Grand Prix 1984 (Snooker)

Grand Prix 1984 Rothmans Grand Prix 1984
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Attendees:	98
Venue:	Hexagon Theater , Reading , England
Opening:	20th October 1984
Endgame:	October 28, 1984
Defending champion:	Tony Knowles
Winner:	Dennis Taylor
Finalist:	Cliff Thorburn
Highest Break:	130 ( Steve Davis )
← 1983   1985 →

The 1984 Rothmans Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament in the 1984/85 season that had an impact on the world rankings . The tournament was held for the first time under the name Grand Prix from October 20 to 28, 1984 at the Hexagon Theater in Reading , England . In the final, Dennis Taylor won his first ranking tournament with a 10-2 win over Cliff Thorburn . The highest break of the tournament was played with a 130 break by Steve Davis .

Prize money

Compared to the previous year, the prize money almost quadrupled to 225,000 pounds sterling , which was also due to the fact that the tournament with the tobacco company Rothmans had a sponsor for the first time. Of the £ 225,000, the winner accounted for 20% and the finalist around 10%, with the winner's prize of £ 45,000 being the new record prize money for the winner as it was exactly £ 1,000 higher than that of the previous World Cup.

	Prize money
winner	£ 45,000
finalist	£ 27,000
Semi-finalist	£ 15,000
Quarter finalist	£ 6,500
Round of 16	£ 3,500
Last 32	£ 2,000
Last 64	£ 1,000
Highest break	£ 5,000
All in all	£ 225,000

Tournament course

The 32 best players in the world rankings were directly qualified for the main round, plus 32 players who had won the qualification. Up to and including the quarter-finals, the game was played in the best of 9 frames mode , the semifinals in the best of 17 frames mode and the final in the best of 19 frames mode .

