The 1977

Pot Black ''Pot Black'' was a snooker tournament in the United Kingdom broadcast on the BBC. Each match was contested over a single , where other tournaments were significantly longer. The event carried no ranking points, but played a large part in th ...

was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was held in the

Pebble Mill Studios Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne o ...

in Birmingham, and this year, the tournament expanded from 8 to 12 players. All matches were one-frame shoot-outs. Broadcasts were on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

and started at 21:00 on Friday 7 January 1977

Alan Weeks Alan Frederick Weeks (8 September 1923, in Bristol – 11 June 1996, in Hove, East Sussex) was a British television sports reporter and commentator. Personal life His family moved to Brighton when he was five when his father, Captain F. C. Wee ...

presented the programme with

Ted Lowe Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe (1 November 19201 May 2011) was an English snooker commentator for the BBC and ITV. His husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted". Life and career Born in Lambourn, Berkshire, Lowe was general manage ...

as commentator and Sydney Lee as referee. With 12 players now competing in this series, The round robin format has now become 4 groups of 3 players. The two debutants

Perrie Mans Pierre "Perrie" Mans (born 14 October 1940) is a retired professional snooker player from South Africa, who first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965, and won the event 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters in 1979 ...

and

Doug Mountjoy Doug Mountjoy (8 June 1942 – 14 February 2021) was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the ...

faced each other in the final which Mans won 90-21.

Main draw

The draw for the group stages was done by

Denis Howell Denis Herbert Howell, Baron Howell (4 September 1923 – 19 April 1998) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a councillor on Birmingham City Council between 1946 and 1956. He was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham All Saints fro ...

Main draw

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Knockout stage

References