1981 Pot Black

The 1981 Pot Black was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was held between 28 and 31 December 1980 in the Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham.^[1] 8 players were competing in 2 four player groups. The matches are one-frame shoot-outs in the group stages, 2 frame aggregate scores in the semi-finals and the best of 3 frames in the final.

Pot Black 81

Tournament information
Dates	28–31 December 1980 (1980-12-28 – 1980-12-31) (Broadcast 30 December 1980 – 31 March 1981 (1980-12-30 – 1981-03-31))
Venue	Pebble Mill Studios
City	Birmingham
Country	England
Format	Non-Ranking event
Winner's share	£2,500
Highest break	Kirk Stevens (79)
Final
Champion	Cliff Thorburn
Runner-up	Jim Wych
Score	2–0
← 1980 1982 →

Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Tuesday 30 December 1980 ^[2] Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and top referee John Williams replaced Sydney Lee after 13 years after Lee retired to ill health.

First time players this year are Canadians Kirk Stevens and Jim Wych. The latter made the final against fellow Canadian Cliff Thorburn before losing 0–2.^[3][4]

Main draw

Group 1

Player 1	Score	Player 2	Broadcast Date
Ray Reardon	1–0	Cliff Thorburn	30 December 1980
Kirk Stevens	1–0	Steve Davis	13 January 1981
Cliff Thorburn	1–0	Kirk Stevens	27 January 1981
Ray Reardon	1–0	Steve Davis	10 February 1981
Cliff Thorburn	1–0	Steve Davis	24 February 1981
Ray Reardon	1–0	Kirk Stevens	3 March 1981

Group 2

Player 1	Score	Player 2	Broadcast Date
Eddie Charlton	1–0	Alex Higgins	6 January 1981
Jim Wych	0–1	David Taylor	20 January 1981
Eddie Charlton	0–1	Jim Wych	3 February 1981
Alex Higgins	1–0	David Taylor	17 February 1981
Eddie Charlton	1–0	David Taylor	24 February 1981
Alex Higgins	0–1	Jim Wych	3 March 1981

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals (10 and 17 March 1981)					Final (31 March 1981)
	Ray Reardon		0
	Jim Wych		1
						Jim Wych		0
						Cliff Thorburn		2
	Eddie Charlton		0
	Cliff Thorburn		1			3rd place Play-off (24 March 1981)
						Ray Reardon		1
						Eddie Charlton		0

References

1. Everton, Clive (11 August 1980). "Circuit growing fast". The Guardian. London. p. 29.
2. "BBC Television – 30 December 1980 – Pot Black". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
3. "BBC Television – 31 March 1981 – Pot Black: BBC2 Knockout Snooker Competition". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
4. "CueTracker - 1981 Pot Black - Snooker Results & Statistics". cuetracker.net. Retrieved 25 February 2017.