	Round of the last 64 best of 9 frames					Round of the last 32 best of 9 frames					Round of 16 best of 9 frames					Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames					Semi-final best of 17 frames					Final Best of 19 frames
	1	Steve Davis	5
	35	Mario Morra	2
						1	Steve Davis	5
						32	Graham Miles	0
	32	Graham Miles	5
	55	Tommy Murphy	3
											1	Steve Davis	5
											16	David Taylor	1
	16	David Taylor	5
	62	Dene O'Kane	1
						16	David Taylor	5
						62	John Rea	1
	27	Eugene Hughes	4th
	62	John Rea	5
																1	Steve Davis	5
																22nd	Dean Reynolds	0
	7th	Jimmy White	5
	62	Bill Oliver	1
						7th	Jimmy White	1
						17th	Silvino Francisco	5
	17th	Silvino Francisco	5
	57	Steve Duggan	3
											17th	Silvino Francisco	1
											22nd	Dean Reynolds	5
	13	John Spencer	2
	62	Peter Francisco	5
						62	Peter Francisco	4th
						22nd	Dean Reynolds	5
	22nd	Dean Reynolds	5
	62	Danny Fowler	2
																					1	Steve Davis	7th
																					3	Cliff Thorburn	9
	3	Cliff Thorburn	5
	62	Gino Rigitano	4th
						3	Cliff Thorburn	5
						28	John Campbell	1
	28	John Campbell	5
	62	Wayne Jones	4th
											3	Cliff Thorburn	5
											10	Tony Meo	4th
	10	Tony Meo	5
	62	Pascal Burke	1
						19th	Tony Meo	5
						26th	Dave Martin	4th
	26th	Dave Martin	5
	62	Bob chaperone	4th
																3	Cliff Thorburn	5
																15th	Doug Mountjoy	3
	6th	Eddie Charlton	5
	60	Clive Everton	1
						6th	Eddie Charlton	5
						20th	John Parrott	1
	20th	John Parrott	5
	45	Marcel Gauvreau	3
											6th	Eddie Charlton	4th
											15th	Doug Mountjoy	5
	15th	Doug Mountjoy	5
	54	Eddie McLaughlin	4th
						15th	Doug Mountjoy	5
						21st	Mark Wildman	0
	21st	Mark Wildman	5
	62	Jack McLaughlin	3
																									3	Cliff Thorburn	2
																										11	Dennis Taylor	10
	2	Tony Knowles	5
	62	Vic Harris	1
						2	Tony Knowles	5
						52	John Dunning	1
	24	Perrie Mans	4th
	52	John Dunning	5
											2	Tony Knowles	5
											62	Ian Williamson	2
	14th	Bill Werbeniuk	2
	62	Ian Williamson	5
						62	Ian Williamson	5
						19th	Joe Johnson	4th
	19th	Joe Johnson	5
	62	Paul Medati	1
																2	Tony Knowles	2
																30th	Neal Foulds	5
	8th	Terry Griffiths	3
	62	Tony Jones	5
						62	Tony Jones	0
						30th	Neal Foulds	5
	30th	Neal Foulds	5
	62	Bert Demarco	2
											30th	Neal Foulds	5
											12	Willie Thorne	1
	12	Willie Thorne	5
	62	Steve Newbury	2
						12	Willie Thorne	5
						29	Murdo MacLeod	3
	29	Murdo MacLeod	5
	48	Warren King	4th
																				30th	Neal Foulds	3
																					11	Dennis Taylor	9
	4th	Kirk Stevens	5
	62	Tony Chappel	3
						4th	Kirk Stevens	5
						31	Rex Williams	3
	31	Rex Williams	5
	62	Dave Chalmers	0
											4th	Kirk Stevens	5
											25th	Mike Hallett	3
	9	Alex Higgins	5
	62	Roger Bales	1
						9	Alex Higgins	3
						25th	Mike Hallett	5
	25th	Mike Hallett	5
	62	Dessie Sheehan	1
																4th	Kirk Stevens	2
																11	Dennis Taylor	5
	5	Ray Reardon	5
	39	Colin Roscoe	1
						5	Ray Reardon	5
						23	Cliff Wilson	4th
	23	Cliff Wilson	5
	36	Jim Donnelly	2
											5	Ray Reardon	3
											11	Dennis Taylor	5
	11	Dennis Taylor	5
	62	Paul Watchorn	1
						11	Dennis Taylor	5
						18th	John Virgo	3
	18th	John Virgo	5
	62	Malcolm Bradley	0

final

The Northern Irishman Dennis Taylor actually didn't want to compete in the Grand Prix because he had lost all interest in snooker after the death of his mother. However, his family managed to persuade him to play and play for his mother. In the course of the tournament he defeated, among others, the six-time world champion Ray Reardon , the Canadian Kirk Stevens and the surprising semi-finalist Neal Foulds , so that he reached his second ranking tournament final - after the lost World Cup final in 1979 . He met ex-world champion Cliff Thorburn , who had managed a round earlier to defeat Steve Davis for the first time since the Masters in 1984 in an important tournament.

The match started evenly; after four frames it was 2: 2. However, from this point on Thorburn could no longer oppose his opponent: Taylor won frame after frame, including with a Century Break , and won the final 10-2. For Taylor it was the first victory in a ranking tournament and at the end of the season he was able to win his next ranking tournament: With 18:17 he defeated Steve Davis in the final of the Snooker World Championship .

Finale: Best of 19 Frames Hexagon Theater ,  Reading , England , October 28, 1984
Cliff Thorburn	2: 10	Dennis Taylor
64 : 6, 50: 74 (58), 52: 66 , 70 : 33, 1: 107 (57), 38: 81 , 24: 74 , 22: 112 (112), 27: 96 , 23: 79 (79 ), 20: 80 (65) 33: 90
112	Highest break	-
1	Century breaks	-
5	50+ breaks	-

qualification

Before the tournament, a total of two qualifying rounds were held between October 9th and 16th, 1984 to complete the field with 32 qualifiers. In the first round, a total of four players competed against each other in two games, which completed the second round. In this, for the most part, all players in the world rankings 33 to 61 - with the exception of two players who did not take part - played on one player each on the 62nd place, which was shared several times, with the remaining games being occupied by games between two players who were on this 62nd place were.

