Pot Black

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cover of Pot Black magazine from December 1999

Pot Black was a snooker tournament that played an important role in popularizing modern day snooker. The tournament initially took place from 1969 to 1986 and was repeated from 1991 to 1993 and from 2005 to 2007. It was an invitation tournament at all times, so world ranking points were never given.

After the introduction of color television in Great Britain in 1969, the BBC looked for a sport that would highlight the advantages of color representation. The choice fell on snooker because of the colored balls. A knockout tournament with weekly one-frame matches was launched, the Pot Black.

The mode was varied again and again. In 1974 two frames were played once and the points from both frames were added together, and from 1978 there was a best of three mode. In the mid-1980s, however, the longer matches had become so popular that the Pot Black was discontinued. In 1991 there was a one-time new edition. In the new edition in 2005, only a single frame was played again.

The first final of the new edition could win Matthew Stevens against Shaun Murphy with 53: 27 points.

The highest break in pot black history was made by Mark J. Williams in 2006 when he beat John Higgins in the final with 119 points.

In addition to the actual Pot Black, there was also the Junior Pot Black from 1981 to 1983, 1991 and 2006 to 2008. There was also the 1997 Seniors Pot Black tournament in which players from the first few years of the tournament competed against each other.

winner

The following table shows the Pot Black winners.

year winner finalist Result season
1969 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon EnglandEngland John Spencer 88: 29 (points) n / A
1970 EnglandEngland John Spencer WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon 88: 27 (points) n / A
1971 EnglandEngland John Spencer EnglandEngland Fred Davis 61: 40 (points) n / A
1972 AustraliaAustralia Eddie Charlton WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon 75: 43 (points) n / A
1973 AustraliaAustralia Eddie Charlton EnglandEngland Rex Williams 93: 33 (points) 1973/74
1974 EnglandEngland Graham Miles EnglandEngland John Spencer 147: 86 (points) 1 1974/75
1975 EnglandEngland Graham Miles Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland Dennis Taylor 81: 27 (points) 1975/76
1976 EnglandEngland John Spencer Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland Dennis Taylor 69: 42 (points) 1976/77
1977 South Africa 1961South Africa Perrie Mans WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Doug Mountjoy 90: 21 (points) 1977/78
1978 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Doug Mountjoy EnglandEngland Graham Miles 2: 1 (frames) 1978/79
1979 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Doug Mountjoy 2: 1 (frames) 1979/80
1980 AustraliaAustralia Eddie Charlton WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon 2: 1 (frames) 1980/81
1981 CanadaCanada Cliff Thorburn CanadaCanada Jim Wych 2: 0 (frames) 1981/82
1982 EnglandEngland Steve Davis AustraliaAustralia Eddie Charlton 2: 0 (frames) 1982/83
1983 EnglandEngland Steve Davis WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon 2: 0 (frames) 1983/84
1984 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Terry Griffiths EnglandEngland John Spencer 2: 1 (frames) 1984/85
1985 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Doug Mountjoy EnglandEngland Jimmy White 2: 0 (frames) 1985/86
1986 EnglandEngland Jimmy White CanadaCanada Kirk Stevens 2: 0 (frames) 1986/87
1991 EnglandEngland Steve Davis ScotlandScotland Stephen Hendry 2: 1 (frames) 1991/92
1992 EnglandEngland Neal Foulds ThailandThailand James Wattana 1992/93
1993 EnglandEngland Steve Davis EnglandEngland Mike Hallett 2: 0 (frames) 1993/94
2005 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Matthew Stevens EnglandEngland Shaun Murphy 53: 27 (points) 2005/06
2006 WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Mark J. Williams ScotlandScotland John Higgins 119: 13 (points) 2006/07
2007 IrelandIreland Ken Doherty EnglandEngland Shaun Murphy 71: 36 (points) 2007/08

1 The result was determined by playing two frames.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Pot Black - Junior Pot Black. (No longer available online.) In: Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; accessed on March 25, 2016 (English).
  2. 1993 Pot Black. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed March 25, 2016 .