User:Steveflan/Snooker World Cup 1979

State Express World Challenge Cup
Tournament information
Dates	20–27 October 1979
Venue	Haden Hill Leisure Centre
City	Birmingham
Country	England
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£27,500
Winner's share	£7,500
Highest break	Cliff Thorburn (CAN), 126
Final
Champion	Wales
Runner-up	England
Score	14–3
	1980 →

The 1979 World Challenge Cup, sponsored by State Express, was the first team snooker tournament comprising of six nations with three players per team. The event was held between 20 and 27 October 1979 at the Haden Hill Leisure Centre in Birmingham, England.

Wales won their first title with the trio of Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy and Ray Reardon defeating England 14–3 in the final.

Cliff Thorburn made the highest break of the tournament, 126.^[1]

Prize fund

A total of £27,500 was awarded at the event, with the winning team receiving £7,500. The breakdown of prize money is shown below:^[2]^[3]^[4]

Winner: £7,500
Runner-Up: £6,000
Third place: £4,500
Fourth place: £3,500
Third in group: £3,000
Total: £27,500

Maximum break: £5,555 (not awarded)
Highest break: £555
Each century break: £555
Each break between 55 and 99: £55

Format

Six teams, of three players each, participated in the tournament. The teams were drawn into two groups of three teams. The top team in each group qualified for the final, whilst the second placed team in each group qualified for the third place match.^[5]

Round robin stage

Each match consisted of fifteen frames played over 2 sessions, and all frames were played. Each player played one match against each player of the opposing team. Matches were of 1 frame except for matches played between the corresponding numbered player on each side, which were 3 frames.

Matches were played in the following order:

First session (7 frames)	Second session (8 frames)
Player 3 v Player 3 (3 frames)	Player 3 v Player 2 (1 frame)
Player 2 v Player 1 (1 frame)	Player 1 v Player 3 (1 frame)
Player 1 v Player 2 (1 frame)	Player 2 v Player 2 (3 frames)
Player 3 v Player 1 (1 frame)	Player 1 v Player 1 (3 frames)
Player 2 v Player 3 (1 frame)

Group positions were determined by the greater number of matches won. If two teams were tied on the same number of matches won then the team with the higher number of frames won was ranked higher in the group. If two teams were still tied, then a single-frame play-off would be played between the two respective captains.^[3]

Third Place Match

This match consisted of 9 frames, played in one session. Each player was scheduled to play a single 3 frame match against their corresponding numbered opponent.

Matches were played in the following order:

Only session (9 frames)
Player 3 v Player 3
Player 2 v Player 2
Player 1 v Player 1

Final

This match was the best of 27 frames, played over three sessions of 9 frames each. Each player was scheduled to play a 3 frame match against every member of the opposing team, and could only play one match in each session.

Matches were played in the following order:

First session (9 frames)	Second session (9 frames)	Third session (9 frames)
Player 3 v Player 2	Player 2 v Player 3	Player 3 v Player 3
Player 1 v Player 3	Player 3 v Player 1	Player 2 v Player 2
Player 2 v Player 1	Player 1 v Player 2	Player 1 v Player 1

Main draw

^[1]^[5]

Teams

World ranking shown in brackets.

Country	Player 1 (Captain)	Player 2	Player 3
England	John Spencer (4)	Fred Davis (6)	Graham Miles (9)
Wales	Terry Griffiths (8)	Doug Mountjoy (13)	Ray Reardon (1)
Northern Ireland	Dennis Taylor (2)	Alex Higgins (11)	Jackie Rea (-)
Canada	Cliff Thorburn (5)	Bill Werbeniuk (12)	Kirk Stevens (19)
Australia	Gary Owen (-)	Ian Anderson (25)	Paddy Morgan (28)
Rest of the World	Perrie Mans (7)	Patsy Fagan (16)	Jimmy van Rensberg (-)

Group A

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
20 Oct	England	8–7	Rest of the World
22 Oct	Northern Ireland	8–7	Rest of the World
23 Oct	England	8–7	Northern Ireland

POS	Team	MP	MW	ML	FW	FL	PTS
1	England	2	2	0	16	14	2
2	Northern Ireland	2	1	1	15	15	1
3	Rest of the World	2	0	2	14	16	0