First round

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	(62)  Dessie Sheehan	kl.	Lou Condo  (62)
2	(62)  Bob Chaperone	15 : 15	Tony Kearney  (62)

Second round

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	(33)  Eddie Sinclair	54: 54th	Tony Jones  (62)
2	(34)  Mike Watterson	53: 53	Wayne Jones  (62)
3	(35)  Mario Morra	35 : 35	Graham Cripsey  (62)
4th	(36)  Jim Donnelly	4th5 : 45	John Hargreaves  (62)
5	(37)  George Scott	51: 51	Tony Chappel  (62)
6th	(38)  Patsy Fagan	kl.	Bert Demarco  (62)
7th	(39)  Colin Roscoe	05 : 05	Doug French  (62)
8th	(40)  Jim Meadowcroft	51: 51	Jack McLaughlin  (62)
9	(41)  Jim Wych	kl.	Roger Bales  (62)
10	(42)  Mick Fisher	50: 50	Steve Newbury  (62)
11	(43)  Les Dodd	54: 54th	Paul Medati  (62)
12	(44)  Jack Fitzmaurice	52: 52	John Rea  (62)
13	(45)  Marcel Gauvreau	25 : 25	Robby Foldvari  (62)
14th	(46)  Fred Davis	51: 51	Vic Harris  (62)
15th	(47)  Roy Andrewartha	52: 52	Dave Chalmers  (62)
16	(48)  Warren King	05 : 05	David Greaves  (62)
17th	(49)  Paul Mifsud	kl.	Danny Fowler  (62)
18th	(50)  Ray Edmonds	53: 53	Gino Rigitano  (62)
19th	(51)  Ian Black	54: 54th	Peter Francisco  (62)
20th	(52)  John Dunning	05 : 05	Dennis Hughes  (62)
21st	(54)  Eddie McLaughlin	25 : 25	Steve Longworth  (62)
22nd	(55)  Tommy Murphy	15 : 15	Geoff Foulds  (62)
23	(56)  Frank Jonik	51: 51	Malcolm Bradley  (62)
24	(57)  Steve Duggan	25 : 25	Paddy Browne  (62)
25th	(58)  Paddy Morgan	kl.	Paul Watchorn  (62)
26th	(59)  Billy Kelly	54: 54th	Dene O'Kane  (62)
27	(60)  Clive Everton	35 : 35	Pat Houlihan  (62)
28	(62)  Ian Williamson	25 : 25	Paul Thornley  (62)
29	(62)  Dessie Sheehan	35 : 35	Bernie Mikkelsen  (62)
30th	(62)  Bill Oliver	35 : 35	Bernard Bennett  (62)
31	(62)  Bob Chaperone	4th5 : 45	Matt Gibson  (62)
32	(62)  Pascal Burke	35 : 35	Mike Darrington  (62)

Century Breaks

During the tournament a total of twelve century breaks were played by eight players , all of which were played within the main rounds.

Steve Davis 130 , 119 Tony Knowles 129 Willie Thorne 123, 106, 103 John Parrott 118

Ray Reardon 118 Terry Griffiths 114 Dennis Taylor 112 Cliff Thorburn 101 (2 ×)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ron Florax: 1984 Grand Prix. CueTracker.net, accessed June 17, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: 1984 Grand Prix - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed June 17, 2019 .  
3. ↑ Steve Davis : Interesting . 1st edition. Dragonstars Eventmanagement, Fürth 2016, ISBN 978-3-00-053061-6 , p.  196 ff . (English: Interesting . Ebury Press, London 2015.).
4. ^ ^{A b} Ron Florax: Rankings - 1984-1985. CueTracker.net, accessed June 17, 2019 .  
5. ↑ Dennis Taylor. World Snooker , January 11, 2015, accessed June 17, 2019 .