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1979 UK Championship

November 10, 2023

The 1979 UK Championship (officially the 1979 Coral UK Championship)[1] was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 November and 1 December 1979 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. This was the third edition of the UK Championship that would later become part of snooker's Triple Crown. The event was sponsored by Coral for the second year in a row.

1979 Coral UK Championship
Tournament information
Dates19 November – 1 December 1979 (1979-11-19 – 1979-12-01)
VenuePreston Guild Hall
CityPreston
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£15,000
Winner's share£4,500
Highest break Terry Griffiths (WAL) (119)
Final
Champion John Virgo (ENG)
Runner-up Terry Griffiths (WAL)
Score14–13
← 1978
1980 →

John Virgo won the championship, in his only major tournament win, by defeating Terry Griffiths 14–13 in the final, despite being deducted two frames for arriving late. The defending champion, Doug Mountjoy, was defeated 5–9 by Steve Davis in the opening round. Griffiths compiled the tournament's highest break of 119 in his semi-final win over Bill Werbeniuk. The last session of the final was broadcast by the BBC on their Grandstand programme; however, due to a strike by BBC personnel, the final frames of the match – including Virgo being awarded the championship – were never broadcast or recorded.

Tournament summary edit

The 1979 UK Championship was a professional non-ranking event held between 19 November and 1 December 1979 at the Preston Guild Hall, England.[1] The tournament was the third annual UK Championship, first held in 1977. The event saw 27 players compete, with the highest-ranked eight players based on the previous years world championship receiving a bye to the last 16,[2] and the last six players competing in a playoff round.[2] This was the first time that any seedings list for a professional snooker tournament had occurred.[2] Ray Reardon did not compete at the event, having signed a sponsorship contract with General Motors to only play in specific tournaments and exhibitions.[2] World Championship semi-finalist Eddie Charlton and Rex Williams did not play at the event, instead opting to play in a tour of Australia.[2]

Matches until the final were contested as best-of-17-frames matches, with the final played as best-of-27-frames. The preliminary rounds saw two matches reach a final frame decider, with both John Dunning and Jackie Rea winning matches 9–8.[3]

Early rounds edit

The last 24 round was played from 20 to 23 November 1979. Future six-time world champion Steve Davis made his debut in the competition and defeated John Dunning 9–3.[3] Another future world champion Joe Johnson also made his debut in the competition, playing his third professional tournament, but lost 3–9 to Bill Werbeniuk.[3] All three players who competed in the preliminary round were defeated in the last 24.[3]

The round of 16 saw Steve Davis overcome reigning champion Doug Mountjoy 9–5. World number four and three-time world champion John Spencer was defeated by Bill Werbeniuk 8–9.[4] Former winner Patsy Fagan defeated two-time Pot Black champion Graham Miles 9–5. John Virgo defeated Tony Meo 9–6, despite being 5–0 and 5–3 down after the first session, making a break of 102 in frame 11.[5][6] Dennis Taylor and Willie Thorne contested a final frame decider, with Taylor defeating Thorne to win 9–8. Having won the 1979 World Snooker Championship earlier that year, Terry Griffiths defeated Cliff Wilson 9–4.[3]

Quarter–semi-finals edit

The quarter-finals were contested from 24 to 26 November 1979. John Virgo took an early lead over Steve Davis 4–3, and later 8–7 in their match. In frame 16, Virgo had the chance to win, and Davis accidentally dropped his cue, making a loud sound. Virgo still potted the next shot during the noise and make a clearance to win the match 9–7. Post-match, Davis commented to Virgo that it was the only time he had ever wanted his opponent to not miss.[5] Elsewhere, Dennis Taylor defeated Patsy Fagan 9–6, Bill Werbeniuk defeated Ray Edmonds 9–8, and Terry Griffiths defeated Alex Higgins 9–7.[3]

The semi-finals were played from 27 to 29 November 1979. The semi-finals were similar to the 1979 World Snooker Championship, where John Virgo played Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths played Eddie Charlton. In place of Charlton, Bill Webeniuk took on Griffiths.[5] Despite having lost heavily at the world championships (12–19), Virgo defeated Taylor 9–4 to reach his only major final. In the second semi-final, Terry Griffiths defeated Werbeniuk 9–3.[3]

Final edit

 
John Virgo (pictured in 2003) won his only major title defeating Terry Griffiths 14–13.