England	8–7	Rest of the World	Northern Ireland	8–7	Rest of the World	England	8–7	Northern Ireland
Graham Miles	2–1	Jimmy van Rensburg	Jackie Rea	0–3	Jimmy van Rensburg	Graham Miles	3–0	Jackie Rea
Fred Davis	1–0	Perrie Mans	Alex Higgins	1–0	Perrie Mans	Fred Davis	1–0	Dennis Taylor
John Spencer	1–0	Patsy Fagan	Dennis Taylor	1–0	Patsy Fagan	John Spencer	1–0	Alex Higgins
Graham Miles	0–1	Perrie Mans	Jackie Rea	0–1	Perrie Mans	Graham Miles	0–1	Dennis Taylor
Fred Davis	1–0	Jimmy van Rensburg	Alex Higgins	0–1	Jimmy van Rensburg	Fred Davis	1–0	Jackie Rea
Graham Miles	0–1	Patsy Fagan	Jackie Rea	0–1	Patsy Fagan	Graham Miles	0–1	Alex Higgins
John Spencer	0–1	Jimmy van Rensburg	Dennis Taylor	0–1	Jimmy van Rensburg	John Spencer	1–0	Jackie Rea
Fred Davis	3–0	Patsy Fagan	Alex Higgins	3–0	Patsy Fagan	Fred Davis	0–3	Alex Higgins
John Spencer	0–3	Perrie Mans	Dennis Taylor	3–0	Perrie Mans	John Spencer	1–2	Dennis Taylor

Group B

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
21 Oct	Wales	9–6	Canada
24 Oct	Canada	7–8	Australia
25 Oct	Wales	9–6	Australia

POS	Team	MP	MW	ML	FW	FL	PTS
1	Wales	2	2	0	18	12	2
2	Australia	2	1	1	14	16	1
3	Canada	2	0	2	13	17	0


Wales	9–6	Canada	Canada	7–8	Australia	Wales	9–6	Australia
Ray Reardon	0–3	Kirk Stevens	Kirk Stevens	0–3	Paddy Morgan	Ray Reardon	2–1	Paddy Morgan
Doug Mountjoy	0–1	Cliff Thorburn	Bill Werbeniuk	0–1	Gary Owen	Doug Mountjoy	1–0	Gary Owen
Terry Griffiths	1–0	Bill Werbeniuk	Cliff Thorburn	0–1	Ian Anderson	Terry Griffiths	1–0	Ian Anderson
Ray Reardon	1–0	Cliff Thorburn	Kirk Stevens	1–0	Gary Owen	Ray Reardon	1–0	Gary Owen
Doug Mountjoy	1–0	Kirk Stevens	Bill Werbeniuk	0–1	Paddy Morgan	Doug Mountjoy	0–1	Paddy Morgan
Ray Reardon	0–1	Bill Werbeniuk	Kirk Stevens	0–1	Ian Anderson	Ray Reardon	0–1	Ian Anderson
Terry Griffiths	1–0	Kirk Stevens	Cliff Thorburn	1–0	Paddy Morgan	Terry Griffiths	0–1	Paddy Morgan
Doug Mountjoy	3–0	Bill Werbeniuk	Bill Werbeniuk	3–0	Ian Anderson	Doug Mountjoy	2–1	Ian Anderson
Terry Griffiths	2–1	Cliff Thorburn	Cliff Thorburn	2–1	Gary Owen	Terry Griffiths	2–1	Gary Owen

Third Place Match

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
26 Oct	Northern Ireland	6–3	Australia


Jackie Rea	1–2	Paddy Morgan
Alex Higgins	3–0	Ian Anderson
Dennis Taylor	2–1^[a]	Gary Owen

^ Dennis Taylor won the first frame of the match to give Northern Ireland a 5-2 winning lead^[6]

Final

Final: Best of 27 frames. Referee: Haden Hill Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England. 26 and 27 October 1979.
Wales Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy, Ray Reardon	14–3	England John Spencer, Fred Davis, Graham Miles
Ray Reardon v Fred Davis: 3-0 (63-34, 88-34, 127-16) Terry Griffiths v Graham Miles: 2-1 (47-66, 83-45, 80-20) Doug Mountjoy v John Spencer: 2-1 (38-58, 73-38, 91-35) Doug Mountjoy v Graham Miles: 3-0 (66-43, 86-36, 109 [109]-9) Ray Reardon v John Spencer: 2-1 (36-67, 107-1, 118-22) Terry Griffiths v Fred Davis: 2-0 (78-31, 54-46) Ray Reardon v Graham Miles: - Doug Mountjoy v Fred Davis: - Terry Griffiths v John Spencer: -
109 (Doug Mountjoy)	Highest break	47 (John Spencer)
1	Century breaks	-
6	50+ breaks	-

Century breaks

There were 3 century breaks in the tournament.

