English Professional Championship 1981

English Professional Championship 1981 John Courage English Professional Championship 1981
Tournament type:	Non-ranking tournament
Attendees:	21st
Venue:	Haden Hill Leisure Center , Birmingham , England
Opening:	March 8, 1981
Endgame:	March 14, 1981
Winner:	Steve Davis
Finalist:	Tony Meo
Highest Break:	138 ( Steve Davis )
1985 →

The John Courage English Professional Championship 1981 was a professional snooker tournament of the 1980/81 season without affecting the world rankings and determining the English professional champion. The tournament was held from March 8-14, 1981 at the Haden Hill Leisure Center in the English city ​​of Birmingham . The winner was Steve Davis , who won the first edition of the tournament with a 9-3 win over Tony Meo . He also played the highest break of the tournament with a 138 break.

Prize money

The tournament totaled £ 14,500 , of which just under a quarter went to the winner. With John Courage , the first edition of the tournament also had a sponsor.

	Prize money
winner	£ 4,000
finalist	£ 2,500
Semi-finalist	£ 1,500
Quarter finalist	600 pounds
Round of 16	300 pounds
Last 32	100 pounds
All in all	£ 14,500

Tournament course

21 players took part in the tournament, ten of whom played in the first round and the five winners of the games in the round of 16 met the rest of the field. All games of the tournament, which was played in the knockout system , were played in the best of 17 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 17 frames

Jim Meadowcroft

9

Steve Davis

9

John Barrie

3

Jim Meadowcroft

2

Steve Davis

9

John Spencer

7th

John Spencer

9

Pat Houlihan

1

Steve Davis

9

Ray Edmonds

0

Ray Edmonds

9

Fred Davis

6th

Mike Hallett

3

Ray Edmonds

9

Ray Edmonds

9

Joe Johnson

5

Joe Johnson

9

John Pulman

-

Tony Knowles

2

Joe Johnson

kl.

Steve Davis

9

Tony Meo

3

Tony Meo

9

John Virgo

6th

Tony Meo

9

Graham Miles

7th

Graham Miles

9

Sid Hood

1

Tony Meo

9

Willie Thorne

8th

Mark Wildman

9

Willie Thorne

9

Bernard Bennett

3

Mark Wildman

2

Willie Thorne

9

John Dunning

0

John Dunning

9

David Taylor

8th

David Greaves

4th

John Dunning

9

final

In the final, Steve Davis and Tony Meo met two players who had only been professional players for a few years but had already achieved several good results. Davis had made it into the final with almost no frame losses worth mentioning, only Davis had to fight in his 9: 7 win over John Spencer in the quarterfinals. Tony Meo, on the other hand, could only show narrow results; his best result was a 9-6 win over John Virgo in the round of 16.

At the beginning of the final it was almost even, so that after four frames it was 2-2. However, Davis was able to develop a decisive advantage at this point and take a 6: 2 lead before Meo came up to him to 6: 3. However, Davis was able to win the following three frames and win the tournament.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Haden Hill Leisure Center ,  Birmingham , England , March 14th 1981
Steve Davis	9 : 3	Tony Meo
69 : 5, 24: 110 (53), 30: 82 , 66 : 59, 73 : 46, 93 : 20, 102 : 26 (72), 91 : 13, 43: 65 , 60 : 39, 77 : 14 ( 51), 81 : 5
72	Highest break	53
-	Century breaks	-
2	50+ breaks	1

Century Breaks

During the tournament a total of six Century Breaks were played by five players :

Steve Davis 138 , 109 Jim Meadowcroft 115 John Spencer 112

Willie Thorne 109 Ray Edmonds 103

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Ron Florax: 1981 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 28, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: 1981 English Professional Championship - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 28, 2019 .  
3. ↑ Chris Turner: English Professional Championship - Non Ranking Event. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2008, archived from the original on April 23, 2016 ; accessed on July 28, 2019 (English).