The final was contested as a best-of-27 frame match, held between 30 November and 1 December 1979. The match was held over three sessions, with two on the first day and the final on the second, between John Virgo and world champion Terry Griffiths. Virgo took an early lead, winning the first five frames including breaks of 63 and 67.[3] Griffiths won two of the remaining frames, but trailed 7–2 after the first session.[3] The second session saw Griffiths win the first three frames to trail 7–5 before Virgo led 11–7 at the end of the session.[3][5]

The final session was played on 1 December 1979 and was broadcast on Grandstand. With the final being live on national television, the match was moved from the regular 1:45 p.m. start time to 12 noon.[5][4] Virgo, having not seen that the times had changed, was reading a paper in his hotel room when he was informed that he had missed the start time for the session.[7] Virgo was over 30 minutes late to the arena and was docked two frames for arriving late.[8] Griffiths took the two remaining frames before the interval to tie the match 11–11.[5][4]

During the interval, Griffiths approached Virgo and offered half of the prize money for the event, apologetic at the situation of having frames awarded. Virgo replied: "You haven't won it yet,"[5] noting the match hadn't finished.[4][9] Virgo won frame 23 to lead 12–11, before Griffiths tied the match again at 12–12. Griffiths made a break of 68 to lead 13–12, before a break of 50 in frame 26 by Virgo took the match into a deciding frame. Virgo won the final frame to claim the match 14–13 and his sole major title win.[10] The final frames of the final were unaired, due to a strike of BBC staff, with cameramen leaving the arena during the final frame.[5][11]

Main draw edit

The following is the full results from the event. Players in bold are denoting match winners.[3][12]

Final edit

Final: Best of 27 frames. Referee:
The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 30 November and 1 December 1979.
John Virgo
  England 		14–13 Terry Griffiths
  Wales
First session: 70–60, 67–9, 81–24, 100–24 (63), 103–26 (67), 52–61, 73–24 (69), 96–29, 22–90
Second session: 32–68, 4–126 (60), 49–51, 86–38, 50–59, 136–3 (93), 57–56 (57), 8–108 (71), 55–45
Third session: 2–0 Griffiths (Virgo docked 2 frames)[13]

43–61, 50–73, 65–44, 17–91 (56), 26–96 (68), 74–19 (50), 78–8

93 Highest break 71
0 Century breaks 0
6 50+ breaks 4

Century breaks edit

A total of five century breaks were made during the tournament, the highest of which being a 119 by Terry Griffiths.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Turner, Chris. . cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e Testing for recruits. Everton, Clive. The Guardian (1959–2003); London (UK) 12 Sep 1979: 25. via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer 20 August 2019
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "1979 UK Championship Results". Snooker Database. from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d "A Short History of the UK Championship: The 1970s". snookerscene.blogspot.com. from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Virgo, John (2 November 2017). John Virgo: Say Goodnight, JV – My Autobiography. John Blake. ISBN 9781786068590. from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  6. ^ Virgo, John (19 April 2012). Let Me Tell You About Alex – Crazy Days and Nights on the Road with the Hurricane. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 9781843584407. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Late Cue in Nick of Time for Virgo". Daily Mirror County. London, England. 3 December 1979. p. 26 – via British Newspaper Archive. 20 August 2019
  8. ^ "Virgo penalized but recovers to take first title". The Times. No. 60490. London, England. 3 December 1979. p. 9 – via The Times Digital Archive. 20 August 2019
  9. ^ . BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  10. ^ Luke Williams, Paul Gadsby (5 October 2012). Snooker's World Champions: Masters of the Baize. Random House. ISBN 9781780577159. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  11. ^ Bletchly, Rachael (27 October 2017). "Snooker ace John Virgo reveals how gambling addiction nearly ruined his life". mirror. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  12. ^ . Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Top 10 UK Championship Finals – World Snooker". World Snooker. from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.