Cliff Thorburn - 126
Doug Mountjoy - 109
John Spencer - 103

Player Records

Players are ordered by the percentage of frames won followed by the percentage of matches won.

Player	FP	FW	FL	FW%	MP	MW	ML	MW%
Alex Higgins	13	11	2	84.6	7	5	2	71.4
Doug Mountjoy	16	12	4	75.0	8	6	2	75.0
Terry Griffiths	15	11	4	73.3	8	7	1	87.5
Jimmy van Rensberg	10	7	3	70.0	6	4	2	66.7
Dennis Taylor	13	9	4	69.2	7	5	2	71.4
Paddy Morgan	13	9	4	69.2	7	5	2	71.4
Ray Reardon	16	9	7	56.3	8	5	3	62.5
Cliff Thorburn	10	5	5	50.0	6	3	3	50.0
Perrie Mans	10	5	5	50.0	6	3	3	50.0
Fred Davis	15	7	8	46.7	8	5	3	62.5
Kirk Stevens	10	4	6	40.0	6	2	4	33.3
Bill Werbeniuk	10	4	6	40.0	6	2	4	33.3
John Spencer	16	6	10	37.5	8	3	5	37.5
Graham Miles	16	6	10	37.5	8	2	6	25.0
Gary Owen	12	4	8	33.3	6	1	5	16.7
Ian Anderson	13	4	9	30.8	7	3	4	42.9
Patsy Fagan	10	2	8	20.0	6	2	4	33.3
Jackie Rea	13	1	12	7.7	7	0	7	0.0

References

^ ^a ^b "A successful experiment". Snooker Scene. December 1980. pp. 3–9.
^ "Higgins gives Irish third sport". The Guardian. 27 October 1979. p. 32.
^ ^a ^b "England 3-1 up against World team". Sports Argus. 20 October 1979. p. 35.
^ "Dragons on cue". Sunday Mirror. 21 October 1979. p. 45.
^ ^a ^b "The full draw". Sandwell Evening Mail. 20 October 1979. p. 31.
^ "Scorelines - Snooker". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 October 1979. p. 12.

Category:World Cup (snooker) Category:1979 in snooker

[Note1-7] Dennis Taylor won the first frame of the match to give Northern Ireland a 5-2 winning lead^[6]

[SCENE-1] "A successful experiment". Snooker Scene. December 1980. pp. 3–9.

[GUARD27OCT-2] "Higgins gives Irish third sport". The Guardian. 27 October 1979. p. 32.

[ARGUS20OCT-3] "England 3-1 up against World team". Sports Argus. 20 October 1979. p. 35.

[SUNM21OCT-4] "Dragons on cue". Sunday Mirror. 21 October 1979. p. 45.

[SAND20OCT-5] "The full draw". Sandwell Evening Mail. 20 October 1979. p. 31.

[BIRM27OCT-6] "Scorelines - Snooker". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 October 1979. p. 12.

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[a]

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v t e World Cup (snooker)
World Challenge Cup	1979 1980
World Team Classic	1981 1982 1983
World Cup	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1996 2011 2015 2017 2019

v t e 1979–80 snooker season
Ranking events	World Championship
Non-ranking events	Limosin International Kronenbrau 1308 Classic South African Professional Championship Australian Masters Canadian Open World Challenge Cup UK Championship Pot Black Padmore/Super Crystalate International Classic Welsh Professional Championship Tolly Cobbold Classic The Masters Bombay International Irish Masters British Gold Cup Canadian Professional Championship Pontins Professional Pontins Camber Sands
1979–80 world rankings

Tournament information
Dates	20–27 October 1979 (1979-10-20 – 1979-10-27)
Venue	Haden Hill Leisure Centre
City	Birmingham
Country	England
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£27,500
Winner's share	£7,500
Highest break	Cliff Thorburn (CAN), 126
Final
Champion	Wales
Runner-up	England
Score	14–3
1980 →