The 1978 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1978 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional
ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
tournament that took place between 17 and 29 April 1978 at the
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...
in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, England.
The final was contested by
Ray Reardon
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gra ...
and
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 ...
. Reardon led 5–2 after the first session, before Mans levelled the match at 8–8 after the first day's play. After the third interval Reardon led 12–11 and won the 24th frame with a 64 break to lead 13–11. After the second day Reardon led 18–14, and eventually won the match 25–18. Reardon became the oldest winner of the World Championship aged 45 years and 203 days, passing the previous record of
Joe Davis
Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...
who was aged 45 years and 33 days in 1946. This record stood until 2022 when
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
won his seventh world title aged 46 years and 148 days. This was Reardon's sixth and last world title. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer
Embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
.
Overview
The
World Snooker Championship
The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...
is an annual professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
tournament organised by the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...
(WPBSA).
Founded in the late 19th century by
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
soldiers stationed in India,
the
cue sport
Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as .
There are three major subdivisions ...
was popular in the British Isles.
However, in the modern era, which started in 1969 when the World Championship reverted to a knockout format, it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Joe Davis
Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...
won
the first World Championship in 1927, hosted by the
Billiards Association and Control Council
The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) (formerly called the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC)) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships ...
, the final match being held at
Camkin's Hall
William Alexander Camkin (1894 – 26 April 1956) was a billiard hall owner who came to prominence in the early years of the World Snooker Championship, when many of the tournament's matches were held at his clubs.
He was involved in various asp ...
in Birmingham, England.
Since 1977, the event has been held at the
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...
in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, England.
The 1978 championship featured sixteen professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a
single-elimination
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
format, each match played over several . These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players in the
snooker world rankings
The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. The ranking lists are maintained by the sport's governing body, ...
and the winners of a pre-tournament qualification stage.
Tournament summary
* This was the first championship to have daily
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
coverage as highlights.
became the oldest semi-finalist at the age of 64 years and 251 days, losing 16–18 to
.
refereed the final.
7,500
* Runner-up: £3,500
* Third place: £2,500
* Fourth place: £2,000
* Quarter-final: £1,000
* Last 16: £500
* Highest break: £500
*
.