8. He teuk the first two frames o the last session tae win at 16–8; and reach his first warld championship final. Johnson played haein taken painkillers for a cyst on his back afore the match.

The seicont semi-final wis played atween Steve Davis and Cliff Thorburn. In the saxt frame wi Davis leadin 3–2, Thorburn wis on course for a maximum brak but failed on the ninth black, but tied the match at 3–3. Davis won the next three tae lead 6–3; but led bi anly a single frame at 8–7 efter the seicont session. Davis trailed 8–9 and 9–10 the next day afore his fift century brak o the toornament, a 112, levelled the match at 10–10. A missed black frae Davis gae Thorburn the opportunity tae win the next frame, an Davis won the last o the session tae tie the match 11–11 going intae the final session. Davis won five frames against Thorburn's ane in the final session, makin a 122 brak in the last frame as he concluded a 16–12 win tae reach his fift warld final.

### Final
The final wis played as a best-o-35 frames match on 4 and 5 May played ower fower sessions. Johnson and Davis haed never played a professional match against each ither. Davis wis considered much mair likely tae win the final, reflected in the bookmaker's odds o 2/9 for Davis and 5/1 for Johnson. Davis teuk a 3–1 lead intae the interval o the first session, haein made braks o 108 and 107. Johnson then teuk the next three frames tae finish the first session 4–3 ahead. In the seicont session, Davis stairtit strangly, winnin fower frames in succession tae put himsel 7–4 ahead. This wis followed bi a mid-session interval, follaein which Johnson won fower consecutive frames. Davis won the last frame tae leave the match level at 8–8 overnicht.

On the seicont day, Johnson wore an unusual pair o reid, pink and white leather shoes. Upon the restart, Johnson haed anither run o fower frames tae tak him intae a 12–8 lead, assisted bi a fluke on a reid ball in the 18t frame. The session ended wi Johnson ahead at 13–11. In the final session, crowd response wis in favour o Johnson. Johnson, who haed played wi an attacking style throughout the event, won three o the next fower tae lead 16–12 afore the mid-session interval. Johnson won frame 29, an secured a brak o 64 in frame 30 tae win the match 18–12. The win helped lift him frae 16t place in the 1985–1986 professional rankins tae aicht for 1986–1987.

Davis, bein runner-up in two successive championships, commented tae interviewer David Vine "We can't go on meeting like this, David". Johnson retorted "I hope we can still be friends". The popularity o Johnson's win resulted in an appearance on televeesion show Wogan, as well as accompanying Cliff Richard in a box tae watch Wimbledon. This wis Johnson's anly rankin event win in his career. He wad win two non-rankin toornaments at the 1987 Scottish Masters and 1989 Norwich Union Grand Prix. In the 1987 Warld Snooker Championship the follaein year, baith Davis and Johnson contested the final, wi Davis winnin 18–14. Johnson's attacking style o snooker, notable for his lang potting, haes been seen as a harbinger o the style than became dominant in the 1990s. Prior tae the toornament, Johnson wis 150/1 tae win as he haed nae won ony toornaments in his seiven-year career and haed never previously won a match at the Crucible. A condensed version o the final wis showcased on BBC Two on 22&nbsp;Apryle 2020 in place o the 2020 Warld Snooker Championship which wis postponed acause o the coronavirus pandemic.

## Main draw
The nummers in parentheses beside some o the players are thair seeding ranks (each championship haes 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers). Players in bold denote match winners. Shawn ablo are the results for the event:

## Qualifying
Four roonds o qualification war played at the Preston Guild Hall in Preston, England frae 26 Mairch tae 6 Apryle 1986. Aw matches war played as the best-o-19 frames. Players in bold denote match winners.

### Round 1

### Round 2

### Rounds 3 and 4

## Century breaks
Thare war 20 century breaks in the championship, the heichest until the 1991 event. The heichest brak wis a 134 made bi Davis.

* 134, 112, 108, 108, 107, 102, 101, 100 Steve Davis
* 121 Jimmy White
* 115 Dean Reynolds
* 112 John Virgo
* 111, 110 Terry Griffiths
* 110, 110, 102 Joe Johnson
* 105 Tony Knowles
* 104 Cliff Thorburn
* 101 Silvino Francisco
* 100 Willie Thorne

### Qualifying stages
Thare war 12 century braks made in qualifying. The heichest wis a 141 made bi Stephen Hendry.

* 141, 117 Stephen Hendry
* 126 Paul Thornley
* 120 Tony Drago
* 118 Joe O'Boye
* 118 Steve Longworth
* 114 Ian Williamson
* 112, 102 Barry West
* 111 Vic Harris
* 108 Martin Smith
* 105 Robby Foldvari

## Notes

## References