1978 Champion of Champions
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 2–3 November 1978 |
| Venue | Wembley Conference Centre |
| City | London |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £4,000 |
| Winner's share | £2,000 |
| Highest break | 94 |
| Final | |
| Champion | File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Ray Reardon (WAL) |
| Runner-up | File:Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins (NIR) |
| Score | 11–9 |
1980 → | |
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The 1978 Champion of Champions (officially the 1978 Daily Mirror Champion of Champions) was a professional non‑ranking snooker tournament held on 2 and 3 November 1978 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.
Summary
Four players contested the tournament which was held over two days.[1] The event was promoted by Michael Barrett, a boxing promoter.[2] Ray Reardon easily won the first semi‑final 6–1 after taking a 5–0 lead. In the evening match Doug Mountjoy led 3–2 but Alex Higgins won the next four frames to win 6–3. The 8th frame was won on a respotted black.[3] In the final Reardon led Higgins 6–4 after the afternoon session. In the evening Reardon extended his lead to 9–5 before Higgins won the next four frames to level the match. In the 19th frame Reardon had a 77 clearance to win the frame and then won the 20th frame easily to win the match.[4] Brief highlights were shown on ITV's World of Sport on the following afternoon (Saturday 4 November, 3:10 pm).[5][6]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
There was a £100 prize for every century break.[2]
Players
The following 4 players qualified for the tournament:[2]
| Player | Qualified as |
|---|---|
| File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Ray Reardon (WAL) | 1978 World Snooker Championship winner |
| File:Flag of Ireland.svg Patsy Fagan (IRL) | 1977 UK Championship winner |
| File:Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins (NIR) | 1978 Masters winner |
| File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Doug Mountjoy (WAL) | 1978 Pot Black winner |
Main draw
| Semi-finals Best of 11 frames (2 November) | Final Best of 21 frames (3 November) | |||||
| File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Ray Reardon (WAL) | 6 | |||||
| File:Flag of Ireland.svg Patsy Fagan (IRL) | 1 | |||||
| File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Ray Reardon (WAL) | 11 | |||||
| File:Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins (NIR) | 9 | |||||
| File:Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins (NIR) | 6 | |||||
| File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Doug Mountjoy (WAL) | 3 | |||||
Final
| Final: Best of 21 frames. Referee: John Smyth. Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 3 November 1978.[1] | ||
| Ray Reardon File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Wales |
11–9 | Alex Higgins File:Ulster Banner.svg Northern Ireland |
| Afternoon: 125–8 (52), 90–43 (90), 75–46, 28–108, 60–43, 20–114 (83), 13–101 (76), 104–19 (70), 1–140 (61, 62), 84–22 Evening: 78–36, 101–18 (67), 12–100, 73–48 (61), 41–90, 51–60, 23–83 (51), 30–72, 78–46 (77), 94–12 | ||
| (frame 2) 90 | Highest break | 83 (frame 6) |
| 0 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 6 | 50+ breaks | 5 |
Century breaks
None. The highest break: 94 – Alex Higgins in the semi‑final.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Daily Mirror Champion of Champions (1978)". snooker.org. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Snooker – World champion in semi-final faces Fagan". The Times. 2 November 1978. p. 13.
- ↑ "Snooker – Higgins lives up to his 'Hurricane' tag". The Times. 3 November 1978. p. 22.
- ↑ "Snooker – Reardon repels determined rally by Higgins". The Times. 4 November 1978. p. 6.
- ↑ "Weekend broadcasting – Personal choice". The Times. 5 November 1978. p. 11.
- ↑ Everton, Clive (4 November 1978). "Reardon the champion". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2024 – via newspapers.com.