Watney Open

Watney Open 1974
Tournament type:	Non-ranking tournament
Attendees:	at least 28
Venue:	Northern Snooker Center , Leeds
Opening:	7th September 1974
Endgame:	22nd December 1974
Winner:	Alex Higgins
Finalist:	Fred Davis
Highest Break:	135 ( Alex Higgins )

The Watney Open 1974 were a professional snooker tournament during the 1974/75 season without affecting the world rankings ( non-ranking tournament ). The only edition of the tournament was held from September 7th to December 22nd, 1974 at the Northern Snooker Center in the English city ​​of Leeds . The winner was the Northern Irishman Alex Higgins , who defeated old master Fred Davis 17:11 in the final. Higgins also played the highest break of the tournament with a 135 break.

Prize money

The tournament was named after the Watneys company sponsored. The total prize money was £ 2,785, of which roughly a third of £ 1,000 went to the winner.

	Prize money
winner	£ 1,000
finalist	600 pounds
Semi-finalist	300 pounds
Quarter finalist	125 pounds
Round of 16	30 pounds
All in all	£ 2,785

Tournament course

At least 28 players took part in the tournament, the majority of whom were amateur players. These played a qualification before the main round. The main round started with the round of 16, from which the winner was determined in the knockout system . Up to and including the semi-finals , the game was played in the best of 25 frames mode ; the final would have lasted a maximum of 33 frames.

Round of 16 best of 25 frames

Quarterfinals Best of 25 Frames

Semi-final best of 25 frames

Final Best of 33 frames

Alex Higgins

13

Ron Barnes

4th

Alex Higgins

13

Rex Williams

4th

Rex Williams

13

Sid Hood

3

Alex Higgins

13

Ray Reardon

11

Ray Reardon

13

David Taylor

8th

Ray Reardon

?

Dennis Taylor

?

Dennis Taylor

kl.

Marcus Owen

-

Alex Higgins

17th

Fred Davis

11

Fred Davis

13

Dave Thomas

5

Fred Davis

13

Patsy Fagan

9

Patsy Fagan

13

John Pulman

5

Fred Davis

13

John Spencer

12

John Spencer

13

Paul Medati

5

John Spencer

13

Graham Miles

8th

Graham Miles

13

Ray Kell

6th

final

The Northern Irishman Alex Higgins has belonged to the world's top snooker since his triumph at the snooker world championship in 1972 , in which with Ray Reardon and John Spencer also the other two leading players of that time and for example with Fred Davis and John Pulman also some players with world championship titles played along in the past decades. Higgins had reached the semi-finals here without any major problems and narrowly defeated Ray Reardon with 13:11. In the final he met old master Fred Davis, himself eight-time world champion and brother of the snooker pioneer and fifteen-time world champion Joe . Davis, who was still playing at a good level despite his old age, had a more rocky road to the final, on which he and Patsy Fagan in the quarterfinals had beaten John Spencer 13:12 in the semifinals.

Davis had the better start to the game and took a 2-0 lead, but Higgins then started his winning streak and led 6-2 shortly afterwards. But now it was Davis who gained the upper hand and equalized to 6: 6 and a short time later to 7: 7. But Higgins then continued his winning streak and took the lead with 11: 7, 12: 8 and 16: 9. Davis could no longer catch up with this lead; he managed to win two frames before he could no longer prevent Higgins' victory in the 18th frame at 17:11.

Final: Best of 33 Frames Northern Snooker Center ,  Leeds , England , December 1974
Alex Higgins	17 : 11	Fred Davis
36: 37 , 60: 72 (H. 60), 103 : 27 (52), 70 : 43, 75 : 26, 68 : 39, 53 : 49, 110 : 21, 35: 74 , 39: 65 , 24: 51 , 41: 58 , 94 : 9 (66), 7: 71 , 67 : 27, 71 : 0 (71), 60 : 57, 75 : 40, 42: 52 , 75 : 47, 12: 79 (51) , 102 : 31, 79 : 15, 75 : 27, 82 : 35, 27: 99 (90), 51: 63 , 83 : 13 (51)
71	Highest break	90
-	Century breaks	-
5	50+ breaks	2

qualification

In the qualification, the results of which are in all probability incomplete, primarily the participating amateurs, but also several professional players took part. In eight qualifying rounds, the participants played those participants who should be eligible to start the main round. As already written, the results presented here, which are referenced via the CueTracker database, are probably not complete, as, for example, some players do not appear in the third qualifying round after winning the second.

First qualifying round

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	Paul Medati	34 : 34th	James A. Heaton

Second qualifying round

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	Kingsley Kennerley	25 : 25	Stan Brooko
2	Sid Hood	25 : 25	John Smith
3	Roy Hirst	4th5 : 45	John Barrie
4th	Jack Fitzmaurice	4th5 : 45	Bernard Bennett
5	John Dunning	15 : 15	Danny Lonehan
6th	Ron Barnes	4th5 : 45	Brian Cakebread

Third qualifying round

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	Paul Medati	4th5 : 45	Roy Hirst
2	Ray Kell	4th5 : 45	Ray Edmonds
3	Sid Hood	35 : 35	John Dunning
4th	Patsy Fagan	35 : 35	David Greaves
5	Ron Barnes	15 : 15	Jackie Rea

Century Breaks

During the tournament four players played a total of ten Century Breaks :

Alex Higgins 135 , 116, 106 Rex Williams 126

Fred Davis 125 Ray Reardon 122, 110, 109, 102, 101

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ron Florax: 1974 Watney Open. CueTracker.net, accessed June 11, 2020 .  
2. ^ Chris Turner: Other Non-Ranking and Invition Events - First held before 1980 *. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2011, archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; accessed on June 11, 2020 (English).  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: 1974 Watney Open - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed June 11, 2020 .