Canadian Open 1978 (snooker)

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Canadian Open 1978
Billiard Picto 2-black.svg

Tournament type: Non-ranking
Attendees: 18th
Venue: Canadian National Exhibition , Toronto , Canada
Opening: August 16, 1978
Endgame: 4th September 1978

Winner: CanadaCanada Cliff Thorburn
Finalist: EnglandEngland Tony Meo
Highest Break: 131 ( Tony Meo ) EnglandEngland
← 1977
 
1979 →

The 1978 Canadian Open was a professional, non-ranking snooker tournament for the 1978/79 season . They were held from August 16, 1978 to September 4, 1978 as part of the Canadian National Exhibition in the Canadian metropolis of Toronto . The winner was local hero Cliff Thorburn , who won the tournament for the second time with a 17:15 final victory over the English amateur Tony Meo . Meo played the highest break of the tournament with a 131 break.

Prize money

After there had been an increase in the total prize pool of around £ 3,000 in the previous year , this was reversed with the 1978 event. But compared to previous years, only the winners and finalists received prize money, so the rest of the field of participants was left empty-handed.

Prize money
winner £ 3,077
finalist £ 1,026
All in all £ 4,103

Tournament course

There were several changes with regard to the field of participants. The number of participants was increased for the first time in the history of the tournament; instead of 16, 18 players were now playing for the tournament victory. This required an additional round in order to be able to integrate all participants into the tournament schedule. The relationship between professionals and amateurs also shifted, this time as well as eight professional players and 10 amateurs. Among them for the first time was Steve Mizerak , an amateur player from neighboring USA, but at the same time none of the top 4 in the world rankings took part in the tournament compared to last year. Thus the best placed player was the Canadian Cliff Thorburn on world number 5. In contrast, the participating Steve Davis reports that " Alex Higgins , John Spencer and Ray Reardon " took part, which is only confirmed by Higgins.

As in previous years , the game was played in the best of 17 frames mode up to and including the semi-finals , and the final was finally played in the best of 33 frames mode.

  First round
best of 17 frames 		Round of 16
best of 17 frames 		Quarterfinals
Best of 17 frames 		Semi-final
best of 17 frames 		Final
Best of 33 frames
                                             
        5 CanadaCanada Cliff Thorburn 9  
        A. CanadaCanada Leo Levitt 0  
  5 CanadaCanada Cliff Thorburn 9  
  A. CanadaCanada Paul Thornley 7th  
        10 EnglandEngland John Pulman 6th
        A. CanadaCanada Paul Thornley 9  
  5 CanadaCanada Cliff Thorburn 9  
  A. CanadaCanada Kevin Robitaille 5  
A. EnglandEngland Tony Knowles 9   17th EnglandEngland Rex Williams 2  
A. United StatesUnited States Steve Mizerak 7th   A. EnglandEngland Tony Knowles 9  
  A. EnglandEngland Tony Knowles 5
  A. CanadaCanada Kevin Robitaille 9  
        A. CanadaCanada Kevin Robitaille 9
        A. CanadaCanada Tom Regina 2  
  5 CanadaCanada Cliff Thorburn 17th
  A. EnglandEngland Tony Meo 15th
        7th Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland Alex Higgins 9  
        A. CanadaCanada Mario Morra 5  
  7th Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland Alex Higgins 9
  A. EnglandEngland Steve Davis 8th  
A. EnglandEngland Steve Davis 9   15th EnglandEngland Willie Thorne 3
A. CanadaCanada Kari Elovaara 0   A. EnglandEngland Steve Davis 9  
  7th Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland Alex Higgins 7th
  A. EnglandEngland Tony Meo 9  
A. EnglandEngland Tony Meo 9   12 CanadaCanada Bill Werbeniuk 3  
A. CanadaCanada Frank Jonik 8th   A. EnglandEngland Tony Meo 9  
  A. EnglandEngland Tony Meo 9
  27 CanadaCanada Kirk Stevens 3  
        27 CanadaCanada Kirk Stevens kl.
        bye  

Century Breaks

During the tournament only the English amateur Tony Meo played two century breaks , a 131 break in the round of 16 and a 104 break in the final.

Others

Englishman Steve Davis was still an amateur player when he took part in the Canadian Open. Shortly before, his manager, Barry Hearn, had filed for professional status with the World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association , and Davis was sponsored by Lucania to participate in the Canadian Open. For Davis it was a new experience, which he describes in his autobiography with the following words, among others:

“The organizers of the tournament must have gotten money from somewhere, because even the tickets were free. Or maybe they couldn't ask for anything because it was a thoroughfare. All sorts of things happened among us and a lot of music blared at us. […] I made it to the quarterfinals, where I lost 9 to 8 against Alex Higgins. That was one of my best performances against a professional so far, and it was in front of a crowd. I felt like a professional and I felt that I belong at this table, against the legends of this game. "

- Steve Davis : Interesting - Meine Autobiografie, German translation 2016, p. 81

When Davis returned to England from Canada, the WPBSA granted him professional status. Davis played professional snooker until 2016 and won six world championships.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Ron Florax: 1978 Canadian Open. CueTracker.net, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Chris Turner: Canadian Open / Canadian Masters - World Ranking and Invitation Events. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2011, archived from the original on April 18, 2016 ; accessed on March 17, 2019 (English).
  3. ↑ a b Ron Florax: 1978 Canadian Open - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Ron Florax: Rankings - 1978-1979. CueTracker.net, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
  5. ^ A b c Steve Davis : Interesting . 1st edition. Dragonstars Eventmanagement, Fürth 2016, ISBN 978-3-00-053061-6 , p.  74-82 (English: Interesting . Ebury Press, London 2015.).