November 10, 2023
1979, championship, officially, 1979, coral, championship, professional, ranking, snooker, tournament, that, took, place, between, november, december, 1979, guild, hall, preston, england, this, third, edition, championship, that, would, later, become, part, sn. The 1979 UK Championship officially the 1979 Coral UK Championship 1 was a professional non ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 November and 1 December 1979 at the Guild Hall in Preston England This was the third edition of the UK Championship that would later become part of snooker s Triple Crown The event was sponsored by Coral for the second year in a row 1979 Coral UK ChampionshipTournament informationDates19 November 1 December 1979 1979 11 19 1979 12 01 VenuePreston Guild HallCityPrestonCountryEnglandOrganisationWPBSAFormatNon ranking eventTotal prize fund 15 000Winner s share 4 500Highest break Terry Griffiths WAL 119 FinalChampion John Virgo ENG Runner up Terry Griffiths WAL Score14 13 19781980 John Virgo won the championship in his only major tournament win by defeating Terry Griffiths 14 13 in the final despite being deducted two frames for arriving late The defending champion Doug Mountjoy was defeated 5 9 by Steve Davis in the opening round Griffiths compiled the tournament s highest break of 119 in his semi final win over Bill Werbeniuk The last session of the final was broadcast by the BBC on their Grandstand programme however due to a strike by BBC personnel the final frames of the match including Virgo being awarded the championship were never broadcast or recorded Contents 1 Tournament summary 1 1 Early rounds 1 2 Quarter semi finals 1 3 Final 2 Main draw 2 1 Final 3 Century breaks 4 ReferencesTournament summary editThe 1979 UK Championship was a professional non ranking event held between 19 November and 1 December 1979 at the Preston Guild Hall England 1 The tournament was the third annual UK Championship first held in 1977 The event saw 27 players compete with the highest ranked eight players based on the previous years world championship receiving a bye to the last 16 2 and the last six players competing in a playoff round 2 This was the first time that any seedings list for a professional snooker tournament had occurred 2 Ray Reardon did not compete at the event having signed a sponsorship contract with General Motors to only play in specific tournaments and exhibitions 2 World Championship semi finalist Eddie Charlton and Rex Williams did not play at the event instead opting to play in a tour of Australia 2 Matches until the final were contested as best of 17 frames matches with the final played as best of 27 frames The preliminary rounds saw two matches reach a final frame decider with both John Dunning and Jackie Rea winning matches 9 8 3 Early rounds edit The last 24 round was played from 20 to 23 November 1979 Future six time world champion Steve Davis made his debut in the competition and defeated John Dunning 9 3 3 Another future world champion Joe Johnson also made his debut in the competition playing his third professional tournament but lost 3 9 to Bill Werbeniuk 3 All three players who competed in the preliminary round were defeated in the last 24 3 The round of 16 saw Steve Davis overcome reigning champion Doug Mountjoy 9 5 World number four and three time world champion John Spencer was defeated by Bill Werbeniuk 8 9 4 Former winner Patsy Fagan defeated two time Pot Black champion Graham Miles 9 5 John Virgo defeated Tony Meo 9 6 despite being 5 0 and 5 3 down after the first session making a break of 102 in frame 11 5 6 Dennis Taylor and Willie Thorne contested a final frame decider with Taylor defeating Thorne to win 9 8 Having won the 1979 World Snooker Championship earlier that year Terry Griffiths defeated Cliff Wilson 9 4 3 Quarter semi finals edit The quarter finals were contested from 24 to 26 November 1979 John Virgo took an early lead over Steve Davis 4 3 and later 8 7 in their match In frame 16 Virgo had the chance to win and Davis accidentally dropped his cue making a loud sound Virgo still potted the next shot during the noise and make a clearance to win the match 9 7 Post match Davis commented to Virgo that it was the only time he had ever wanted his opponent to not miss 5 Elsewhere Dennis Taylor defeated Patsy Fagan 9 6 Bill Werbeniuk defeated Ray Edmonds 9 8 and Terry Griffiths defeated Alex Higgins 9 7 3 The semi finals were played from 27 to 29 November 1979 The semi finals were similar to the 1979 World Snooker Championship where John Virgo played Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths played Eddie Charlton In place of Charlton Bill Webeniuk took on Griffiths 5 Despite having lost heavily at the world championships 12 19 Virgo defeated Taylor 9 4 to reach his only major final In the second semi final Terry Griffiths defeated Werbeniuk 9 3 3 Final edit nbsp John Virgo pictured in 2003 won his only major title defeating Terry Griffiths 14 13 The final was contested as a best of 27 frame match held between 30 November and 1 December 1979 The match was held over three sessions with two on the first day and the final on the second between John Virgo and world champion Terry Griffiths Virgo took an early lead winning the first five frames including breaks of 63 and 67 3 Griffiths won two of the remaining frames but trailed 7 2 after the first session 3 The second session saw