1980–81 snooker season

The 1980–81 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 18 June 1980 and 16 May 1981. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and the invitational events.

1980–81 snooker season

Details
Duration	18 June 1980 – 16 May 1981
Tournaments	18 (1 ranking event)
Triple Crown winners
UK Championship	Steve Davis
Masters	Alex Higgins
World Championship	Steve Davis
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

New professional players

In February 1980, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) accepted the application of Tony Knowles to become a professional from the 1980–81 season, and rejected Eugene Hughes and Ian Williamson.^[1] Jimmy White, the 1979 English Amateur Champion, opted to remain as an amateur until after the 1980 World Amateur Championship;^[2] he became a professional after winning it in November 1980.^[3] Dave Martin won the 1980 Professional Ticket Event.^[4] Jim Rempe became a professional in 1980 and played in the 1980 World Challenge Cup but he did not participate in a singles event until the 1985 Matchroom Trophy.^[5][6] Knowles, White, and Martin all made their World Snooker Championship debuts at the 1981 edition.^[7][8]

The new professionals were, therefore:

•  Tony Knowles (ENG)
•  Jimmy White (ENG)
•  Dave Martin (ENG)
•  Jim Rempe (USA)

Calendar

Date[n 1]			Rank	Tournament name	Venue	City	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Reference
06-18	06-20	AUS	NR	Australian Masters	Channel 10 Television Studios	Sydney	John Spencer	Dennis Taylor	[n 2]	[9]
08-13	08-31	CAN	NR	Canadian Open	Canadian National Exhibition Stadium	Toronto	Cliff Thorburn	Terry Griffiths	17–10	[10]
10-02	10-12	ENG	NR	Champion of Champions	New London Theatre	London	Doug Mountjoy	John Virgo	10–8	[11]
10-18	10-26	ENG	TE	World Challenge Cup	New London Theatre	London	Wales	Canada	8–5	[12]
11-16	11-29	ENG	NR	UK Championship	Guild Hall	Preston	Steve Davis	Alex Higgins	16–6	[13]
12-01	12-02	ENG	NR	The Classic	Blighty's	Farnworth	Steve Davis	Dennis Taylor	4–1	[14]
12-07	12-13	ENG	TQ	Professional Ticket Event	Snooker Centre	Sheffield	Dave Martin	Eugene Hughes	9–6
12-28	12-31	ENG	NR	Pot Black[n 3]	BBC Studios	Birmingham	Cliff Thorburn	Jim Wych	2–0	[15][16]
01-27	02-01	ENG	NR	The Masters	Wembley Conference Centre	London	Alex Higgins	Terry Griffiths	9–6	[17][18][19]
02-05	02-08	WAL	NR	Welsh Professional Championship	Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre	Ebbw Vale	Ray Reardon	Cliff Wilson	9–6	[20]
02-18	02-21	IRL	NR	Irish Masters	Goff's	Kill	Terry Griffiths	Ray Reardon	9–7	[21][22]
02-24	02-25	ENG	NR	Tolly Cobbold Classic	Corn Exchange	Ipswich	Graham Miles	Cliff Thorburn	5–1	[23]
03-02	03-08	ENG	NR	Yamaha Organs Trophy	Assembly Rooms	Derby	Steve Davis	David Taylor	9–6	[24]
03-12	03-14	NIR	NR	Irish Professional Championship	Riverside Theatre	Coleraine	Dennis Taylor	Patsy Fagan	22–21	[25]
03-08	03-15	ENG	NR	English Professional Championship	Haden Hill Leisure Centre	Birmingham	Steve Davis	Tony Meo	9–3	[26][27]
03-??	03-??	SCO	NR	Scottish Professional Championship	Cumbernauld Theatre	Kildrum	Ian Black	Matt Gibson	11–7	[28]
04-07	04-20	ENG	WR	World Snooker Championship	Crucible Theatre	Sheffield	Steve Davis	Doug Mountjoy	18–12	[29]
05-09	05-16	WAL	NR	Pontins Professional	Pontins	Prestatyn	Terry Griffiths	Willie Thorne	9–8	[30][31]

WR = World ranking event

NR = Non-ranking event

TE = Team event

TQ = Tour qualifier

Official rankings

Main article: Snooker world rankings 1980/1981

The top 16 of the world rankings.^[32][33][34]

No.	Ch.	Name
1		Ray Reardon
2		Cliff Thorburn
3		Eddie Charlton
4		Alex Higgins
5		Terry Griffiths
6		Dennis Taylor
7		Perrie Mans
8		Fred Davis
9		David Taylor
10		Bill Werbeniuk
11		Kirk Stevens
12		John Virgo
13		Steve Davis
14		Doug Mountjoy
15		John Spencer
16		Graham Miles

Notes

1. Dates use the mm-dd date format.
2. The final was decided on aggregate score over three frames.
3. Event was played and recorded in December 1980, but broadcast in the spring of 1981.

References

1. Everton, Clive (5 February 1980). "Higgins is fined". The Guardian. p. 22.
2. Everton, Clive (28 August 1979). "Johnson's chance to shine". The Guardian. p. 25.
3. Glenn, Patrick (16 November 1980). "A pot of gold for White". The Observer. p. 22.
4. "Martin earns ticket". Snooker Scene. February 1981. p. 7.
5. Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1986–87. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. p. 132. ISBN 9780356123639.
6. "State Express World Cup". Snooker Scene. December 1980. pp. 18–25.
7. Everton, Clive (7 April 1981). "Thorburn on cue to retain title". The Guardian. London. p. 23.
8. Everton, Clive (8 April 1981). "Fine start by Davis". The Guardian. London. p. 18.
9. Turner, Chris. "Australian Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
10. Turner, Chris. "Canadian Open, Canadian Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
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14. Turner, Chris. "Wilson Classic, Lada Classic, Mercantile Credit Classic". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
15. "Pot Black History". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
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17. Turner, Chris. "The Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
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21. Turner, Chris. "Irish Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
22. Turner, Chris. "On this Week: Ranking first for Carter". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
23. Turner, Chris. "Tolly Cobbold Classic". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
24. Turner, Chris. "British Open Including British Gold Cup, Yamaha Organs Trophy and Yamaha International Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
25. Turner, Chris. "Irish Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
26. Turner, Chris. "English Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
27. Turner, Chris. "On this Week: Birth of the Hurricane". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
28. Turner, Chris. "Scottish Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
29. Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
30. "Pontin's Roll of Honour". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
31. Turner, Chris. "Pontins Open, Pontins Professional, Pontins World Pro-Am Series". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
32. Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings 1975/76 to 1989/90". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
33. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
34. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. pp. 119–123. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.