Irish Professional Championship 1978 (February)
Irish Professional Championship 1978
|
|
| Tournament type: | Non-ranking tournament |
| Attendees: | 2 |
| Venue: | Ulster Hall , Belfast |
| Opening: | 2nd February 1978 |
| Endgame: | February 2-4, 1978
|
| Defending champion: |
 Alex Higgins
|
| Winner: |
Alex Higgins
|
| Finalist: |
Dennis Taylor
|
| Highest Break: | 112 ( Alex Higgins )
|
|
← 1972
1978 →
|
|
The Irish Professional Championship 1978 was a professional snooker tournament with no impact on the world rankings during the 1977/78 season . The tournament was held as a challenge match between defending champion Alex Higgins and challenger Dennis Taylor from February 2-4, 1978 at Ulster Hall in Belfast , Northern Ireland . The winner of the game was Higgins, who also won with a 112 break 21: 7 after frames. This 112 break was also the highest break of the tournament.
Prize money
Even though the tournament was not sponsored, the total prize money was £ 1,500 . £ 1,000 went to the winner and the remaining £ 500 to the loser.
The game
31 years after first running in 1978, the Irish Professional Championship was still designed on a challenge basis. With only one interruption, the tournament was dominated by Jackie Rea for 25 years , but he lost the title to Alex Higgins in 1972. Higgins hadn't been challenged since, but Dennis Taylor dared to play the part of the challenger.
The game between Higgins and Taylor took place from February 2-4, 1978 at Ulster Hall in Belfast , Northern Ireland . The game was led by referee Alf Shaw from England and was played in the best of 41 frames mode. After an initial frame gain from Taylor, Higgins shaped the game and took a 7-1 lead. Taylor shortened to 7: 2, but thanks to a 112 break, Higgins was able to restore the old gap and extend his lead to 9: 2. Taylor then had two consecutive frame wins, but at 9: 4, Higgins increased his lead to 11: 4 and later 16: 5 and 18: 6. In between Taylor was only able to win a few isolated frames before Higgins was able to win the last three necessary frames one after the other at 18: 7 and thus ended the game with 21: 7 in his favor.
|
Final: Best of 41 Frames Referee: Alf Shaw Ulster Hall , Belfast , Northern Ireland , February 2-4, 1978  |
||
|
Alex Higgins
|
21 : 7 |
Dennis Taylor
|
| 41: 68 , 109 : 18, 96 : 53 (69), 72 : 42, 76 : 40, 67 : 43, 80 : 34 (56), 61 : 31, 38: 48 , 116 : 11 (112), 91 : 43, 37: 69 , 33: 70 (51), 68 : 64, 88 : 23 (51), 28: 99 89 : 17 (52), 131 : 8 (82), 102 : 36, 68 : 53, 95 : 30 (81), 37: 89 , 119 : 16 (92), 68 : 54 34: 67 , 68 : 67 (T. 60), 89 : 17, 98 : 16 (70) |
||
| 112 | Highest break | 60 |
| 1 | Century breaks | - |
| 9 | 50+ breaks | 2 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Chris Turner: Irish Professional Championship - Non Ranking Event open to professionals from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland only. (No longer available online.) Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2008, archived from the original on April 18, 2016 ; accessed on July 16, 2020 (English).
- ^ Ron Florax: 1978 Irish Professional Championship - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 16, 2020 .
- ^ Ron Florax: 1978 Irish Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 16, 2020 .