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.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 28–31 December 1980 (Broadcast 30 December 1980 – 31 March 1981) |
| 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
editGroup 1
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit- ^ Everton, Clive (11 August 1980). "Circuit growing fast". The Guardian. London. p. 29.
- ^ "BBC Television – 30 December 1980 – Pot Black". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "BBC Television – 31 March 1981 – Pot Black: BBC2 Knockout Snooker Competition". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "CueTracker - 1981 Pot Black - Snooker Results & Statistics". cuetracker.net. Retrieved 25 February 2017.