Griffiths win the first three frames to trail 7 5 before Virgo led 11 7 at the end of the session 3 5 The final session was played on 1 December 1979 and was broadcast on Grandstand With the final being live on national television the match was moved from the regular 1 45 p m start time to 12 noon 5 4 Virgo having not seen that the times had changed was reading a paper in his hotel room when he was informed that he had missed the start time for the session 7 Virgo was over 30 minutes late to the arena and was docked two frames for arriving late 8 Griffiths took the two remaining frames before the interval to tie the match 11 11 5 4 During the interval Griffiths approached Virgo and offered half of the prize money for the event apologetic at the situation of having frames awarded Virgo replied You haven t won it yet 5 noting the match hadn t finished 4 9 Virgo won frame 23 to lead 12 11 before Griffiths tied the match again at 12 12 Griffiths made a break of 68 to lead 13 12 before a break of 50 in frame 26 by Virgo took the match into a deciding frame Virgo won the final frame to claim the match 14 13 and his sole major title win 10 The final frames of the final were unaired due to a strike of BBC staff with cameramen leaving the arena during the final frame 5 11 Main draw editThe following is the full results from the event Players in bold are denoting match winners 3 12 Preliminary round Best of 17 frames nbsp John Dunning ENG 9 8 nbsp David Greaves ENG nbsp Mike Hallett ENG 9 1 nbsp Maurice Parkin ENG nbsp Jackie Rea NIR 9 8 nbsp Bernard Bennett ENG Last 24 Best of 17 frames nbsp Steve Davis ENG 9 3 nbsp John Dunning ENG nbsp Tony Meo ENG 9 7 nbsp David Taylor ENG nbsp Willie Thorne ENG 9 4 nbsp Roy Andrewartha WAL nbsp Patsy Fagan IRL 9 4 nbsp Mike Hallett ENG nbsp Bill Werbeniuk CAN 9 3 nbsp Joe Johnson ENG nbsp Ray Edmonds ENG 9 3 nbsp Jim Meadowcroft ENG nbsp Pat Houlihan ENG 9 3 nbsp Jackie Rea NIR nbsp Cliff Wilson WAL 9 7 nbsp John Pulman ENG Round of 16Quarter finalsSemi finalsFinal nbsp Doug Mountjoy5 nbsp Steve Davis9 nbsp Steve Davis7 nbsp John Virgo9 nbsp John Virgo9 nbsp Tony Meo6 nbsp John Virgo9 nbsp Dennis Taylor4 nbsp Dennis Taylor9 nbsp Willie Thorne8 nbsp Dennis Taylor9 nbsp Patsy Fagan6 nbsp Graham Miles5 nbsp Patsy Fagan9 nbsp John Virgo14 nbsp Terry Griffiths13 nbsp John Spencer8 nbsp Bill Werbeniuk9 nbsp Bill Werbeniuk9 nbsp Ray Edmonds8 nbsp Fred Davis6 nbsp Ray Edmonds9 nbsp Bill Werbeniuk3 nbsp Terry Griffiths9 nbsp Alex Higgins9 nbsp Pat Houlihan3 nbsp Alex Higgins7 nbsp Terry Griffiths9 nbsp Terry Griffiths9 nbsp Cliff Wilson4 Final edit Final Best of 27 frames Referee The Guild Hall Preston England 30 November and 1 December 1979 John Virgo nbsp England 14 13 Terry Griffiths nbsp WalesFirst session 70 60 67 9 81 24 100 24 63 103 26 67 52 61 73 24 69 96 29 22 90Second session 32 68 4 126 60 49 51 86 38 50 59 136 3 93 57 56 57 8 108 71 55 45Third session 2 0 Griffiths Virgo docked 2 frames 13 43 61 50 73 65 44 17 91 56 26 96 68 74 19 50 78 893 Highest break 710 Century breaks 06 50 breaks 4Century breaks editA total of five century breaks were made during the tournament the highest of which being a 119 by Terry Griffiths 3 119 118 Terry Griffiths 104 Alex Higgins 103 Pat Houlihan 102 John VirgoReferences edit a b Turner Chris UK Championship cajt pwp blueyonder co uk Chris Turner s Snooker Archive Archived from the original on 16 February 2012 Retrieved 1 March 2011 a b c d e Testing for recruits Everton Clive The Guardian 1959 2003 London UK 12 Sep 1979 25 via ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Guardian and The Observer 20 August 2019 a b c d e f g h i j k l 1979 UK Championship Results Snooker Database Archived from the original on 7 October 2011 Retrieved 13 October 2010 a b c d A Short History of the UK Championship The 1970s snookerscene blogspot com Archived from the original on 25 January 2019 Retrieved 24 January 2019 a b c d e f g h Virgo John 2 November 2017 John Virgo Say Goodnight JV My Autobiography John Blake ISBN 9781786068590 Archived from the original on 24 January 2019 Retrieved 24 January 2019 Virgo John 19 April 2012 Let Me Tell You About Alex Crazy Days and Nights on the Road with the Hurricane John Blake Publishing ISBN 9781843584407 Retrieved 26 March 2019 Late Cue in Nick of Time for Virgo Daily Mirror County London England 3 December 1979 p 26 via British Newspaper Archive 20 August 2019 Virgo penalized but recovers to take first title The Times No 60490 London England 3 December 1979 p 9 via The Times Digital Archive 20 August 2019 Hystory sic of UK Championship snooker YouTube BBC Sport Archived from the original on 21 March 2014 Retrieved 24 January 2019 Luke Williams Paul Gadsby 5 October 2012 Snooker s World Champions Masters of the Baize Random House ISBN 9781780577159 Retrieved 26 March 2019 Bletchly Rachael 27 October 2017 Snooker ace John Virgo reveals how gambling addiction nearly ruined his life mirror Retrieved 26 March 2019 UK Championship Snooker Scene Archived from the original on 24 January 2013 Retrieved 5 February 2013 Top 10 UK Championship Finals World Snooker World Snooker Archived from the original on 24 January 2019 Retrieved 24 January 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1979 UK Championship amp oldid 1182896232, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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